The World Design Organization (WDO), based in Montreal, Canada, held a video conference on Tuesday, 12. September, announced that Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main region will receive the globally prestigious title of World Design Capital for the year 2026.
Alongside Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Frankfurt/Rhine-Main had been selected for the title with the claim "Design for Democracy. Atmospheres for a better life" was among the two finalists selected by the WDO's international committee representing all continents and prevailed over the competing city. The title will be ceremoniously awarded to Frankfurt/Rhine-Main at the WDO's annual World Design Assembly in Tokyo, Japan from October 27-29. In the first quarter of 2024, the World Design Capital Signing Ceremony will take place, at which the Host City Agreement will be officially signed. This is the starting point for the World Design Capital year 2026.
In the video conference, the WDO Executive Director, Bertrand Derome thanked Frankfurt/Rhine-Main for the convincing as well as extensive application and congratulated Frankfurt/Rhine-Main on the title World Design Capital 2026. Bertrand Derome was already in July 2023 together with Eunjoo Maing from the WDO for a three-day visit to the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region.
The title World Design Capital is awarded every two years by the WDO and is an internationally recognized program initiated from the design industry as a tribute to cities and regions for their effective use of design to promote cultural, economic, social and environmental development. In a year-long program of events, the designated city or region presents itself as a center for design, creativity and innovation. It becomes part of an international network. In the past, the international award has gone to cities such as Helsinki, Cape Town, Lille Métropole, Seoul and Mexico City. These cities have developed into prominent design centers that still benefit today from their designation as World Design Capital.
For more than two years, the team of the project company, headed by Prof. Matthias Wagner K, has been working on the application on behalf of the City of Frankfurt and the Kulturfonds Frankfurt/Rhein-Main and has been intensively promoting it. The period was used to start a joint movement with various cooperation partners and participatory formats as well as actors, initiatives and supporters.
Lord Mayor Mike Josef congratulates: "My congratulations go to our city and the entire Rhine-Main region for convincing and now being able to be a laboratory for the democratic shaping of our living environment. I would like to thank Dr. Ina Hartwig, Head of the Department of Culture, and the project company led by Prof. Matthias Wagner K, as well as Stephanie Wüst, Head of the Department of Economics, Law and City Marketing, for their outstanding application. I would also like to thank the Kulturfond Frankfurt RheinMain for its great commitment to the application and the State of Hesse for its financial support of the project. The fact that Frankfurt can now call itself 'World Design Capital' is also an opportunity for the region to move closer together and to shape living space together."
"I congratulate the citizens of Frankfurt and the RheinMain region on the title of World Design Capital 2026. This is a merit of joint efforts. The title offers a great opportunity for the field of action culture, which was an extensive part of the application. Together with Design for Democracy, we want to focus on the existing cultural venues in the Frankfurt RhineMain region and those that need to be redesigned, which seize the opportunity to promote the common good via the inherent cultural assets they convey with their own productions and events, and to spread their charisma to the world. We are all looking forward to being the host city and region for a large number of visitors," says Ina Hartwig, Head of the Department of Culture and Science.
"I am very pleased that Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main Region now bear the title of World Design Capital 2026. We did not apply for it in order to adorn ourselves with the title, but what was important within the entire period was that the application would create a movement that stands for a democratic culture of freedom. And we succeeded in doing that. Our tour of the Rhine-Main region, numerous discussions and conferences have already shown how great the need is in Frankfurt/Rhine-Main to talk about the issues that affect our future. This has already resulted in a widespread regional network, a new community on which the movement can build and which counters a wait-and-see 'carry on like this' with a constructive 'do things differently together' that goes far beyond the art and design scene. The project catalog that emerged from the application is an impressive fund from which to draw now. With the title, we are building on this foundation that has already been created," says Prof. Matthias Wagner K, Director of the Museum Angewandte Kunst and head of the application.
"Our common goal was to hit the big time: Frankfurt/Rhine-Main. World Design Capital 2026. We have achieved this goal, and in a few days the work will really start. Until then, I am above all proud of our city and the entire Rhine-Main Region and grateful for the great team that has already achieved so much in such a short time. The city and region have impressed with their economic and urban quality, but also as a dynamic and resilient location with outstanding future potential. The networking between them is tremendously important and would have remained as a lasting value even in the event of failure in the final. Now the title is an additional powerful impulse for the international perception and development of our creative location. It will give Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main Region a wide range of opportunities to give projects room for discussion, development and realization, and thus perhaps also add a new facet to the high good of democracy," says Stephanie Wüst, Head of Department for Economics, Law and City Marketing.
"The successful application of Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main Region as World Design Capital 2026 is a shining example of the power of cultural cooperation at all levels. I am proud that we can now host this important event together with our partners and bring the cultural identity of Frankfurt and the entire region closer to the world. At the same time, this award will further enhance the attractiveness of our metropolitan region and promote the idea of networking within the region as well as with other cities and nations. Together, we are shaping the future through culture, and the world will look to Frankfurt RhineMain as a source of creative inspiration," says Karin Wolff, Managing Director of the Kulturfonds Frankfurt/Rhein-Main, delighted with the successful application of Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main region as World Design Capital 2026.
Frankfurt/Rhein-Main had applied with the claim "Design for Democracy. Atmospheres for a better life." The goal of the conceived 2026 program of "Design for Democracy. Atmospheres for a better life" is to create a sustainable, participatory international center of design, design disciplines and design methods for people from all over the world in the Rhine-Main region. A hub for all existing design initiatives, grassroots initiatives, universities with a design focus, NGOs, representatives from society, business, politics, law, technology, science and culture, as well as citizens on the basis of illustrative historical design upheavals, existing and new projected projects. And last but not least, design should give Frankfurt and the region a common identity. Under the common denominator Design for Democracy, targeted work can now be done on the implementation of projects in cooperation with all cities and municipalities in the region. The title World Design Capital Year 2026 will ensure international attention in this regard.
In the spirit of "Design for Democracy. Atmospheres for a better life," the application defined twelve fields of action that are most pressing in the design of social interaction. They determine and structure the basic work as a platform provider for the development of the program for the World Design Capital 2026: Working, Building, Education, Energy, Health, Industry, Consumption, Culture, Mobility, Public Space, Sports and Living. More than 100 projects were submitted from across the Frankfurt RhineMain region for the fields of action, and they now represent impressive value for the city and its surrounding region. These include as major projects: Designkioske Frankfurt RheinMain, A Step Ahead - Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt New Campus University of Design (HfG), Offenbach am Main, House of Democracy, Frankfurt am Main, Life Science Hub - biomindz, Mainz, Ropeway High*Line, Offenbach-Frankfurt, Station Mitte, Offenbach am Main, Cultural Campus, Wiesbaden. In addition, other projects from across the region found their way into the application.
