Romanian Design Week, the most important multidisciplinary festival in Romania, organized by The Institute and presented by UniCredit Bank, celebrates 10 years, during which it changed the way the local creative industries look. In RDW editions so far, The Institute has produced exhibitions totalling an area of over 15,000 square meters, brought to the public over 1,400 design projects and an average of 150 designers and design or architecture studios per year.
In 9 years of the festival, The Institute reopened 8 spaces of the capital-city for the public, which it restored to the urban circuit, giving them back to the city. Thus, Știrbei Palace, Bucharest Chamber of Commerce Palace, Gabroveni Inn, Amzei Square, Cobălcescu Garages, Telephones Palace, Oscar Maugsch Palace and Combinatul Fondului Plastic hosted large design and architecture exhibitions, which could be visited during Romanian Design Week.
Over 400 related events have contributed to the transformation of Bucharest year after year and guided the steps of over 150,000 RDW visitors on routes worthy of any European design festival.
Behind the largest Romanian Design festival is the work of a team of 15 people, as well as an average of 6 months of work, per year, for organizing each RDW edition. In total, the effort behind an initiative like the Romanian Design Week amounts to over 6.5 years of work, put in the service of promoting local design and Romanian creative industries.
„When we looked back at what all these years of Romanian Design Week meant, we realized that behind the festival lay an impressive effort and mobilization. I am glad that we have achieved our mission from the beginning – to change the Romanian society for the better, contributing to the development and promotion of local creative industries. We continue to transform Bucharest into the capital-city of Romanian design this year when we want to encourage even more the consumption of products and services generated by creative disciplines. We are optimistic and continue to believe in the potential, development, and capacity of Romanian design to put on the table topics relevant to the current context, such as sustainability, inclusion, or cooperation. We need a future marked by solidarity, and what we are preparing this year will also serve as a commentary on this essential aspect for the times we are living in“, said Andrei Bortun, CEO of The Institute.
This year, Romanian Design Week takes place between May 13th and 22nd, under the #FORWARD concept, and the main destination in the program will be Combinatul Fondului Plastic.
The theme of this year’s edition is born from the desire to investigate, test and design scenarios for a future of creative communities, innovation, inclusion, sustainability through collaboration, to have more harmonious cities and communities.
These essential elements of this year’s theme will be brought to the public through a series of exhibitions and events co-produced with some of the most relevant local creative-cultural organizations, laying the foundation for a new beginning, based on experiences, processes and collaborations.
A first for this year will be the opening, during the festival, of the largest Romanian design concept store in the country, which will spread over 500 square meters and which will contain design objects from all important categories: fashion, accessories, furniture or art. RDW 2022 will also transform the outdoor space from Combinatul Fondului Plastic into a micro-city of arts and design, which will offer visitors a daily program of activities, interactive installations, music and events, as well as a dedicated area with food & drinks, at the address in 29 Baiculești Street.
Combinatul Fondului Plastic will also be part of the official Night of Museums circuit, so RDW 2022 will be open to the public and can be visited on May 14 in extended hours, until midnight.
The program of the 10-year anniversary edition of RDW will reflect the results of the strategic partnerships that The Institute has established with the European Commission Representation in Romania, the Romanian Cultural Institute, the Order of Architects in Bucharest, the Union of Plastic Artists, Combinatul Fondului Plastic, the Association Baza. We open the city, NOD makerspace, Czech Center, Hungarian Cultural Institute, French Institute or ARCEN, as well as events and projects signed by over 50 other creative-cultural organizations in Romania.
For the full RDW 2022 schedule and updates to it, visit the event’s Facebook page, here. Tickets for access to the festival can be purchased online from Eventbook, here, or offline, from the Eventbook network here.
