Here is the schedule of the programme of talks, interviews, movies and collaborations that happened at Virtual Design Festival.
Top image: Rosey Chan, who performed live at VDF on 15 May.
See also the VDF weekly highlights posts which look back on what happened each week during the festival.
All times are UK times.
Overview
Virtual Design Festival is the world’s first online design festival. Produced by Dezeen and running from 15 April to 10 July, it features a rolling schedule of interviews, movies, product launches, live streams and collaborations. To join the VDF mailing list or to find out more, contact [email protected]. Press information can be found here.
Wednesday 15 April
12:00 launch movie
To launch Virtual Design Festival, we invited over 35 architects and designers from around the world to send self-recorded video messages for us to share with the world. We’ve edited these to a soundtrack by Los Angeles songwriter and musician Beatie Wolfe. The movie features creatives including Es Devlin, Ini Archibong, Kelly Hoppen, Fabio Novembre, Yves Behar, Ron Arad and more.
14:00 live Li Edelkoort interview
We go live to Cape Town, where Li Edelkoort is in “self-imposed auto-quarantine”. In a live interview, the trend forecaster will share her latest thoughts on coronavirus following her interview with Dezeen last month, which has become Dezeen’s most-read story of all time with 500,000 page views.
Watch the live interview | Read her “hope” manifesto, launched exclusively on VDF
Thursday 16 April
03:00 PechaKucha INSPIRE the World
We’ve teamed up with PechaKucha, the Tokyo-based rapid-fire presentation format, to live stream its first-ever virtual global event. Speakers around the world including Yves Behar and Cameron Sinclair will each show 20 slides for 20 seconds each, with PechaKucha founders Mark Dytham and Astrid Klein hosting from Tokyo.
Watch the live stream | See the live interview
Friday 17 April
VDF x Forward Festival
Vienna’s Forward Festival will showcase five of its most-popular lectures, featuring creatives including German typographer Erik Spiekermann, Stockholm studio Snask and MoMA curator Paola Antonelli.
Watch the talks: Paola Antonelli | Erik Spiekermann | Freitag’s Pascal Dulex | Sarah Illenberger | Snask
Monday 20 April
VDF x MAAT
Lisbon’s Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) takes over VDF for the day, presenting three exclusive videos about the Beeline installation by SO-IL and the accompanying exhibition Currents – Temporary Architectures by SO-IL, plus a live interview with SO-IL founders Florian Idenburg and Jing Liu.
11:00am Exclusive video about SO-IL’s Beeline installation
1:00pm Premiere of SO-IL documentary
2:00pm Live interview with SO-IL
4:00pm Video about SO-IL’s Currents exhibition
Tuesday 21 April
VDF x Zoomed In
We team up with new architecture photography festival Zoomed In for a series of talks and screenings celebrating architecture’s image-makers.
11:00am Photographing infrastructure panel discussion
2:00pm Talk about the human landscape in architecture
5:00pm Panel discussion on images and the media
7:00pm Screening by View Pictures
Wednesday 22 April
VDF x The World Around x Earth Day
The World Around curates a celebration of Earth Day on Dezeen. The World Around founder Beatrice Galilee will host a series of interviews with architects and visionaries working on environmental issues around the world.
1:00pm Live interview with The World Around curator Beatrice Galilee
2:00pm Broadcast of part one of the symposium, titled Rethink
4:00pm Broadcast of part two of the symposium, titled Reimagine
6:00pm Design Earth interview by Carson Chan
7:00pm Earth Day illustrations by Mona Chalabi
8:00pm Broadcast of part three of the symposium, titled Recreate
9:30pm Premiere of The Transscalar Architecture of COVID-19 short film
Watch all the talks here.
Thursday 23 April
VDF x Ron Arad
Ron Arad will present a digital version of an exhibition called Don’t F**k With The Mouse that was due to be held at OTI gallery in Los Angeles, but which has been cancelled due to coronavirus. Arad will speak live with Dezeen founder Marcus Fairs at 2:00pm.
11:00am Premiere of Arad’s short movie about DFWTM
2:00pm Live interview
VDF x Terreform One
In a live discussion taking place at 5:00pm, Mitch Joachim of non-profit architect Terreform One brings together authors Eran Chen of ODA, Julia Watson and Paul Miller AKA DJ Spooky to discuss their new books and how they address sustainability in a post-covid world.
5:00pm Live discussion and book launch
Friday 24 April
VDF x Beatie Wolfe
Beatie Wolfe, who has been described as a “musical weirdo and visionary,” shares her music and artworks with VDF, and will conduct a live interview and performance.
11:00am Online premiere of Orange Juice for the Ears documentary
1:00pm Exclusive preview of Red to Green, an environmental protest piece
3:00pm Essay on the power of music
5:00pm Live interview and performance
Monday 27 April
VDF x reSITE
Prague-based conference reSITE, a non-profit organisation acting to improve the urban environment, will curate an exclusive selection of lectures from the reSITE 2019 REGENERATE conference.
11:00am Ravi Naidoo, founder of Design Indaba
1:00pm Marianthi Tatari of UNStudio
3:00pm Chris Precht of architect Precht
5:00pm Bianca Wylie of Tech Reset Canada
7:00pm Development in China discussion
Tuesday 28 April
VDF Screentime architecture interviews
A series of 20 live Screentime interviews with leading architects around the world kicks off today in partnership with Enscape, the real-time rendering and virtual reality plugin for architectural visualisation.
Screentime: Chris Precht
Today’s inaugural interview features environmental architect Chris Precht of Austrian studio Precht.
VDF products fair
Our products platform launches with the first batch of new releases from brands and designers.
www.dezeen.com/vdf/products-fair
Wednesday 29 April
VDF x Ventura Projects
Today VDF teams up with Ventura Projects, a design platform based in Utrecht and Milan.
The collaboration includes a live panel discussion with Swiss filmmaker Georg Lendorff, Dutch designer Nienke Hoogvliet and Japanese designer Ryo Tada about the challenges designers are facing in these current times.
It also features three online exhibitions presenting the work of over international designers, academies and brands, including the exhibitions Channelling Change and Hello Humanity.
10:ooam: 67 Designers virtual exhibition
11:00am: Hello Humanity: Dutch Design for a Holistic World exhibition
12:00pm: Channelling Change: Inside A Designer’s Brain exhibition
2:00pm: Facing the Future live panel discussion
Thursday 30 April
VDF x Fritz Hansen
VDF has teamed up with Fritz Hansen to celebrate the centenary of the birth of influential Italian designer Vico Magistretti.
Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs interviews the Danish furniture brand’s head of design Christian Andresen about has Magistretti’s Vico Duo chair, which has been reissued.
Plus the brand has launched three new products on the VDF products fair.
Screentime: Dong-Ping Wong
Marcus Fairs interviews Dong-Ping Wong, architect and founding director of New York-based Food New York, for our Screentime series in partnership with Enscape.
VDF x Dezeen Day
A chance to experience the best of the inaugural Dezeen Day, six months after the architecture and design conference took place in London. The entire day will be streamed, including keynotes by Paola Antonelli, Liam Young and Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg.
Friday 1 May
VDF x Gary Hustwit
VDF teams up with filmmaker Gary Hustwit, director of Helvetica and other design-focused movies, for a live interview, exclusive photos from his archive plus a free screening of his feature film about Dieter Rams.
The interview will be followed by an exclusive free screening of his feature film Rams. The documentary features legendary designer Dieter Rams, whose work at Braun and Vitsoe left an indelible mark on the world of product design, but who now regrets being a designer.
As part of VDF, Rams is available to view free until 12:00am on Sunday 3 May.
Screentime: Alison Brooks
Marcus Fairs interviews British architect Alison Brooks, founder of Alison Brooks Architects and the only British architect to have won the RIBA Stirling Prize, the RIBA Manser Medal and the Stephen Lawrence Prize. Part of our Screentime series in partnership with Enscape.
www.alisonbrooksarchitects.com
Monday 4 May
VDF x Dezeen Awards
With the entry deadline for Dezeen Awards less than 30 days away, we’ve brought together eight judges and winners to discuss their work and the role of awards in architecture and design for a virtual drop-in with Dezeen founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs.
1:00pm Nelly Ben Hayoun
1:10pm Studio Drift
1:30pm Arthur Mamou-Mani
1:50pm Sarah Izod
2:10pm Adam Nathaniel Furman
2:25pm Sevil Peach
2:40pm Victoriya Yakusha
2:50pm Talenia Phua Gajardo
4pm Screentime: Carlo Ratti
Marcus Fairs interviews Italian architect Carlo Ratti, founder of Carlo Ratti Associati, which works in everything from furniture to urban planning. The architect recently designed a shipping-container intensive care unit together with Italo Rota. This interview is part of our Screentime series in partnership with Enscape.
Tuesday 5 May
11:00am VDF x Friedman Benda
Today we launch a collaboration with the New York City gallery, sharing one video per week from its Design in Dialogue series of conversations with designers hosted by curator and historian Glenn Adamson. The first is an interview with pioneering architect James Wise.
2:00pm Screentime: Space Popular
Lara Lesmes and Fredrik Hellberg of multidisciplinary design and research practice Space Popular will join Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs for a live conversation as part of our Screentime series in partnership with Enscape.
5:00pm VDF x Studio Drift
Virtual Design Festival teams up with Studio Drift to live stream a secret performance, which will be announced on the day. Dezeen’s founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs will speak to Studio Drift co-founders Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta in a live interview at 5:00pm. The performance will be streamed from 9:00pm.
Wednesday 6 May
VDF x Iris van Herpen
11:00am Dezeen will launch an exclusive series of video interviews with the Dutch fashion designer.
5:00pm Screentime: Jimenez Lai
Bureau Spectacular’s Jimenez Lai is today’s Screentime interviewee and will be live from Los Angeles at 5pm for a conversation with Marcus Fairs sponsored by Enscape.
Thursday 7 May
Maurizio Stochetto, owner of the design world’s favourite bar, shares his Bar Basso cocktail recipes and tell the history of the legendary Milanese institution.
11:00am VDF x Iris van Herpen
The second video of our exclusive series with Iris van Herpen launches.
Friday 8 May
11:00am VDF x Iris van Herpen
Premiere of the third exclusive video interview with Iris van Herpen.
Saturday 9 May
VDF x Schloss Hollenegg
Dezeen collaborates with Schloss Hollenegg in Austria for a virtual tour of the castle and its Walden exhibition with curator Alice Stori Liechtenstein.
Update: due to technical issues the live stream didn’t work so will be rescheduled.
Monday 11 May
12:00pm VDF x Archigram
Dezeen will launch an exclusive series of video interviews with architects Peter Cook and Dennis Crompton, former members of the influential architecture collective.
2:00pm Screentime: Stefan Behnisch
Today’s interview for VDF’s Screentime series in partnership with Enscape is with Stefan Behnisch of German studio Behnisch Architekten.
Tuesday 12 May
10:00am VDF x Friedman Benda
The second video from Virtual Design Festival’s collaboration with Friedman Benda, featuring designer Faye Toogood, launches. This is part of the gallery’s Design in Dialogue series.
12:00pm VDF x Archigram
Former Archigram members Peter Cook and Dennis Crompton discuss the avante-garde collective’s influential Plug-In City project in the second video interview in our exclusive series.
5:00pm Screentime: Virginia San Fratello
Architect Virginia San Fratello of studio Rael San Fratello is in conversation with Marcus Fairs for this episode of our Screentime series, in partnership with Enscape.
Wednesday 13 May
VDF x Architects not Architecture
Virtual Design Festival will show three videos from Architects not Architecture, featuring well-known architects talking about their paths, their influences and experiences.
www.architectsnotarchitecture.com
12:00pm VDF x Archigram
Former Archigram member Peter Cook discusses the avante-garde collective’s Instant City project in the third video interview in our exclusive series.
3:30pm Screentime: Ben van Berkel
Wednesday’s Screentime series in partnership with Enscape features Ben van Berkel, founder of Dutch architecture firm UNStudio.
Thursday 14 May
12:00pm VDF x Archigram
Former Archigram member Dennis Crompton discusses the project the influential architecture collective almost built in Monte Carlo, until it was scuppered by the financial crash in the 1970s, in the final instalment of our exclusive video interview series.
5:00pm Screentime: Standard Architecture
Standard Architecture founders Silvia Kuhle and Jeffrey Allsbrook join Virtual Design Festival live from Los Angeles for this Screentime conversation in partnership with Enscape.
Friday 15 May
VDF x Rosey Chan
VDF teams up with musician Rosey Chan (pictured top) for a live interview and an exclusive performance of two improvised piano pieces, plus share some of her music-based collaborations with designers.
10:00am Premiere of the film Water Dancer, part of a series of newly created metaphysical representations of human movement created by artist Eyal Gever, Rosey Chan and contemporary dancer and choreographer Sharon Eyal.
12:00pm Screening of Parametricism, a short film combining parametric imagery by architect Patrik Schumacher with original music by Rosey Chan.
2:00pm Showcase of the performance created for the vernissage of Hybridae by designers Fredrikson Stallard.
5:00pm Live interview and performance from Rosey Chan.
VDF x CAMP
Virtual Design Festival teams up with CAMP, Prague’s centre for architecture and urban planning, on a day of talks from its Urban Talks series, beginning with a brand new lecture from Japanese architect Kengo Kuma.
10:00am Kengo Kuma live from Japan
1:00pm Snøhetta
3:00pm COBE
5:00pm Interboro
2:00pm Screentime: Harriet Harriss
Harriet Harriss, dean of the Pratt Institute School of Architecture in New York, joins us for today’s Screentime conversation in partnership with Enscape.
Tuesday 19 May
9:00am VDF x Friedman Benda
Designer Ron Arad features in the next of New York gallery Friedman Benda’s Design in Dialogue interviews that we are publishing as part of VDF.
12:00 VDF x Sight Unseen
New York design magazine and platform Sight Unseen will present work from its stable of designers from 12:00pm. Sight Unseen co-founders Monica Khemsurov and Jill Singer will join Dezeen editor Marcus Fairs for a live interview at 4:00pm.
2:00pm Screentime: Dara Huang
Architect and founder of Design Haus Liberty Dara Huang features in our next live architecture Screentime interview sponsored by Enscape.
Wednesday 20 May
VDF x Stockholm Design Week
This celebration of Scandinavian design is being programmed by Stockholm Design Week and Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair.
8:00am Design Relay
Eight Scandinavian and Scandinavia-based designers, producers and architects come together for a roundtable discussion on Covid-19 and its effects on our industry.
11:00am Exclusive tour of AI exhibition Hyper Human with Monica Förster
Designer Monica Förster takes us on a tour of the exhibition at the Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology, for which she created the spatial design.
2:30pm Formex Nova nominees
Stockholm Design Week and VDF present the five young designers nominated for this year’s Formex Nova prize.
3:30pm Live foraging tour
Chef, author, forager and biohacker Sami Tallberg takes VDF viewers on a wild foraging tour in the forest surrounding his house in Finland.
5:00pm Stockholm Design Events
A closer look at the design events taking place in Stockholm and a chat with Björn Florman from the Materials Library.
6:00pm Live DJ set from DirtyTwo
An exclusive coronavirus lockdown living room DJ set, from the Swedish house music DJ duo DirtyTwo.
2:00pm Screentime: Marjan van Aubel
Today, we start a new series of live Screentime interviews featuring innovative European designers, which is sponsored by Philips TV and Sound. Award-winning solar designer Marjan van Aubel features in the first instalment.
Thursday 21 May
2:00pm Screentime: Eric Höweler
Höweler + Yoon co-founder Eric Höweler features in today’s architecture Screentime interview sponsored by Enscape.
Friday 22 May
2:00pm Screentime: Adam Nathaniel Furman
London designer Adam Nathaniel Furman features in the second instalment of our Screentime design series profiling leading designers sponsored by Philips TV and Sound.
8:00am VDF x Friedman Benda
Designer Stephen Burks features in the next of New York gallery Friedman Benda’s Design in Dialogue interviews that we are publishing as part of VDF.
4:00pm VDF x Mark & Stephenson
Today marks the start of Virtual Design Festival’s collaboration with film-makers Laura Mark and Jim Stephenson, who will be showing three of their films as part of VDF. We will be premiering the never-before-seen film titled Zaha Hadid: Words by Eva Jiřičná today at 4:00pm. The short film Walmer Yard: Architecture for the Senses and the first episode of their Practice series of documentaries will be screened later in the week.
Wednesday 27 May
2:00pm VDF x Therme Art
Curator Hans Ulrich Obrist and Mikolaj Sekutowicz of Therme Art moderate a live talk exploring the relationship between art and architecture as part of Therme Art’s Wellbeing Culture Forum. The panel will include architects Stefano Boeri, Frida Escobedo, Junya Ishigami and Sumayya Vally of Counterspace, alongside artist Torkwase Dyson.
5:00pm Screentime: Kulapat Yantrasat
Architect Kulapat Yantrasat of wHY Architecture is known for his work on contemporary art galleries and museums in the US. Today he joins us for an episode of our Screentime series sponsored by Enscape.
Thursday 28 May
11:00am Scavolini introduces BoxLife
Rainlight founder Yorgo Lykouria explains how a new modular furniture system called BoxLife allows users to organise their living spaces, in a video produced by Dezeen for Scavolini.
4:00pm Screentime: Shahar Livne
This episode of our Screentime design series sponsored by Philips TV and Sound features conceptual material designer Shahar Livne, speaking live from Eindhoven.
Friday 29 May
VDF x Tom Dixon
British designer Tom Dixon will launch a new lighting product developed in collaboration with Prolicht, including a live interview with Dixon.
2:30pm Screentime: Annabelle Selldorf
German-born architect Annabelle Selldorf, founder of Selldorf Architects, is today’s guest in our Screentime series sponsored by Enscape. She will discuss her work in this interview, screened live from New York.
VDF x ArkDes
For this daylong takeover, Virtual Design festival will showcase a 360° virtual vernissage from ArkDes, Sweden’s national centre for architecture and design, as well as a live interview with ArkDes director Kieran Long, an interview with artist Linda Tegg, and more.
11.00am Virtual 360° vernissage of Kiruna Forever
A virtual visit that lets you explore the latest exhibition at ArkDes, with over a hundred works by architects, city planners and artists, before it opens on June 2.
12.00pm Kiruna Forever
Take a closer look at the project behind Kiruna Forever – how do you move an entire city?
1:00pm Interview: Linda Tegg
An interview with Australian artist Linda Tegg, whose Infield project has changed the entrance of ArkDes from asphalt car park to a meadowland.
3.00pm Virtual vernissage: WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD
Take the opportunity to see ArkDes’ new exhibition about ASMR, featuring global ASMR artists as well as commercial pieces and works from TV artist Bob Ross, from your own home.
4.00pm Interview with Kieran Long
ArkDes’ director Kieran Long in conversation with Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs, live from Stockholm.
2:00pm Screentime: Theodora Alfredsdottir
Icelandic product designer Theodora Alfredsdottir joins Marcus Fairs for a presentation and conversation about her work in this Screentime design episode sponsored by Philips TV and Sound.
Tuesday 2 June
VDF x Grohe
Today’s Virtual Design Festival is a collaboration with our headline sponsor, bathroom and kitchen manufacturer Grohe.
12:00pm Talk with Paul Flowers
Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs will discuss upcoming industry trends with Paul Flowers, the chief design officer of Lixil, including how technology is being incorporated into bathroom design.
3:00pm Video interview with Patrick Speck
Patrick Speck, Lixil’s vice president of design and consumer experience in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, presents Grohe’s latest touchless and 3D-printed collections and their relevance to health and wellbeing.
Wednesday 3 June
VDF x Braun
German brand Braun presents two talks on the theme “Times of change and good design” as part of today’s VDF line-up.
12:00pm Talk with industrial designer Benjamin Wilson and Dr Peter Kapos, writer, curator and creative director at Systems Studio.
4:00pm The second talk as part of the collaboration is with designer Ilse Crawford. Both talks will be moderated by Marcus Fairs.
www.instagram.com/braun_global
Thursday 4 June
VDF x Alcova
VDF teams up with Milanese design platform Alcova on Thursday 4 June to present the work of eight designers, studios and brands from its stable.
Friday 5 June
11:00am VDF x Austrianfashion.net
Today’s product launch from Austrianfashion.net, the platform for Austrian contemporary fashion design, will showcase the work of 15 designers working in fields ranging from jewellery to footwear and fashion.
3:00pm Screentime: Farshid Moussavi
Iranian-born British architect Farshid Moussavi will discuss her work, which includes cultural centres, retail spaces, apartment blocks, museums and more, with Marcus Fairs as part of our Screentime series sponsored by Enscape.
4:00pm Interview with Arthur Mamou-Mani
Architect Arthur Mamou-Mani speaks to Dezeen founder Marcus Fairs and takes us on a virtual reality tour of some of his projects.
6:00pm Screentime: Parley for the Oceans
In celebration of World Oceans Day, Virtual Design Festival teams up with environmental initiative Parley for the Oceans for a live talk with founder Cyrrill Gutsch.
Tuesday 9 June
12:00pm VDF x Philips TV & Sound
Marcus Fairs will be in conversation with Rod White, chief designer of Philips TV & Sound, about the brand’s current projects and an exciting new design collaboration.
4:30pm Screentime: Ini Archibong
Today’s guest on VDF’s Screentime design series, sponsored by Philips TV and Sound, is Ini Archibong. The Swiss-based designer will join us to talk about his work and future plans.
Wednesday 10 June
2:00pm Screentime: Teresa van Dongen
Dutch designer Teresa van Dongen joins us for today’s Screentime design discussion. The Amsterdam-based designer is fascinated by nature and science, and has used microorganisms to create electricity and living organisms to power an LED light. Sponsored by Philips TV and Sound.
4:00pm Fornasetti live interview
Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs will speak with Italian design house Fornasetti’s Barnaba Fornasetti, son of the founder and head of the company, live from Italy.
8:00pm VDF x AHEAD
VDF will live stream hospitality awards programme AHEAD’s ceremony announcing the winners of the 2020 AHEAD Americas awards, which will be followed by a series of exclusive interviews with some of the winners.
Thursday 11 June
11:00am VDF x Friedman Benda
Today we publish an interview with Dutch designer Joris Laarman, who used robots to 3D-print a 12-metre metal bridge for a canal in Amsterdam, in the lastest installment of our collaboration with New York gallery Friedman Benda.
Friday 12 June
2:00pm Screentime: Partisans
Canadian architecture studio Partisans, which specialises in the integration of design and technology, speaks to Dezeen founder Marcus Fairs in this Screentime interview sponsored by Enscape. Join in to watch from 2pm.
4:00pm VDF x Yuri Suzuki
Virtual Design Festival collaborates with sound artist and designer Yuri Suzuki on a 4:00pm live interview and presentation of his Sound of the Earth: Pandemic Chapter project today.
2:00pm Screentime: Micha Weidmann
Graphic designer and the man behind Dezeen’s design Micha Weidmann joins Marcus Fairs in a live conversation today.
4:00pm: VDF x Rado
Swiss watchmaker Rado teams up with VDF for a panel discussion focusing on how iconic architect Le Corbusier‘s Architectural Polychromy colour theory has influenced its latest collection.
Tuesday 16 June
VDF x Stellar Works
11:00am Shanghai furniture brand Stellar Works presents a live discussion with designers Neri&Hu and Space Copenhagen, who have created collections for the brand, and Stellar Works founder and CEO Yuichiro Hori.
VDF x The Mindcraft Project
The Mindcraft Project, the Danish platform for explorative and experimental design, teams up with VDF today to showcase 10 videos from designers in their workspace.
2:00pm Screentime: Lee Broom
British designer Lee Broom is today’s Screentime guest and will be discussing his work and designs.
Wednesday 17 June
11:00am VDF x Friedman Benda
Italian architect and designer Gaetano Pesce features in the next of New York gallery Friedman Benda’s Design in Dialogue interviews that we are publishing as part of VDF.
4:00pm Screentime: Winy Maas
Architect Winy Maas of MVRDV joins Dezeen founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs for our Screentime live interview today, sponsored by Enscape.
5:00pm VDF x Therme Art
Therme Art presents Culture of Live Events: Redesigning Common Rituals, a digital discussion moderated by Marc Spiegler and Mikolaj Sekutowitcz and featuring speakers including Es Devlin, Zoé Whitley and Franklin Sirmans.
7:00pm Devon&Devon live interview
Italian design brand Devon&Devon teams up with VDF for this interview with Daniel Stromborg, product design director at global architecture and design firm Gensler. Stromborg joins Marcus Fairs to discuss the design story for the new collaboration between Devon&Devon and Gensler, which premieres today.
Thursday 18 June
LFA video: Ibiye Camp
Virtual Design Festival is showcasing three videos from this year’s “Manifestos: Architecture for a New Generation”, a collaboration between the London Festival of Architecture and the Design Museum, starting today with a video from artist and architect Ibiye Camp.
3:00pm Live interview: Stephan Hürlemann
VDF and Vitra have teamed up on this live interview with Swiss designer Stephan Hürlemann, who will speak about his latest work for the Swiss design company.
17:30pm Screentime: Mariam Kamara
Architect Mariam Kamara, founder of architecture and research firm Atelier Masomi and one of this year’s Dezeen Awards judges, joins Marcus Fairs for this Screentime talk sponsored by Enscape.
Friday 19 June
VDF x What Design Can Do
Today, we present a collaboration between the Virtual Design Festival and Amsterdam-based design platform What Design Can Do, featuring three live talks around the subject of social justice in design.
11:00am Media Power
An interview with journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin about the importance of challenging bias and misrepresentation in the news.
2:00pm Decolonising Design
A roundtable with Anoushka Khandwala, Sunny Dolat and Richard van der Laken unpacking how colonialism has shaped the way we teach, value and practice design.
5:00pm It’s a Brave New World: Creating for Gender Equality
Group discussion with Jimena Acosta, Larissa Ribeiro and Saskia van Stein, mapping the connections between design, gender and violence.
12:30pm Screentime: Xandra van der Eijk
Dutch designer Xandra van der Eijk, whose work connects art, ecology and activism, is today’s guest at our design Screentime series, sponsored by Philips TV & Sound.
VDF x Design Museum
Design Museum‘s Virtual Design Festival takeover will showcase a full day’s programme of events from the London institution’s designers in residence, featuring short films and panel discussions.
7:00am: Mále Uribe – Re-Imagining Extreme Landscapes
11:00am: Stiliyana Minkovska – The non-universal experience of pregnancy and childbirth through an object and spatial prism and the hospital setting as a re-imagined area of design.
3:00pm: Robert Johnson – Collaborative Waste Streams
4:00pm: Marta Giralt – Rethinking Materials
2:00pm Screentime: Sebastian Cox
Today’s guest at our Screentime series, sponsored by Philips TV & Sound, is British furniture maker Sebastian Cox, who has worked with materials from wood to mushroom mycelium.
Wednesday 24 June
LFA video: Afterparti
For the second part of Virtual Design Festival’s collaboration with the London Festival of Architecture, Siufan Adey and Thomas Aquilina present architecture collective Afterparti’s manifesto.
2:00pm Screentime: Piet Hein Eek
Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek, who is known for his work with recycled wood but whose practice spans a variety of materials and genres, joins Marcus Fairs as today’s guest for our Screentime series sponsored by Philips TV & Sound.
3:00pm VDF x Therme Art
Therme Art presents The Social Culture of Cities: Shaping a Performative and Participatory Social Reality, a discussion in partnership with the British Council looking at how artists and art can play a more central role in defining how we live.
Thursday 25 June
11:00am Arper product launch and interview
Italian furniture brand Arper launches two products, the Adell chair and Aston Club lounger, on VDF today. CEO Armin Broger joins VDF in an interview to discuss the product launch and the history of Arper.
VDF x MPavilion
Australia’s MPavilion joins VDF today to present a series of interviews with the seven architects who have been commissioned to create the annual pavilions in Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Gardens, including Amanda Levete, Rem Koolhaas and Carme Pinós.
Friday 26 June
VDF x Serpentine Galleries
8:00am Back to Earth: Tracing the Roots podcast
Serpentine Galleries exclusively premieres it latest podcast episode, in which hosts Rebecca Lewin and Victoria Sin think about what design looks like when it begins from a position of ecological responsibility. The episode features designers and artists Formafantasma, Dunne & Raby and Black Quantum Futurism.
11:00am Re-learning Perspectives: Archives, Exhibitions and Studios
Rebecca Lewin, curator of exhibitions and design at the Serpentine Galleries, brings together Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew researcher Caroline Cornish and Ma-tt-er founder Seetal Solanki to think about the ways in which histories, politics and ecologies are embedded in materials, from the perspective of an art gallery, botanic garden and design practice.
Starting with Cambio, Formafantasma’s Serpentine exhibition, which is temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the discussion will explore the colonial past of the timber industry and its impacts, as well as strategies for how we can become more responsible in our use of materials.
2:00pm VDF x Kvadrat
Danish brand Kvadrat, known for its work with designers including Raf Simons, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec and Doshi Levien, joins VDF today for a live conversation with Marcus Fairs.
6:30pm VDF x Friedman Benda
Droog co-founder Renny Ramakers looks back at how the influential design platform shook up the industry in the 1990s in the latest talk in our ongoing collaboration with Friedman Benda for VDF.
3:30pm Sports Day with Nelly Ben Hayoun
Designer and amateur boxer Nelly Ben Hayoun brings together a collection of designers and sports personalities to discuss how sport informs new practices in design and the wider society.
Taking part in the live conversation are designer Yinka Ilori, drag performer Joshua Grannell, also known as Peaches Christ, Google creative lab director Tea Uglow, Slowe Magazine-founder Ro Jackson, sportscaster Len Elmore, sports writer David Goldblatt, Design Indaba founder Ravi Naidoo, Hector Roca and Bruce Silvergrade of Gleason’s gym, sneaker designer Aleali May, boxer Roumaysa Boualam and Lilli Barrett O’Keefe, project manager of the global network Football for Good.
Tuesday 30 June
4:00pm Screentime: Patternity
Anna Murray, co-founder and creative director of London creative studio Patternity, talks to Marcus Fairs for this Screentime interview sponsored by Philips TV & Sound.
Wednesday 1 July
For the third and final part of VDF’s collaboration with London Festival of Architecture, VDF will screen an architectural manifesto from interdisciplinary social design and urbanism practice Migrant’s Bureau.
The studio facilitates design interventions, research, podcasts and community workshops for both local and global disenfranchised and migrant communities.
Thursday 2 July
11:00am VDF x Friedman Benda
The latest talk for our VDF collaboration with Friedman Benda features Rosanne Somerson, president of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).
Friday 3 July
12:30pm The Artling live panel discussion
Singapore art platform The Artling founder Talenia Phua Gajardo joins Virtual Design Festival today for a live panel discussion with Marcus Fairs. OMA‘s managing partner David Gianotten, creative director of Potato Head Group Dan Mitchell, and artist Liina Klauss will take part in the talk focusing on how art and design can be integrated into architectural projects.
Dutch furniture brand Lensvelt collaborates with Virtual Design Festival on a day of content, featuring talks with designers Maarten Baas, Joep van Lieshout and Fabio Novembre, who will discuss their work with Lensvelt.
11:00am Hans Lensvelt
12:00pm Maarten Baas
1:00pm Joep van Lieshout
2:00pm Fabio Novembre
Tuesday 7 July
2:30pm VDF x Moooi: Design Dreams live
Today, Dezeen founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs hosts a live talk for Dutch brand Moooi. Designers Gabriele Chiave and Joost van Bleiswijk will join VDF to discuss the release of their respective lighting designs for Moooi, the Hubble Bubble and Tinkering.
4:00pm VDF x Istanbul Design Biennial
Dezeen’s founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs will speak to Istanbul Design Biennial director Deniz Ova and its curator Mariana Pestana in a live talk about the fifth edition of the biennial taking place in October 2020 and how they have reappraised the format of the event to meet the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Wednesday 8 July
12.30pm Hilltop School virtual walkthrough
Takbir Fatima of DesignAware takes viewers on a tour of the studio’s Hilltop School in Hyderabad, India. The tour will showcase both the school and the historic Golconda Fort in which it is situated.
Thursday 9 July
Institute of Architecture short film premiere
Vienna’s Institute of Architecture, which is part of the city’s University of Applied Arts, has teamed up with Virtual Design Festival to create this video showing how its three studios approach teaching. The projects showcased span from data centres to contaminated wastelands.
VDF x Lucy McRae
10:00am: The Institute of Isolation
Screening of Los Angeles-based artist Lucy McRae‘s film The Institute of Isolation, an observational documentary exploring the body beyond Earth’s edge, as part of today’s VDF x Lucy McRae collaboration.
2:00pm Solitary Survival Raft launch
Artist Lucy McRae unveils images of her latest project, the Solitary Survival Raft
6:00pm Lucy McRae interview and live performance
Lucy McRae will discuss her work and perform live for the Virtual Design Festival viewers.
Friday 10 July
10:00am Dutch Design Week live discussion
Dutch Design Week will present a talk with its director Martijn Paulen, Kiki van Eijk of Kiki & Joost and Joseph Grima from Design Academy Eindhoven, discussing the design week and how it has adapted to the new normal.
11:00am VDF x Friedman Benda
We broadcast the last talk in our collaboration with New York gallery Friedman Benda, in which V&A East director Gus Casely-Hayford discusses his ambition to make the new museum more inclusive.
4:00pm Henrybuilt live talk
American design company Henrybuilt’s CEO Scott Hudson joins Virtual Design Festival today for a conversation with Marcus Fairs, focusing on the story behind the brand and the recent release of its Primary Objects collection of customisable furniture.
5.30pm Imogen Heap interview and live performance
Musician Imogen Heap is collaborating with Dezeen for the very last day of the Virtual Design Festival. The VDF collaboration starts with a 5.30pm interview, followed by a live performance starting at 6.30pm.
The pioneering musician will perform tracks, demonstrate her gesture-control gloves and showcase a new AI device that allows her to communicate with her fans.