mcbw 2025

Orga­nized by bay­ern design, munich cre­ative busi­ness week (mcbw) is the largest design event in Ger­many and will take place for the 14^th time from May 10 to 18, 2025. The par­tic­i­pa­tion-for­ward pro­gram will be geared towards experts and the gen­er­al pub­lic alike.

“How to design a vibrant com­mu­ni­ty” will be the mot­to of mcbw 2025 to address some of the most press­ing ques­tions of our time: How can soci­ety and democ­ra­cy be shaped and trans­formed into a true expe­ri­ence? How can design con­tribute to fos­ter­ing a sense of com­mu­ni­ty and bring­ing about pos­i­tive social change? What types of offer­ings ensure ongo­ing live­ly exchange and dialog?

With instal­la­tions and events in pub­lic spaces, cre­ative work­shops, and a diver­si­fied pro­gram offered at the fes­ti­val hub, this year’s mcbw will take these ques­tions and poten­tial answers right into the heart of the city and soci­ety. Log­i­cal­ly, the orga­niz­ers decid­ed against mak­ing mcbw design sum­mit, the con­tex­tu­al lead event, the respon­si­bil­i­ty of one sin­gle mcbw Cre­ative Explor­er. Instead, a pan­el of six top-cal­iber Cre­ative Explor­ers will share their per­spec­tives, prompt­ing involve­ment and dis­cus­sions. The pan­el will include Tim Brown, Kim Dabbs, Alona Kharachenko, Ezio Manzi­ni, Ana Relvão, and Carsten Waldeck. In addi­tion, a nation­wide call for papers has been launched to add voic­es to the vibrant com­mu­ni­ty at mcbw design sum­mit. The over­whelm­ing response to this call has proven the orga­niz­er and its approach right – an addi­tion­al six speak­ers will be select­ed from the close to 80 entries received from with­in Ger­many and abroad.

From May 10 to 18, 2025, mcbw and its numer­ous pro­gram part­ners will offer an inter­ac­tive pro­gram in the heart of the city, present new ideas and trends, and kin­dle dis­cus­sions among atten­dees – par­tic­i­pa­tion is always welcome!

mcbw pub­lic space x Sin­te­si Labs

Take a seat is the title of an instal­la­tion designed espe­cial­ly for mcbw that will be set up on the south lawn at Alte Pinakothek. The title is meant to be tak­en lit­er­al­ly: A din­ing table mea­sur­ing approx­i­mate­ly 23 meters includ­ing bench­es will be a place to sit down, share sto­ries, and forge rela­tion­ships. Stim­uli for dis­cus­sions in the form of games and texts will be pro­vid­ed on the table­top. In the evenings, a neon sign with alter­nat­ing texts vis­i­ble even from a dis­tance will entice the curi­ous to take a clos­er look. How­ev­er, the main attrac­tion will be the light­ing at the table, which will not turn on until at least two peo­ple take a seat, fac­ing each oth­er – inter­ac­tion is the name of the game. In addi­tion, the unin­ter­rupt­ed rows of seats will break down bar­ri­ers and strength­en com­mu­nal spir­it. Thus, the instal­la­tion will be much more than a mere piece of fur­ni­ture: It will offer a space for peo­ple to feel wel­come and an open invi­ta­tion to every­one to join in on this expe­ri­ence. A cre­ative type of speed dat­ing and oth­er activ­i­ties on site will com­ple­ment this piece devel­oped by the Sin­te­si Labs Design agency of Munich.

mcbw pop up x MA Iden­ti­ty Design

A vibrant and resilient soci­ety needs a pos­i­tive out­look for the future. But what if con­sen­sus can­not be reached as to which ideas to fol­low? A strat­e­gy involv­ing many small steps may help. The wish­ing well instal­la­tion cre­at­ed by stu­dents of the Iden­ti­ty Design mas­ter pro­gram at Augs­burg Uni­ver­si­ty of Applied Sci­ences will trans­form the trans­par­ent mcbw pop-up con­tain­er at Vik­tu­alien­markt into a col­lec­tion point for indi­vid­ual wish­es for the future made by passers-by while toss­ing coins into this dig­i­tal wish­ing well. The thoughts will take shape in the well and on the ceil­ing of the con­tain­er. The sum of these small glim­mers of hope will be a pic­ture of joint con­fi­dence that can be seen from afar.

mcbw design summit

On May 12, 2025, mcbw will hold its con­tex­tu­al lead event, design sum­mit, at Munich Urban Colab for one whole day. In pairs, the speak­ers of inter­na­tion­al renown each will dis­cuss one focal theme as mcbw Cre­ative Explor­ers. Togeth­er, they will sound out design’s poten­tial con­tri­bu­tion to a dynam­ic, vibrant, and demo­c­ra­t­ic society.