FutureDesignDays 2001 started out as an experiment. Would it really be possible to gather designers and architects from all over the world to debate and talk about design? Would there be an audience, and would it understand how important it was to listen, learn and...

FutureDesignDays 2002 concentrated on highlighting the people with the courage to cross all boundaries in their work. The people whose work advanced the boundaries of what can be achieved and what design can signify. And they were all there. The stage was invaded by...

Exhibitions, parties, mingling, a very extensive speaker list and more than 1,000 visitors. The theme of FutureDesignDays 2003 was “They said it couldn’t be done”. But everyone who attended saw that it could be done. New ties were formed between visitors and speakers....

FutureDesignDays 2004 left its hometown Borås for the swedish capital Stockholm. The event grew big at the Stockholm International Fairs with a huge EXPO, compared to what was exposed at Åhaga in Borås. The conference developed further and Breakout Sessions were...

The festival of 2005 took on a different shape. It became more like four festivals in one – a conference with four blocks, each providing in-depth information and inspiration in the fields of industrial design, architecture, new media and fashion. The Breakout...

Since FutureDesignDays is an ongoing process, never completed or ready to settle down, this years festival­ just like all the other festivals took on a different shape.­ The intimicy was in focus. The goal was to create­ a tight and intensive meeting place with...

Designer, artist Helsinki / NYC The star of Finnish design! Stefan Lindfors is a designer, an architect, an artist and a sculptor – all wrapped up in rock star packaging. With projects ranging from art installations at the Olympics to designin petrol cans for the...

Media strategist and analyst USA “As you know, human civilisation is currently undergoing a digital revolution that is redefining the way we communicate and consume. It is truly a revolutionary experience, with tectonic changes in human behaviour and interaction.”...

Managing director and design manager Finland Despite strongly worded warnings against buying Marimekko, Kirsti Paakkanen decided to take over the tottering company in 1991. What she has since achieved is almost beyond compare. Marimekko, which was founded in 1951 by...

Industrial designer Sweden While still a design student, Cecilia Hertz went to NASA and the Johnson Space Center in Houston and showed 8000 engineers how to build a space ambulance. Hertz used design methodology and new thinking to solve what a lot of space engineers...

Costume designer US Kym Barrett has created some of the most influential clothing styles in recent years. Her designs for The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions turned the eyes of the whole fashion world in her direction. The pictures of the...

Industrial designer Italy / UK George Sowden (b. 1942) began his career in the 70s as a designer for the Italian electronics giant, Olivetti, where he designed some of the first computers. And it was there that Sowden’s really began to focus on electronics products....