London to host World Design Congress 2025

London will host the World Design Congress 2025, it was announced on 30 October 2023 by the World Design Organisation. The UK Design Council led a bid with support from UKRI, the Greater London Authority, the Mayor of London, DCMS and many leading design institutions, and the event will take place between 17-19 September 2025, coinciding with London Design Festival. 

Putting London at the heart of the global design community, the World Design Congress will focus on a theme of "Design for Planet", inspired by the Design Council’s mission put the planet's needs at the heart of the country's design agenda, showcasing innovative designs from British creatives. 

The 2025 World Design Congress will mark the second time London hosts the event, as the city was originally host to the 6th World Design Congress in 1969. Held at the Southbank Centre, it was supported by H.R.H. Princess Margaret as the guest of honour and was attendees included almost 1,000 delegates from 39 countries.

London's World Design Congress 2025

'We’re delighted that London has been chosen as the host city for 2025: over 50 years on from the last event, this shows the long history we have for pioneering design talent in the UK,' comments Minnie Moll, CEO of the Design Council. '[It's an] exciting opportunity to harness the power of global design for good: design is not separate from being one of the causes of climate change, but is in a unique position to help fix the problem - helping people make informed choices around circularity, modularity, materiality, repairability and lifecycle analysis. The World Design Congress will be the must-attend moment for 2025, full of optimism and innovation for the future.'

The 2025 World Design Congress is being planned as a festival-like celebration of the best of British Design, with exhibitions, workshops, talks programmes dedicated to the local design community and the general public. Shining a spotlight to British design from across the country, the initiative will invite leading British creatives (including Thomas Heatherwick and Anya Hindmarch) alongside emerging talent to present and discuss their ideas for the future of design. 

Following the theme of "Design for Planet", designers will be invited to explore how design can help reduce carbon emissions and increase biodiversity. 'Creativity will inevitably play a major part in solving our planet’s challenges,' says Hindmarch. 'It makes total sense to gather the world’s most creative thinkers together for this purpose.'

'London has shown itself again to be one of the world’s design capitals,' comments London Design Festival CEO, Ben Evans. 'We are the proud home to many of the world’s leading design institutions and we have produced a unique international network of artists, designers, creators and innovators. We are excited to work with the Design Council to make the World Design Congress 2025 an unforgettable moment for designers everywhere.'

Concludes Mayor of London, Sadiq Kahn: 'London has always been a thriving hub for world-leading design and I’m delighted that we have been awarded the honour of hosting the World Design Congress 2025. It will be an excellent opportunity to showcase the talents of our creative community, as leaders from across the world unite to put design at the heart of our efforts to address climate change. We all have a role to play in creating a more sustainable world, and I will continue to do all I can to support the industry as we build a greener and more prosperous London for all.'

wdo.org