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.