SHAPING WHAT COMES NEXT: FORM/FUTURE 2026 IN BERLIN
Bringing design, culture and architecture journalists to the heart of Berlin’s design debate.
Image by FORM / FUTURE, Konstantin Gastmann
On September 10th 2026, around 700 guests and more than 50 international speakers came to Tempelhof Airport for FORM / FUTURE. In the airport’s main hall, experts from design and business met voices from politics and society to discuss how design can shape the transformation of cities and economies.
The conference ran under the motto „Process & Principles“ and coincided with a milestone for the city. Berlin has held the title UNESCO City of Design for 20 years, and FORM / FUTURE used the anniversary to put design’s role in urban development centre stage.
The programme showed how closely design and Berlin’s future belong together. Talks on EXPO 2025 Berlin and the Olympic Games sat next to sessions on city branding and futures thinking. Speakers presented public legal design as an approach that helps citizens find their way through legislative processes and take part in them. Another strand explored how cities can stay liveable while they go through profound change.
A recurring theme concerned the role of designers inside companies. AI now handles many traditional execution tasks and reshapes teams and business models along the way. The speakers argued that this shift makes designers more important than ever, because companies need people who spot connections across disciplines and steer them into productive processes. Early feedback from participants confirmed the impression the day had already left.
Good ideas travel further when the right people experience them first-hand.
Press Factory organised and hosted the press delegation for FORM / FUTURE 2026. We brought together a curated group of local and international journalists who write about design, culture, architecture and urban development. Our team took care of the invitations and coordinated the guests ahead of their arrival, then accompanied the delegation throughout its stay.
From September 9th to 12th, the journalists experienced the conference alongside a cultural programme across Berlin, with visits to the Kunstgewerbemuseum, the Neue Nationalgalerie and Perform! as well as a vernissage at the Mies van der Rohe Haus. Our aim was to create space for meaningful encounters between the conference and the people who report on the ideas that shape it.
FORM / FUTURE made a strong case for meeting places that make good examples visible and open them up for discussion. With the press delegation, we carried that idea into the media and let the journalists experience the conference and the city first-hand.
