Light as a symbol of knowledge, truth, hope, and life. The theme of the 28th edition of the largest Central European design and fashion festival is a phenomenon that influences our senses, emotions, and everyday life. This year, DesignBlok will welcome around 300 curated designers, studios, and brands from the Czech Republic and abroad. Alongside installations by exhibiting designers, studios, schools, and companies, the program will also feature main curated exhibitions dedicated to design created at the initiative of Václav Havel for Prague Castle, retro lamps, and Czech crafts. Key installations by Eva Eisler and Maxim Velčovský will also take center stage. For the first time, the festival will present itself in a new graphic identity by the Permanent Office studio, which invited photographer Viktorie Macánová to collaborate on this year’s visual. The main venue returns to the Trade Fair Palace (Veletržní palác) of the National Gallery Prague, while also serving as the first event following the extensive reconstruction of the Industrial Palace (Průmyslový palác) at the Prague Exhibition Grounds. Professionals’ Day will take place on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, alongside the DesignBlok Talks conference, which will now span two days. The festival will be open to the public from Wednesday, October 7, to Sunday, October 11, 2026.
Exploring light on a symbolic and practical level
Light is the central theme of the twenty-eighth edition of DesignBlok, permeating this year’s visual identity, curated exhibitions, and the DesignBlok Talks conference program. The festival will present it on both a symbolic and practical level—as a cultural phenomenon, a technological tool, and a prominent element of architecture, design, and everyday life.
“The theme of this year’s DesignBlok will be light as a symbol of knowledge, truth, hope, and life. It will be reflected in the festival program on both abstract and entirely concrete levels. In the Prague Castle Riding School, we will present the exhibition Design for Václav Havel to mark the 90th anniversary of the birth of the first president of the free Czech state—a figure who embodies the values we want to commemorate through this theme. Together with the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, we will present an exhibition of retro lamps from the 1950s–1980s from the Central European region. We have also prepared a significant collaboration with the National Gallery in the Trade Fair Palace building, which will feature a light performance installation by Maxim Velčovský. We all need light to live, and DesignBlok will provide it in abundance,” says Jana Zielinski, the festival director.
The new visual puts visitors in the spotlight
Following a closed competition, the Permanent Office studio, led by creative director Jiří Mocek, became the author of DesignBlok’s new graphic identity. This year’s festival visual builds on the established slogan “You can’t escape design!” and shifts it to the new motif “You can’t escape light!” The campaign was created in collaboration with talented young photographer Viktorie Macánová, who regularly works with the festival and has been attending it since her studies at UMPRUM.
The visual places real people connected to the festival at the center of attention: visitors, designers, and team members who step out of the dark, illuminated by a cone of light. “Design fans of all ages give DesignBlok its unique atmosphere. In the campaign, you can meet friends Míša and Naďa, who have regularly attended the festival for many years and have worked in culture themselves; Anežka, a design student and now also our colleague; adorable Beatka, who hasn’t missed the festival with her parents since she was born; and UMPRUM students Anton, Barbora, Jáchym, Miloslav, Sofie, and Tereza, for whom DesignBlok is an inspiration and an opportunity to showcase their talent. The campaign also features an icon of contemporary Czech design, Maxim Velčovský, who literally grew up with the festival and today regularly visits not only as an exhibitor but also as a father,” says Patrik Florián, Head of Marketing & Communication. The stories of the individual protagonists will be gradually revealed on the festival’s social networks.
“This year kicks off our long-term collaboration with DesignBlok. The festival has a rich history, and photo editorials have become its DNA, which we didn’t want to abandon. However, we took a rather radical approach in changing their character. Our goal was to bring more authenticity and a real atmosphere to the visuals—the environment, the mood, the exhibitors, and the visitors on whom the entire festival stands,” describes Jiří Mocek.
“I would never have expected to one day shoot the visual for DesignBlok. To me, it means that my work makes sense, but at the same time, I also feel a great responsibility and an opportunity to look back at years of work. It was important to me that the campaign felt human. At the same time, we incorporated distinct design elements into the photographs, such as original lamps that will be part of one of the exhibitions. The static photos are complemented by motion versions that further develop the campaign,” adds Viktorie Macánová.
DesignBlok Talks conference expanded to two days
The second edition of DesignBlok Talks, the largest Czech conference on design, architecture, and development, will now take place over two days, October 6 and 7, 2026, in the historic central hall of the Industrial Palace at the Prague Exhibition Grounds. A series of lectures, panel discussions, and interviews will thematically focus on light as a design phenomenon, an architectural tool, and a cultural symbol. The conference is created in collaboration with the world’s most-read design portal, Dezeen. One of the main moderators of the conference will be Dezeen’s Editor-in-Chief, Max Fraser, who will also serve as the president of the DesignBlok Awards jury.
International speakers will include Laurids Gallée, Daniel Rybakken, Lee Broom, and Judith van Vliet. The Czech scene will be represented by Jan Plecháč (Moser), Martin Wichterle (Rückl, Bomma), Michaela Tomišková and Jakub Janďourek (Dechem), Maxim Velčovský (Lasvit), Václav Mlynář, Lucie Koldová, Jiří Zavadil (Vitra), and David Řezníček (Konsepti). Additional names of Czech and international speakers will be announced gradually.
Design for Václav Havel, Eva Eisler, and the best of Czech design and craft at Prague Castle
In collaboration with Prague Castle, DesignBlok continues to open up the exceptional spaces of the castle complex. Three exhibition projects will be on display at the Castle. “DesignBlok at the Castle will once again be a showcase of the best of Czech design in 2026. Moreover, we are preparing an exhibition commemorating what would have been the ninetieth birthday of Václav Havel, who brought a number of exceptional creators to the Castle, such as Bořek Šípek, Jiří Pelcl, and Eva Jiřičná. Especially for this year’s DesignBlok, we will also open the Chapel of the Holy Cross, where one of the most prominent Czech designers, Eva Eisler, has prepared an installation,” says Veronika Wolf, Cultural and Program Director of Prague Castle, inviting people to the event.
The exhibition Design for Václav Havel will present the first post-November president as a remarkably sensitive patron who, after 1989, fundamentally influenced the appearance of Prague Castle and imbued it with a new cultural and aesthetic identity. The exhibition is being prepared by DesignBlok and Prague Castle in cooperation with the VIZE 97 Foundation. The curators of the exhibition are Andrea Běhounková and Jana Zielinski. In the Prague Castle Riding School, visitors will see iconic works created for Prague Castle on President Havel’s initiative, such as the legendary Olga chair by Bořek Šípek designed for the Spanish Hall, hand-woven carpets, original glass objects, and the Castle Guard uniforms designed by Theodor Pištěk.
The fourth edition of the curated High Craft exhibition, prepared under the auspices of Vogue CS, will also take place in the Riding School, presenting over two dozen carefully selected domestic creators and brands that build on traditional Czech crafts. With the help of innovative technologies, ecological approaches, and the highest aesthetic standards, they develop and propel them from the present to the future.
DesignBlok will open the Chapel of the Holy Cross in the 2nd Courtyard of Prague Castle for the first time, thanks to the Oneness installation by designer and artist Eva Eisler. The installation will transform the deconsecrated chapel into a place for slowing down and quietening, where visitors can momentarily detach from the daily stream of stimuli and return to themselves. The exhibition is curated by art historian and DesignBlok Program Board member Michaela Kádnerová.
The Design for Václav Havel exhibition and Eva Eisler’s Oneness installation will be on display until January 3, 2027.
The heart of the festival will beat in the Trade Fair Palace of the National Gallery Prague
The Trade Fair Palace of the National Gallery Prague becomes the key festival location, to which DesignBlok returns following a successful collaboration the year before last. Hundreds of exhibitions by leading European designers, students, young talents, and manufacturers will be spread across the mezzanine, the third and fifth floors, the Small Hall, and the Great Hall. The exterior of the palace and the adjacent Kolektor café will also serve as festival venues. A performance installation by Maxim Velčovský dedicated to light, movement, and community gatherings will be on view in the Small Hall.
“We are happy to build on our collaboration from 2023. Connecting NGP with DesignBlok is the result of the gallery’s effort to open up to contemporary design and new audiences, and to follow current trends of bridging art, design, and the creative industry. It is also an effort by the National Gallery Prague to bring the gallery closer to young people,” states Olga Kotková, General Director of the National Gallery Prague. Visitors with a festival pass will have access to all exhibitions in the Trade Fair Palace, including the current NGP 230 Years exhibition and the Atlas space.
Designers and retro lamps from the 1950s–1980s at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague
In the neo-Renaissance halls of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, alongside dozens of product designers, fashion designers, jewelers, and illustrators, one of the main exhibitions will be presented, titled Retro Lamps: Redis
covered Stories of Czechoslovak Design from the 50s to the 80s. Curated by journalist and DesignBlok Program Board member Eva Slunečková, the exhibition expands upon a project by the Parisian gallery Initio Arts & Design. Co-produced with the Museum of Decorative Arts, it will focus on the phenomenon of modern lighting, with a special emphasis on mass-produced table, floor, and pendant lamps. Extraordinary attention will be paid to the designers—Helena Frantová, Josef Hůrka, Stanislav Indra, Ján Šuchaň, Štěpán Tabery, and Ivan Jakeš—whose stories often remain hidden behind the manufacturing companies they worked for.
“We all know these lamps and quite possibly even have them at home—often in living rooms, attics, or garages—but we know almost nothing about their authorship. The exhibition will be the first major initiative addressing the topic of mass-produced lighting from the 50s to the 80s, about which we paradoxically know so little today. Attention will finally be focused on those who quietly stood in the shadow of their fame the whole time: the designers,” notes Eva Slunečková. The exhibition will be on view on the 1st floor of the museum until November 1, 2026.
“We are delighted that the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague can once again be an important partner of DesignBlok and host this Europeanly significant design showcase in its halls. I am glad that this year we are also jointly realizing the main exhibition project,” adds Radim Vondráček, Director of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague.
First opening of the Industrial Palace after extensive reconstruction
The Industrial Palace at the Prague Exhibition Grounds shares a history with DesignBlok; the festival first took place there in 2015 and continued there until 2019. Now it returns to this iconic space, though prior to its complete finishing, only to the historic central hall. DesignBlok will be the first event to open the palace to the public after a seven-year reconstruction.
“It is symbolic that DesignBlok will be the first major event in the reopened palace, the reconstruction of which literally all of Prague has been waiting for. After eighteen years, a space that is unique and original on a European scale—architecturally, culturally, and with its enormous business potential—is opening to the public. And I am convinced that the combination of the site’s top-tier architecture and Central Europe’s significant design festival will elevate both the Exhibition Grounds and Prague to the next level. We all believe that next year will be the year DesignBlok shines in the Industrial Palace in all its glory and full power,” comments Tomáš Hübl, Chairman of the Board of the Prague Exhibition Grounds.
The program in the Industrial Palace will offer the DesignBlok Talks conference on Tuesday and Wednesday, a designer AZ Quiz on Wednesday, and the grand opening of the palace on Thursday in cooperation with the Prague City Hall and the Prague Exhibition Grounds. Thursday’s program will also include the presentation of the DesignBlok Awards 2026, a prestigious festival accolade awarded by an international expert jury. On Saturday, the program will conclude with fashion shows by the Diploma Selection finalists.
Support for talents, accompanying program, and installations in the city
The twelfth edition of the European graduate competition DesignBlok Diploma Selection will present the diploma projects of product and fashion design graduates from prestigious European universities. The fashion shows will take place on Saturday in the Industrial Palace in the presence of an international expert jury, while the exhibition of product works will be on view in the Trade Fair Palace. A taste of the upcoming generation of European design stars will also be offered by presentations from Central European schools and universities entitled School Today, as well as the support program for emerging designers, DesignBlok Talent Cards.
Throughout the festival week, the DesignBlok Stage in the Trade Fair Palace will offer lectures and discussions. The accompanying program will also include creative workshops, activities for families with children, and the continuation of running and other community activities under the Design(Blok) Lovers Club platform. In the evening, the Kolektor café in the Trade Fair Palace will transform into an afterparty space where festival gatherings will continue even after official exhibition hours. Traditionally, around fifty galleries, showrooms, design stores, and other venues across Prague also join DesignBlok.
Professionals’ Day will take place on October 6, 2026, the DesignBlok Talks conference will be held on October 6 and 7, 2026, and the festival will be open to the public from October 7 to 11, 2026. DesignBlok will take place at several key locations, including the Trade Fair Palace of the National Gallery Prague, the Prague Castle Riding School including the Chapel of the Holy Cross, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, and the Industrial Palace at the Prague Exhibition Grounds. It is also complemented by dozens of showrooms, galleries, and other locations throughout Prague. Tickets are available on presale at a discounted price at designblok.cz.
