The Zurich Design Weeks are the largest design event in Switzerland. Once a year, they invite a wide audience to visit various exhibitions, installations and events. Ateliers and stores open their doors, established brands present their novelties and designers give an insight into their work. The three-week festival brings together established events and institutions and offers an extensive supporting program with talks, city tours and workshops. The wide range of formats for participation makes it possible to cater to the different needs of the participants and to offer a platform to all design disciplines. The event was initiated in 2022 by the Design Biennale Zürich and Archithema Verlag, with the support of Stadtentwicklung Zürich.
This year Europeans will have the opportunity to become acquainted with contemporary Ukrainian design. From September 12 to 19, at Thomas Kurer's gallery, works of Ukrainian designers will be showcased, including traditional and digital art, industrial and graphic design, and fashion design. Among the participants are Diana Bilychenko, OdesaCityLetters, Save Kyiv Modernism, DONNA Factory, SOLOMIA Reshetylivka Craft Studio, S.Lab + Natura Ceramica, UFEG (Ukrainian Fashion Education Group), ZAVOD, TheO wallpapers.
The Projector Institute has prepared a short film titled "Kyiv’s Design Chronicles" about the Ukrainian design community, how designers support their fellow citizens during times of war, and about Ukrainian resilience.
MacPaw presents its font "Fixel," which was developed in collaboration with the Ukrainian type studio AlfaBravo. The font covers over forty languages and also preserves Ukrainian graphic culture. The Design Zentrale installation offers visitors the opportunity to learn more about Ukrainian writing, language, and culture.
On September 12, ASPICHI will conduct a virtual and cinematographic journey through the characteristic brutalist structures of Kyiv. In Kulturhaus Helferei, two documentary films will be screened: "Facade Color: Blue" about the Kyiv building "Tarilka" and "Whisper of Stairs" about the life and work of the Ukrainian art duo Ada Rybachuk (1931–2010) and Volodymyr Melnychenko (1932–2023), known for their monumental-decorative projects in Kyiv in the 1960s-1980s.
Also, on September 13, the conference will feature presentations by designer and architect Viktoria Yakusha, who will highlight Ukraine's rich cultural heritage; documentary photographer and co-founder of Lundi13 Nils Ackermann; architect and EPFL researcher Olena Orap; urban planner at Van de Wetering Atelier für Städtebau Urs Thomann; Creative Director at MacPaw Alona Korolova; product designer at MacPaw and co-founder of Lundi13 Anastasiia Budik.
The style for showcasing Ukrainian design within the Zurich Design Week was developed by Oleksii Chekal.
"The combination of typographic geometry and chaotic strokes emphasizes individuality and national character. An additional font, Kyiv Type Sans by Dmytro Rastvortsev, was used. Artificial Intelligence was involved in the textures," said Oleksii.
Kyiv Design Week will take place from August 31 to September 19, funded by the German government. More details about the event can be found on the Zurich Design Weeks website.
The partner of Kyiv Design Week is the USAID programme Competitive Economy of Ukraine.
