Six highlights from Dutch Design Week 2026: R.A.W. (Rebel, Authentic, Worth)

The year has flown by, and once again I was lucky enough to visit Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. The city seems to change every year, with new buildings popping up and new creative areas to explore. This time I made my way through Strijp-T+R and Strijp-S, Design Academy Eindhoven and various locations across the city centre.

This year’s theme, R.A.W. (Rebel, Authentic, Worth), embraced the unpolished, the exploratory and the experimental: a place where designers challenge existing ideas, explore new possibilities and reveal how change takes shape. Here are six of my highlights.

Words by Leonie Tenthof van Noorden, CMF Design Lead at tangerine.
Edited by Laurie Bushe.

 

Layered Colour

NCS Colour created a beautiful installation that played with how we perceive colour through layered fabrics. Depending on where you entered and stood, the colours shifted, changing your sense of tone and depth in the space.

Studio Rens overlaid colours through screen printing to create tiles and a bedding collection with a playful, handcrafted feel. Phlox van Oppen’s textiles went further: more than ten layers, manipulated by hand to create openings that reveal the colours beneath. This ritual of revealing was beautiful, keeping your attention lingering as you searched the surface.

In transport interiors there are so many facets to consider, and we often play with colour reveals, watching how colours change once they are brought together in combination. These projects were a lovely reminder of how much depth layering can add.

 

 

Crafted Aluminium

Aluminium is usually associated with precision. At the Echo exhibition, designers were invited to explore what could be made from aluminium waste.

The crafted expression of the material really stood out: soft forms shaped under pressure, and hand-finished surfaces that showed just how versatile aluminium can be. A perfect fit for the R.A.W. theme.

It sparked my curiosity. Could more products embrace the imperfect nature of their materials, while still meeting the demands of high-volume manufacturing?

 

 

Bio-materials

Bio-based materials were everywhere. Mozi Studio created furniture from biologically produced polymers, with lovely textures. Knit in Motion and Studio Joris de Groot shared their ongoing research into bio-based PLA mono-materials, shaped through knitting, welding and 3D printing.

The New Order of Fashion dedicated its exhibition to wool and its ‘forgotten’ qualities, with dyeing and weaving done in small batches through regional production.

“What is the most sustainable material?” is a question we are often asked. Sustainability depends on context as much as on the material itself, so we keep asking what the right solution is for each individual project.

 

 

Dynamic Lighting

This year, lights moved, danced and played with texture, bringing a sense of optimism through kinetic motion.

Inspired by fireflies, Studio Toer’s installation evoked the magic of a warm summer night out in nature. APTUM draped its lights in textile, letting them glow in a soft, diffuse and warm way. Rive Roshan’s colourful pillars, named ‘Beacon of Hope’, played with colour, texture and moving light to bring a sense of optimism in rapidly changing times.

Each was a reminder that design can transport you, and that light is one of the most powerful tools we have for creating a sense of wellbeing.

 

 

Rejecting AI

I can’t write about this year without mentioning AI. It wasn’t very present, and the projects that did address it focused on rejecting it.

Frank Tjepkema’s ‘Infinite Scroll’ looked at one of the most automated movements we make as humans, scrolling through our phones, and asked: ‘Why haven’t we designed an AI to do this for us?’ Simon Weckert created clothing that camouflages its wearer from AI-powered surveillance in public spaces. fffunction.studio put the focus back on people, asking ‘Have you asked your mother?’ as a prompt to test assumptions with real people rather than AI.

AI can’t be creative; that is where humans come in, and it is something we need to protect.

 

 

Nostalgia

The Van Abbemuseum featured playful exhibitions where you could draw on the floor or build giant marble tracks, giving kids and adults alike a moment to play freely. Nicole Lee’s Clayboard boxes reminded us of the joy of a cardboard box, which can transform with nothing more than a simple drawing.

And an icon of every Dutch kitchen, the Philips Senseo coffee machine, made a nostalgic appearance. Seeing its first 3D-printed prototype from 1996 was a real treat.

 

 

In Summary

Dutch Design Week 2026 showed that raw doesn’t mean unfinished. It means being open about materials, curious about process and confident enough to question the technology around us.

Some of my favourite moments can’t be captured in pictures. They were conversations with fellow designers about their process and how their work came to life.

It was a hugely inspiring few days. Until next year, Eindhoven!