During the 17th edition of the Łódź Design Festival, were considered a various scenarios of the future, which were looked at from many different perspectives, both on a macro and micro scale – especially at the level of cities and their inhabitants. Together with the audience, an answer was sought to the question of whether, instead of just predicting the future, we can design it together.

In addition to the exhibitions, a series of lectures with guests, a series of creative workshops and activities for children as part of the Edukreacja series were prepared for the audience.

The author of the visual identification of the 17th ŁDF: Katarzyna Ludwisiak.

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The Festival exhibitions included e.g.:

• “Futuropolis”, curators: Katarzyna Ludwisiak, Michał Piernikowski 

• “more less”, curators: Katarzyna Waloryszak, Marcin Waloryszak (MAKAA Studio)

• “Identity!”, curator: Miroslav Zelinský 

• “Design – a barometr of social change”, curator: Beata Ludwiczak (Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław)  

• “Good Innovations”, organizer: Zamek Cieszyn 

• “The Art of City”, curators: Małgorzata Kopczyńska-Matusewicz, Dominika Zawojska-Kuriata, Magdalena Różalska 

• “A design lesson (collection) of the Muzuem Śląskie in Katowice”, curators: Michał Brudziński, Magdalena Niziołek

• “ROTA ET SPECULUM”, curator: Szymon Hanczar, organizer: Geberit 

• “Collections”, curator: Aleksandra Koperda 

• “It’s only a game”, curator: Kinga Offert 

• “URBAN LEGENDS – THE DICTIONARY OF “LODZIANISMS. Interpreted by Polish illustrators”, curators: Adriana Usarek, Michał Piernikowski (Re:Medium Gallery) 

• “C_ircles”, curator: Ewa Cieniak (Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź) 

_make me! 

For the 16th edition of the international make me! in 2023, 171 applications were received, e.g. from Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Ukraine and Hungary. For the final, the jury composed of: Maja Ganszyniec, Szymon Hanczar, Joanna Krokosz, Michał Piernikowski, Tomasz Rygalik and Ingrid van der Wacht, selected 25 projects. The finalists competed for a total prize pool of 50 000 PLN from the Łódź Design Festival and Interprint. The post-competition exhibition “make me! 2023 Innovation Lab”, designed by Katarzyna Ludwisiak (coordinator of the make me! competition), was presented at the Festival Center in Art_Inkubator in Fabryka Sztuki in Łódź.

The winner were:

• I make me! Design Award in amount of 15  000 PLN: SYGNIS Tourniquet – 3D-printable, field-tested, authors: Maciej Głowacki, Olga Kozłowska [Design Department of SYGNIS S.A.] (Poland)

• II ex aequo make me! Design Award, both in amount of 10 000 PLN: 

  – Life Chariot – Piotr Tłuszcz (Poland) 

  – Me, myself, AI – Jan Wilczak (Poland)

• make me! Interprint Award in amount of 10 000 PLN: Fragment.Vasen –Barbara Koniecka (Poland) and Maximilian Stahl (Germany) 

• make me! special award in amount of 5 000 PLN: Hose Pillar – Fania Kolaiti (Greece)

_must have 

As many as 472 products were submitted to the 13th edition of the plebiscite in 2023, and the Board of Experts composed of: Kamil Białas, Anna Olga Chmielewska, Anna Grużewska, Piotr Maciaszek, Dominika Olszyna-Kniaź, Michał Piernikowski, Hanna Rydlewska, Jan Sikora, Jola Skóra, Małgorzata Szczepańska, Agata Twardoch and Zofia Wyganowska awarded 80 of them with the must have quality mark. The awarded products included: acoustic panels, a silk scarf, a yoga mat, sofas, stone trays, an online store, bedding and shoes. The exhibition presenting the selected finalists of the plebiscite, designed by Aleksandra Podwysocka, was held at the Festival Center in Art_Inkubator in Fabryka Sztuki in Łódź.

_events and guests

During 17th ŁDF took place e.g.:

• “Sensory business cards – workshops on design and perception with the senses”, host: Monika Dolbniak 

• block Collections: Part I – Design Collections of the Muzuem Ślaskie in Katowice, guests: Michał Burdziński, PhD, Magdalena Niziołek; Part II – “Collections, or why do we collect?”, host: Aleksandra Koperda, guests: Maciek Lebiedowicz, Tomasz Trzaskalik, Artur Wabik

• workshops „Using Lego Serious Play to explore the use of design”, host: Terry McStea (Design Network North) 

• block Innovations, host: Michał Piernikowski, guests: Maurizio Burrato, Wioletta Matusiak, Joanna Jurga, Katarzyna Roj, Jadwiga Husarska-Sobina, Matylda Szyrle, Olga Konik 

• workshops “Family Maps” & “Family Albums – connections”, host: Agnieszka Furtak (Dom Fotografii) 

• debate of editors-in-chief of trade magazines, host: Katarzyna Jaroszyńska, guests: Małgorzata Szczepańska, Anna Grużewska, Marcin Szczelina, Kamil Białas 

• presentations and discussion panel “Archiblok”, host: Filip Springer, guests: Olga Drenda, Aleksandra Kędziorek, Agata Twardoch, Adrian Krężlik, Grzegorz Piątek 

• workshops for kids: “City Greengrocer. Creating vertical gardens”, host: Janusz Adam Biedrzycki (Miejski Badylarz) 

• block City Innovations, host: Bogusława Bronowicka, guests: Olga Drenda, Aleksandra Kędziorek, Agata Twardoch, Adrian Krężlik, Grzegorz Piątek 

• National Confrontations of Young Architects: “Młodzi do Łodzi”, organizer: Architektura-murator (accompanying event) 

_festival 

The organization of the 16th Łodź Design Festival was possible thanks to the support of Łódzkie Centrum Wydarzeń and City of Łódź. ŁDF was co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Found. Among the sponsors were: Interprint, Geberit and Cosentino. The partners were: Art_Inkubator in Fabryka Sztuki, PURO Hotel, Om Thai Spa, Akademickie Centrum Designu, Art of Fine Arts in Łódź and Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź. The media patronage over the event was taken by: Architecture Snob, Architektura&Biznes, Architektura-murator, BIZNES meble.pl, Bryla.pl, Czas na Wnętrze, Design Alive, Elle Decoration, F5, Label, MAGAZIF, Onet, Vogue and WhiteMad.

The festival was co-financed by the Minister of Culture, National Heritage and Sport from the Culture Promotion Fund, obtained from subsidies established for games covered by state monopoly, in accordance with Art. 80 section 1 of the Act of November 19, 2009 on gambling.