Programme

from 10:00 AM
Admission and Accreditation

10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Registration of Newcomer Finalists, Speakers and Gold Winners by 1:00 PM at the “Stage Briefing” counter

10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Interactive exhibition of the award-winning products and projects of the German Design Awards 2026, as well as the Newcomer Finalists

10:00 AM – 1:30 PM
Press Photography

10:00 AM – 1:30 PM
Document Collection for “Winners” (“Gold” winners receive their documents on stage) and Marketing Services Station

11:00 - 12:30 PM
German Design Awards Confessions Talks hosted by Archtonic’s Simon Keane-Cowell

1:30 PM
Admission – Panorama Hall

2:00 PM – 4:30 PM
Award Show

4:30 PM – 6:00 PM
Press Photography of all Gold winners and Newcomer Finalists

4:30 PM – 6:00 PM
Document Collection for “Winners” (“Gold” winners receive their certificates on stage) and Marketing Services Station

4:30 PM – 6:00 PM
Get Together

11:00 AM – 11:45 AM

Our guests:
Sanna Wåhlin, Interior Architect and Partner, Note Design Studio
Patrick Speck, Leader of LIXIL Global Design EMENA

The latest edition of the Confessions talk series explores the tension between success and failure. The conversation focuses on the motivations, doubts and experiences that shape creative careers, as well as how designers navigate expectations, setbacks and mental wellbeing.

A reflective exchange on ambition and vulnerability, on learning from failure, and on what often lies beneath visible success.

11:45 AM – 12:30 PM

Our guest: Naoto Fukasawa
Fukasawa is one of the most influential designers of our time. His work is defined by radical simplicity, quiet intelligence and a design approach rooted in close observation of everyday life.

In conversation, he reflects on design as a cultural practice, on the conscious use of reduction and responsibility, and on how design can offer orientation without demanding attention.

1:30 PM – 2:00 PM
Admission to the Hall

2:00 PM – 4:30 PM
Award Show featuring

• Musical accompaniment by Maidatouch
   

• Welcome address by host Annabelle Mandeng and Lutz Dietzold (CEO, German Design Council)
  Greetings from Dr Ina Hartwig, City Councillor and Head of the Department of Culture and Science, Frankfurt am Main, and Prof. Pradyumna Vyas, President of the World Design Organisation
   

• Panel discussion with Nicole Srock.Stanley, Vice President of the German Design Council, Prof. Mike Richter, President of the German Design Council and Detlef Braun, Managing Director of Messe Frankfurt.
   
• Talks with Lutz Dietzold and the jurors Patrick Speck, Prof. Birgit Mager, Martin Pauli, Charles O. Job, Wiebke Meyer-Lüters and Teresa Franqueira
   
• Award Presentations by Lutz Dietzold, including announcements and honours for the Gold winners in the categories: Excellent Architecture, Excellent Communications Design, and Excellent Product Design
   
• The Newcomer: Introduction of the Newcomer Finalists and announcement of the Newcomer of the Year 2026
   
• Laudation for the Personality of the Year 2026 with Sheila Loewe, President of the Loewe Foundation
   
• Group Photo of all Goldwinners and Newcomer Finalists on stage