Social Design Week

Creating Community: During Social Design Week, we will discover at several locations in the city how design can shape and change the way we live together.

Clear the stage for social design

Design is more than a combination of function and aesthetics - it is a tool: for changing social processes, for initiating new discourses and for addressing social and ecological challenges. It helps us to take a more mindful approach to our resources, our environment and our fellow human beings. Social Design Week shows how meaningfully and powerfully this tool can be used.

With its exhibition, café and community space, the Design Zentrum is Social Design Week's home base. Here you can discover participative projects, take part in workshops or talks and discuss the different perspectives over coffee and cake on our terrace.

At our satellite events, you can learn about how social design is applied in urban spaces. Walks, tours and workshops will take place throughout the city to explore together how design can inspire new ideas and changes.

When?
16.6. – 22.6.2025

Where?
Design Zentrum + other places
Hongkongstraße 8, Hamburg

Costs?
mostly free of charge

Social Design Week 2025 is over. Thank you for being there!

Who can come to Social Design Week?
Everyone! Social Design Week is not just for designers and creatives. It is an invitation to all interested Hamburg residents to help shape our community, our environment and our future.

Visitors - big or small, young or old - can also get involved themselves, for example by designing their own exhibits for the exhibition, trying their hand at changing perspectives or taking part in open discussions. Our pop-up café also invites you to linger with homemade cakes, refreshing drinks and a wide range of board games.
What can you see in the exhibition?
In the exhibition you can expect, among other things:
- Urban visions of the future by the utopian Jan Kamensky
- A model of the Urban Alcove by Heidi Fletcher, a green oasis to linger and relax
- Signs for demonstrations and other events by type designer Chris Campe
- The Kreislaufkantine by Studio Koralle from Bremen, which shows how urban food production, logistics, healthy eating and solidarity can be interlinked and complement each other
- Your space for creativity, designed by Fin Gahleitner in such a way that it motivates everyone to try things out creatively
By the way: From Tuesday to Friday, Greenpeace's interactive exhibition "A good life for all" is open right next door from 10 am to 5 pm. Why don't you drop by?
What even is Social Design?
Social design is a design approach that strives for positive social change and an improved quality of life in communities.

The focus is on solutions that are based on social needs and challenges. This design approach considers social systems, communities and interpersonal relationships as central elements. Social designers use their creative skills to develop innovative solutions to social problems, from local to global challenges.

A central aspect is the participation of the affected communities. Designers work closely with local people to understand their needs and incorporate their perspectives into the design process. This ensures that the solutions are better tailored to real needs and contexts.
Social design projects cover a wide range of areas such as education, healthcare, environmental protection and urban design. Another feature is the consideration of long-term effects. Designers develop sustainable concepts that have long-term positive effects on social structures.

Social design often draws on multidisciplinary approaches by bringing together experts from different fields such as social sciences, psychology, anthropology and design. This results in comprehensive and effective solutions that go beyond purely aesthetic aspects.

The Studio Experimental Design HFBK Hamburg / Öffentliche Gestaltugnsberatung at work

Type designer Chris Campe in front of her studio. Photo: Tobias Reimer

"Kriesenbrief" by Simon Wahlers. Photo: Urs Mader

The Urban Alcove. Photo: Fletcher Ostermann Architects

The Obenstadt e.V. organises the creative use of roofs.

Fin Gahleitner wants to show others more creativity and lightness.

The public design consultation in St. Pauli

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Programme

Event timeframe

14:00 – 19:00

at Design Zentrum

Exhibition

Exhibition, café & community space (no registration needed)

15:30 – 18:30

at Design Zentrum

Workshop

AT: CO2 Museum: What will 2050 smell like?

Memories of the past are often associated with odours, but are visions of the future too? The workshop introduces the newly founded Museum of CO2 and invites visitors to turn their visions of the future into exhibits. In the workshop, we want to imagine possible futures and consider how they might feel, taste and smell. The participants will design flacons for their visions of the future, which will then also be part of the exhibition at the Design Centre.

17:30 – 18:00

at Design Zentrum

Impulse

What would Life do? Urban design with Socialtecture

Vibrant cities, good neighbourhoods, social cohesion - we all want these things and have long since formulated them as goals. But how do we get there? How do we design cities, districts and neighbourhoods in such a way that life, people and the common good really take centre stage? The new creative discipline SOCIALTECTURE offers answers and guidance. In their presentation, initiators Julia Erdmann and Indra Musiol provide a practical overview and inspire us to break new ground together with the "9 Socialtecture Principles of Life". We will experience how SOCIALTECTURE co-creatively brings people together and provides impetus for a liveable, social and sustainable city - and how we can all become part of this movement.

18:00 – 19:30

Meeting point: Hansaplatz

Satellite event

Displacement and lingering: A stroll through contested spaces

The designers Irini Schwab and Anna Ulmer invite you to an alternative city tour. They will visit three places in St. Georg whose design – sometimes subtle, sometimes obvious – has an exclusionary effect. At Hansaplatz, you can expect an introduction with the bingo of defensive architecture. The designers will then present their two-year cooperative practice with the neighbourhood. The walk continues – past the large fence in front of the Drob Inn consumer space – towards the main railway station: here we will discuss the actions and impulses of "Mission", an artistic project self-managed by homeless people. The walk not only aims to advocate an accessible public space, but above all to encourage people to initiate participatory design processes in conflict-laden spaces.

18:15 – 19:00

at Design Zentrum

Talk

The long road to public space

In the joint panel talk, architect Heidi Fletcher and designer Mathias Knigge describe how long it can take for a design for public space to actually be realised. What barriers have to be overcome, what surprising turns a project can take. They will also discuss different perspectives on utilisation, with individual needs and wishes and often conflicting requirements from stakeholders such as institutions and trades.

19:00 – 19:45

at Design Zentrum

Talk

The city as a billboard: co-designing public spaces (CANCELLED)

Unfortunately, this talk cannot take place due to illness.

14:00 – 19:00

at Design Zentrum

Exhibition

Exhibition, café & community space (no registration needed)

Come on over! During Social Design Week, you can discover various social design projects, enjoy the sun on the terrace and chat over coffee, cake and board games in the small café. Admission is free. By the way: Greenpeace's interactive …

15:00 – 18:00

at Design Zentrum

Workshop

Change your perspective

As humans, we form our opinions through dialogue in our environment. We tend to surround ourselves with people whose perspectives we share. A vibrant democracy needs a variety of perspectives and the ability to tolerate different points of view in order to find solutions to social challenges. In this workshop, we will playfully explore the perspectives of others and use Responsible Design techniques to deepen our understanding of other realities of life.

Kostenlos anmelden

16:00 – 18:00

at Design Zentrum

Workshop

Public Speaking – Letters in public space

In this two-hour workshop with type designer Chris Campe, you will develop your own ideas for typographic interventions in public spaces. First, we will explore together the forms in which type is visible in the city, what commercial, political and design purposes it fulfils and what effect it can have. In the second step, you decide on a theme that you would like to place in public space and sketch out a site-specific typographic concept. With feedback from the group, you will refine the idea and make a plan for its realisation. Important: This workshop is about thinking, spinning and combining - not yet about realisation. The workshop is aimed at designers and anyone who wants to rethink type as a means of expression.

17:30 – 19:00

Meeting point: Alster-Bille-Elbe PARKS

Satellite event

Green design of public spaces in PARKS (no registration needed)

The Alster-Bille-Elbe PARKS project, or PARKS for short, began in 2019/20 on the initiative of the Hamburg Environment Agency. It is part of the Alster-Bille-Elbe green corridor, which aims to connect the three waters that give the project its name. Since 2021, PARKS has continued to develop with financial support, focusing on the flood basin and the old recycling centre in Hamburg-Hammerbrook. PARKS is a programmatic push in a new direction - a joint negotiation of what public space can be. It offers a new perspective on how to think, plan, design and use public green spaces. As part of Social Design Week, the team will give interested parties a tour of the site and talk about the project and its focus.

18:00 – 21:00

at Design Zentrum

Dinner

Social Dinner - Table Talks

We invite you to an interactive menu at the Elbarkaden! At this dinner evening, city stakeholders will come together at a long table to get to know each other, exchange ideas and make plans together: What ideas do we have for sustainability and inclusion in the city? What successful projects already exist? What does positive change look like and how can we initiate it? Over drinks and good food, we change the topics, the seats - and our perspectives - from time to time with short impulses. The dinner was initiated by Mathias Knigge, owner of grauwert - Büro für Inklusion und demographische Lösungen.

Secure your place now

12:30 – 14:00

at Design Zentrum

Exchange

Area speed dating with the FIND Network

Do you have a creative idea that creates added social value and are looking for a suitable space to realise it? Or do you have a space whose potential has not yet been fully utilised and would like to put it to multiple uses? Then come to our space speed dating event! Whether indoor or outdoor space, vertical or horizontal - there are opportunities for the multiple use of space everywhere. At our speed dating event, space seekers meet space providers to discuss specific utilisation ideas and suitable spaces. In classic speed dating rounds, the participants rotate regularly so that everyone gets to know each other. At the end, the event culminates in a joint lunch with drinks and snacks, where participants have the opportunity to deepen discussions, outline utilisation formats and exchange contacts.

14:00 – 19:00

at Design Zentrum

Exhibition

Exhibition, café & community space (no registration needed)

17:00 – 17:30

at Design Zentrum

Impulse

Legal Design for Legal Empowerment

We all navigate the legal system every day – but for many of us it seems like an impenetrable labyrinth. Complex jargon, complicated rules and non-transparent procedures create hurdles that make access to the law difficult. We want to change that! The keynote speech shows why designers play a central role at the interface between people and the law. User-centred methods and creative design approaches can help to make the law more understandable and accessible. In this way, we can empower and enable not only individuals but also entire communities to navigate the legal system with confidence.

Dr. Ann-Cathrin Brock and Franziska Jensen

18:30 – 19:00

at Design Zentrum

Impulse

Political design support - Prototype #1

The Politics Design Centre experiments with different approaches to cooperation between politics and design. With Political Design Support, it enriches processes in politics with a design-based perspective. The first prototype of this programme has provided insights into the opportunities and possibilities, but also the illusions of this collaboration. Philipp Cartier, Head of the Politics Design Centre, reports on how exactly design processes can also work in politics and how the second prototype is progressing.

19:00 – 20:00

Meeting point: GWA St. Pauli – Kölibri

Satellite event

ÖGBingo - After-work discussion on public design counselling (no registration needed)

Öffentliche Gestaltungsberatung St. Pauli supports neighbours in redesigning their everyday world. Together with GWA St. Pauli, the initiative has been offering free design support since 2011 for people who have no access to design for economic or socio-cultural reasons. Every Wednesday, we accept enquiries from local residents in an open design consultation at the GWA St. Pauli offices and work with them on problems, ideas and wishes from the neighbourhood. In this open after-work discussion with bingo, the design consultancy briefly presents its work and looks forward to questions and discussion. No registration is required.

19:00 – 20:00

at Design Zentrum

Conversation

Design connects - local alliances for participation, visibility and creative change

In a panel discussion with graphic designer Sandy Kaltenborn, Lisa Marie Zander (Mikropol, self-organised district centre Rothenburgsort) and the Werkhaus Münzviertel (on the interweaving of education, art and neighbourhood work), we will explore the potential of social design and art in neighbourhood and community work. In times of multiple crises, local collaborations between artists and designers and social initiatives are becoming increasingly important. However, there is often a lack of exchange of experience: What can such collaborations look like and how can they work? Where do social work and design meet? How can design help to revitalise spaces, convey messages and creatively protest against the shift to the right? The audience is invited to join in the discussion.

20:00 – 21:00

at Design Zentrum

Network

Speed dating for designers and social initiatives

Are you a designer or creative and want to become active yourself? Or does your social initiative need more visibility? Following the "Design connects" paneltalk, there will be a free speed dating event for creatives and social initiatives.

14:00 – 19:00

at Design Zentrum

Exhibition

Exhibition, café & community space (no registration needed)

14:00 – 16:00

at Design Zentrum

Exhibition

Pimp my Rollator – Exhibition (no registration needed)

Why do rollators look like they've escaped from design hell? Artists and creative minds are reinventing the rollator. Unique statement pieces instead of stigmatising everyday helpers! The works are shown in the exhibition, many of the artists are on site. Afterwards, the exhibits will roll through Hafencity in a parade. A colourful social intervention that invites reflection and discussion. Works by, among others: Amrei Fiedler (illustrator), Alexander Lachmann (artist, Lübeck), Niklas Lüders (graffiti artist, sprayer), project group from the Freie Schule für Gestaltung (FSG Hamburg), RØB (TAPE OVER, Berlin), Lena Schmid-Tupou (painter).

14:00 – 18:00

at Design Zentrum

Workshop

Pimp it yourself! (no registration needed)

Your rollator can do more than standard! At our open DIY station, you can customise your own rollator on site - spontaneously, easily and with support. Whether colourful, minimalist, playful or striking: whatever suits you is allowed. We provide materials, ideas and helping hands. Because it's about more than just looks: it's about expression, attitude and self-determination.

16:00 – 17:30

Start at Design Zentrum

Stroll

#PMR Corso (no registration needed)

Now it's getting loud: The pimped rollators leave the exhibition space and roll through Hafencity in a corso - colourful and self-confident. What is otherwise overlooked demands attention here.The corso from the Design Centre to the bus bridge makes visible what is often overlooked - and shows: Those who are mobile belong in the centre of society. And good design is not a question of age, but of attitude. We are looking for dialogue - with passers-by, the curious, fellow campaigners. Come along, show your presence and simply roll with us!

17:00 – 19:00

Meeting point: Hongkongstraße 10

Network

Clothes swap party at Greenpeace (without registration)

How can sustainable consumption, lively protest against the fast fashion industry, cool designs and social community be combined? With a clothes swap! Do you have clothes in your wardrobe that you no longer wear but could still bring joy to others? Bring some of your old clothes and take new ones home with you. Bring a maximum of 5 items to the clothes swap (washed and in good condition, no underwear) and take as many as you like.

17:30 – 18:30

at Design Zentrum

Network

#PMR Happy-Hour (no registration needed)

The #PMR Happy Hour is the communicative prelude to the subsequent impulse event on images of ageing, mobility and design. Visitors, designers and initiators will meet at eye level over a drink.The following questions will be discussed: How do we want to age, move and be seen in the future? What creative spaces does a society need that doesn't marginalise anyone? An hour of exchange and networking - before we go deeper together.

18:30 – 20:30

at Design Zentrum

Talk

#PimpMyRollator Impulses & Talks

An evening for everyone who wants design without age limits. Talks and impulses from experts in mobility, urban development, society and design. Including: Jula Lakritz (UX Designer & Accessibility Consultant, DB Systel GmbH), Marcel Schmucker (nursing scientist, doctoral student "Usability of rollators", Esslingen University of Applied Sciences/University of Tübingen), Sybille Salbrechter (Junior Researcher, FH Salzburg, Departments of Health Sciences, Design, Green Engineering), Elke Jensen (product designer + entrepreneur, CityCaddy UG), Anders Berggren (co-founder + CEO of byAcre, Copenhagen), Christa Möller-Metzger (journalist, spokesperson for the Green Party 60plus Hamburg, Vice Chair of European Green Seniors, Federal Executive Committee of the Green Seniors, initiator of the WHO's "Age Friendly City" project in Hamburg). The discussion will be moderated by Robert Eysoldt (Age Bombs) as well as Kathrin Bardt and Christiane Müller (Age of Style).

19:00 – 21:30

on Design Zentrum's roof terrace

Network

Good roof stories

obenstadt e.V. invites you to the first edition of Dach-Geschichten! Specially written short stories will be read above the rooftops of the city - as a prelude to the theme of social design and under the motto "Creating Community". Together with authors, fresh air and drinks, we want to rethink the city from above. The texts tell of togetherness, design and encounters - poetic, critical, light-footed. An evening to listen, exchange ideas and linger.

10:00 – 12:00

Meeting point: An der Kleiderkasse 5, Altona district

Satellite event

Giro Vitale - open space equipment for movement and communication (no registration needed)

We invite you to get to know and try out Giro Vitale at Neue Mitte Altona. These exercise programmes encourage without overtaxing. They are attractively designed and low-threshold. These equipment elements create inclusive places in the neighbourhood where people can come together and exchange ideas - and at the same time have a positive effect on health. We have been developing this concept for years and it has been successfully implemented throughout Germany by Michow. Over coffee, drinks and snacks, we look forward to discussing possible applications, integration into neighbourhood work and further developments in the urban space. We will meet at An d. Kleiderkasse 5, 22765 Hamburg (in front of the "Blaue Blume" restaurant).

14:00 – 19:00

at Design Zentrum

Exhibition

Exhibition, café & community space (no registration needed)

15:00 – 19:00

Meeting point: An der Kleiderkasse 7, Altona district

Satellite event

Urban Alcove - Experience innovative urban design: Tour (without registration)

A green oasis to linger and relax in the centre of Altona, which supports the overall aim of green-blue infrastructure and climate adaptation strategies. As part of the Social Design Week, we would like to present the Urban Alcove concept to you on site. The pavement can be extended by a generous seating area along the length of one or two car parks. At the same time, the greened rear side shields from street noise, creating a protected space for more social interaction. We look forward to telling you the story behind the project and experiencing innovative urban design. The project is funded by the "Adaptation of urban and rural areas to climate change" programme of the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building

17:00 – 18:00

Meeting point: An der Kleiderkasse 7, Altona district

Satellite event

Urban Alcove - Experience innovative urban design: Presentation with architect Heidi Fletcher (without registration)

18:15 – 18:45

at Design Zentrum

Impulse

Space, encounters, craftsmanship

In this lecture, studio formagora will provide insights into the team's participatory practice. You will learn how the studio uses methods such as urban mining, co-design and collaborative building events to design places with and for communities. Insights into projects will shed light on how joint design and craftsmanship strengthen resonant relationships, promote self-efficacy and overcome learned helplessness. We will then discuss how sufficiency succeeds in everyday design and what role democratic negotiation processes play in enabling genuine participation.

19:00 – 20:30

at Design Zentrum

Panel discussion

Creating Community – Let's talk

What role does design play in shaping community? How can we positively change social processes together? What challenges do communities bring with them - and how can they realise their greatest potential? Under our motto "Creating Community", we invite you to a panel discussion. With us: Anne Kaiser (editor-in-chief of PAGE), Johanna Padge (designer and former project manager of Alster-Bille-Elbe PARKS) and Sebastian Freudenberger (project manager at bayern design). Afterwards, we want to talk to you, network and exchange ideas.

11:00 – 12:30

Meeting point: Hansaplatz

Satellite event

Displacement and lingering: A stroll through contested spaces

14:00 – 19:00

at Design Zentrum

Exhibition

Exhibition, café & community space (no registration needed)

15:00 – 16:00

at Design Zentrum

Workshop

Transforming car parks into open spaces

Mixity.app is an app that allows the public to place virtual parklets in car parks in order to manifest their desire for a change in the street and to participate in the search for better use. Various alternatives to car parks can be selected and tried out using virtual reality. The workshop will start by introducing the app and how it works. Participants can then project various objects onto a marked car park area in front of the door. In the second part of the workshop, the participants design further ideas for the redesign of car parks that could be included in the app. Mixity.app is a spin-off of the urban planning seminars at HCU Hamburg between 2017 and 2023.

15:00 – 17:30

im Design Zentrum (at Design Zentrum)

Workshop

viel_leicht - your space for creativity

A workshop for anyone who wants to discover more creativity and ease. Creativity is not a talent, but something that is anchored in everyone. Often overlooked but always there. In this workshop, we open up a space together in which you can try things out, let go and discover. It's not about perfection or pressure to achieve results, but about experiencing creativity in its original form: free, playful and spontaneous. We look at how creative processes work and what they trigger in us. Why it is so important to give it time and attention. You will see how much there is in you if you get involved and create your own space for creativity.

15:00 – 18:00

Meeting point: Hamburg Central Library

Workshop

T-shirt printing workshop

Kommt zur T-Shirt-Druckwerkstatt mit Fab City: Gemeinsam nutzen wir Kreativität und Tools, um das Motto "Creating Community" auf Textilien zu bringen. Bringt ein cooles neues Design auf eure alte Kleidung - Upcycling statt Wegwerfen! Habt ihr schon Ideen? Dann bringt euren Druck als Vektordatei mit oder entwickelt vor Ort eure Designs – egal ob auf eurem eigenen Laptop oder einem unserer Geräte. Wir helfen euch gern dabei.