Design & The City

About the Design & The City event

Around the year 2000, design secured a definitive and prominent place in the arts, in education, in the business world, and within government. Building on the traditions of industrial design, product design and graphic design, the field of design expanded to include social design, information design, experience design and interactive design. In 2013, designer Lucas Verwey said: “Everything has become design; design is everywhere; we find ourselves in a design bubble.”

If everything has become design, what exactly is design anymore? Does design need a new focus, a new definition, and maybe also a new mission?

During this evening, we will discuss these questions. We will also take stock of how design has developed within Eindhoven following the near-move of the Design Academy Eindhoven to Roermond in 2024. At that time, it became painfully clear that the design ecosystem in Eindhoven is vulnerable.

Where do we stand two years later? Has Eindhoven’s design ecosystem indeed grown stronger? Have the developments outlined above led to better conditions for designers to set up shop, develop their careers and continue working in the city? Has Eindhoven’s position as the design capital of the Netherlands (and perhaps of the world) been strengthened? And is Eindhoven critical enough of its own success story?

Together, we will explore these and other questions from various perspectives, led by speakers: Anne Ligtenberg (Social Design Bureau AM and DDE), Pete Fung (designer, researcher and educator), Kiki van Eijk (designer), Silvio Lorusso (writer, artist and designer) and moderator Dymphie Braun.

Practical information

When: 24 June 2026
Time: 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM, doors open at 07:30 PM
Location: Natlab

Do you want to join the debate? Click here to register!