Auckland Design Week is excited to announce its first showcase, which will take place this March. This new annual event will provide a place for the city’s creative thinkers, design practitioners, showrooms, and retailers to come together and celebrate the essence of design and how it influences our lives.
The independently run Auckland Design Week will offer exhibitions, activations, and immersive experiences. There will also be a focus on innovative, ethical, and sustainable solutions that are shaping the future of our spaces and communities.
“Despite being a city that loves design – and our tendency to punch above our weight on the global stage, the events that champion local and international design are few and far between. The calendar for design events in New Zealand is either highly specialised or exclusively for design professionals,” said ADW Director Jen Jones.
“Auckland Design Week will be a window into our culture, to our work, and an open and inclusive invitation to come on in.”
Jones is a passionate design advocate with over ten years of experience working with leading designers to manage, develop, and deliver diverse design/build projects for commercial businesses, including Auckland Airport, BNZ, Flight Centre, Lumino, and a portfolio of high-end residential clients.
The first showcase will have three Design Districts: Grey Lynn, Parnell, and Mt Eden/Uptown, each with a unique personality that reflects the local design community, enabling visitors to explore events a short walking distance from each other with an annual overarching curatorial theme.
The central hub, the Design Depot at Ponsonby Central’s Sapphire Room, will provide a space for brands and designers from outside the Districts to exhibit. With a biophilia-inspired concept, the Depot will showcase sustainability brands and those connected to nature.
“We’re delighted to be bringing the colour to Auckland Design Week. It’s a fantastic opportunity for the city’s designers, showrooms, and suppliers to come together to showcase and share their creativity and the difference they can make to create and grow a vibrant city we all can enjoy,” said Resene’s Marketing Manager, Karen Warman.
“Resene started in a Wellington garage in 1946, and over all those years, so many designers have inspired us on our journey. Auckland Design Week is an opportunity for us to repay that inspiration and support the next generation of designers.”
The 2024 theme, “Bold & Brave,” urges a departure from the prevailing white-on-white aesthetic and encourages vibrant expression through daring choices in colour, shape, and materiality.
More than visual, Bold & Brave extends influence to environmental responsibility, calling for designers to challenge the status quo and ensuring design-led decisions prioritise recycled materials and restoration efforts.
