Now in its ninth year, Melbourne Design Week (MDW) returns in 2025 bigger and better than ever. From 15^th May through to 25^th May, Melbourne will come alive with all manner of design that is guaranteed to delight and inform, with more than 350 events planned over the eleven-day period.

MDW is a major event on the Australian design scene and showcases emerging as well as established designers. As an initiative of the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria MDW is curated and delivered by the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV).

Last year 100,000 visitors engaged with the event and this year promises to be even larger with the quality and quantity of offerings that address the theme, Design The World You Want. Just some of the events that will be happening at the NGV International, St Kilda Road, Melbourne and at various locations throughout metropolitan and regional Victoria are mentioned below – but be aware that the full list is incredibly extensive.

An exhibition, 100 Lights by Friends & Associates, will be held in North Melbourne’s Meat Market Stables with a spectacular display of lighting designs by more than 100 artists, designers and makers. Those participating include emerging and iconic designers such as Adam Goodrum, Ross Gardam, Tantri Mustika, Marlo Lyda, Jay Jermyn and many more.

NAU Design is partnership with Artedomus in a celebration of materiality, craftsmanship and Australian design in a rarely seen urban warehouse space in Flemington. This immersive exhibition unveils NAU’s latest furniture collection by esteemed Australian designer Tom Fereday, set in conversation with Artedomus’ natural stone slabs, renowned for their exquisite patterning and colour compositions. Each NAU piece is thoughtfully paired with a stone counterpart, creating a dialogue of form, function and materiality – a visual and tactile story that spans millennia.

A New Normal is an exhibition of designs that investigate how to make Melbourne a self-sufficient city by 2030 and 12 Melbourne architects will present designs and policy recommendations in an exhibition at the Boyd Baker Compound in Bacchus Marsh. Some practices involved are, MUIR, Baracco + Wright and NH Architecture.

To mark Volker Haug’s career milestone, the studio will present 20 Years of Volker Haug Studios, an exhibition that traces the evolution of Haug’s design philosophy from early works to his most iconic pieces. 

There will also be a survey of Trent Jansen’s career, titled Trent Jansen: Two Decades of Design Anthropology. The exhibition will showcase his early works repurposing road signs into stools to his award-winning collaborations with First Nations makers such as designers Johnny Nargoodah, Errol Evans and Tanya Singer and artist Maree Clark.

Sibling Architecture’s Deep Calm exhibition is the culmination of a year-long research project into how architecture can cater for neurodivergent audiences. Jessie French of OTHER MATTER is a contributor here too, one project among many for the experimental materials specialist (read more about her work with Aesop here).

Then there is Replica Autoprogrettazione by Complete Thought Studio (pictured below), an exhibition centred on four ‘replica’ chairs, each an instantly recognisable modernist design. Rather than their original materials, each replica is inventively recreated from a prosaic construction system, generally removed or concealed in a final piece of contemporary architecture. Each chair is accompanied by a set of graphical instructions, in the style of Enzo Mari’s ‘Autoprogettazione’, listing the required materials and showing how one can construct their own version of the replica through an intricate assemblage of off-the-shelf componentry. Open 10am-4pm each day of MDW, you can also find out about their hosted events here.

Designer talks by the Dancing Pumpkin sees Sarah Lynn Rees, Danielle Brustman, Fiona Lynch and Jessie French in pop-up talks with NGV Curator Timothy Moore at NGV International to discuss themes of memory and materials. While a dinner at Smith & Daughters hosted by Leyla Acaroglu and Alice Blackwood will explore the themes of food systems, climate impact on the design and construction sectors and building resilience. And Open House Melbourne will present Beyond the Grave a two-day symposium focused on the architecture, places, issues and practices associated with the end of life.

Leading design studios, brands and showrooms will exhibit during the festival including lighting brand Objects For Thought presenting their first collaboration with Melbourne-based designer Jordan Fleming, Jardan will lead factory tours and repurposing workshops and there will be presentations from KFive, Tait, Muji, Zuster, and Dowel Jones with Curio Practice.

Galleries across the city will activate with exhibitions from Sophie Gannon Gallery, Craft, Cordon Salon and Oigall Projects. While Artbank and Agency Projects will present Catch: Tales of First Nations Fishing through the Artbank Collection, which highlights the design talent of First Nations designers.

Related: Interview with Tosin Oshinowo

The windows of Hali’s showroom on Church Street, Richmond will be transformed from a rug gallery into an art gallery from 13th to 27th May as part. Surfacing is an exhibition of new work by emerging ceramic artist Alexandra Howie, presented by Amy Voterakis in collaboration with HALI Rugs. Howie’s debut solo exhibition features a series of hand-built ceramic vessels inspired by the carved marble drapery of Classical and Hellenistic sculpture. Archetypal forms are overlaid with hand-sculpted clay, meticulously refined using a scalpel and burnisher before being glazed.

“This exhibition, my first, is a celebration of emergence. Sculpting is an act of surfacing – of drawing something from within and allowing it to take shape in the physical world,” says Howie. “There is a ritual in this process – a quiet, deliberate practice of shaping, folding and refining. Each piece is a vessel, not just of form but of experience – holding memory, emotion and the imprint of time and touch. The vessels stand as both object and metaphor, embodying the idea that we, too, hold and contain our own narratives, histories and transformations.”

Fletcher Arts presents ACDC, Art Craft Design + Curiosities, Saturday 17th to 24th May. Set in the private surrounds of a Melbourne home, five Australian designers – Ross Didier, Arthur Koutoulas, Daniel Barbera, Porcelain Bear and Two Lines Studio – come together to present new works and explore what is art, design and craft, and question the importance of curiosity. This exhibition is curated by Sarah Fletcher with sounds by James Richards. A special panel discussion will be held on Monday 19^th May, 4pm to 6pm and will be moderated by Annie Reid with Beatrix Rowe, Sarah Fletcher, Shannon McGrath, Shelley Hannigan and Jan Henderson. A free event and bookings essential – more information here.

Designing Density: Creating Liveable Communities For All Victorians is set for Thursday 15th May at 7.45am until 9.30am. Plus Architecture will present a panel discussion at their studio at 107 Elizabeth Street Melbourne, exploring how thoughtful densification can create more liveable, sustainable communities across Victoria. The discussion – moderated by Jan Henderson and featuring Candice Ng, Ian Briggs, Gerhana Waty and Heather Cunsolo – will examine innovative approaches to urban density that respond to contemporary living patterns, from multi-generational housing to tailored developments in activity zones. A free event and bookings essential – more information here.

Manufacturing A Better Tomorrow: A New Narrative In Design hits on Tuesday 20th May, 6pm to 8pm. Jardan will host a panel discussion at their 522 Church Street showroom exploring how thoughtful design and in-house manufacturing contribute to a more sustainable future. Facilitated by Jan Henderson with panel members Nick Garnham, Max Cairns and Rebecca Trenorden, this is another free event but bookings are essential. More information here.

Work Shop: Low Key, Tony Maticevski x Fiona Lynch and Fiona Lynch Archive is on from 15th to 17th May and 22nd to 23rd May. Here, Fiona Lynch Office presents three exhibitions in its studio space in Collingwood. Low Key is an exhibition exploring the quiet joy of research and making. Artists and designers include Claudia Lau, Marlo Lyda, Simone Tops, Ella Saddington, Annie Paxton, Olivia Bossy, Jordan Fleming, Felix Jerome Grech, and Fiona Lynch.

Toni Maticevski X Fiona Lynch is a collaboration exploring illumination and beauty with a lighting and furniture project repurposing fabric remnants. Fiona Lynch Archive exhibits the studio’s personal collection of furniture, lighting and objects collected and made by the studio. An archive of the studio’s process and thinking over the past 14 years. Free, no booking required. More information here. 

The 11th iteration of the Melbourne Art Book Fair stallholder fair will be a highlight of the week as it brings together the best publishers and designers from the Asia-Pacific region from 16^th to 18th May at NGV International. In 2025 the Fair features a strong presence from South-East Asian publishers including Cahyati Press (Indonesia), Spacebar Zine (Thailand), and Suburbia Projects (Malaysia), along with leading and emerging publishers from New Zealand. 

The Melbourne Design Week Award, presented by Mercedes-Benz Australia is now in its sixth year and the prestigious accolade will be awarded to a designer or project for their outstanding contribution to Australia’s largest international design event. The winner will be announced at the opening of Melbourne Design Week.

With so many extraordinary happenings to attend it’s challenging to mention just a few, however, the full program and bookings will be available online from mid-April 2025. The majority of Melbourne Design Week is free to attend with some events requiring bookings due to venue capacities. 

Melbourne Design Week is on its way so Australia get ready to be amazed.

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Tokyo-based Hiroshi Nakamura in profile