27. July 2026

Pop-up ++ Open Call mcbw 2027

Submission Deadline: November 4, 2026

We invite inter­na­tion­al design degree pro­grammes and uni­ver­si­ties to apply for the mcbw pop-up 2027. Present your work, ideas, and per­spec­tives in the heart of Munich and reach a broad audi­ence as part of mcbw. Your instal­la­tion will become part of an inter­na­tion­al design fes­ti­val, con­nect­ing you with the Munich design com­mu­ni­ty and cre­ative minds from around the world.

We are look­ing for par­tic­i­pa­to­ry projects and inter­ac­tive instal­la­tions devel­oped by stu­dents in design pro­grammes, for exam­ple as part of a Mas­ter’s pro­gramme. As the project runs over two semes­ters, please take this into account when plan­ning: the con­cept will be devel­oped dur­ing the fall/winter semes­ter, while imple­men­ta­tion and pro­duc­tion will take place in the spring semes­ter. We are look­ing for con­cepts that invite peo­ple to explore, inter­act, con­tribute, or play, cre­at­ing an engag­ing expe­ri­ence for both mcbw vis­i­tors and the wider public.

Dead­line Sub­mis­sion: Novem­ber 4, 2026, 23:59 PM

What’s in for you

In recent years, mcbw pub­lic space instal­la­tions have been pre­sent­ed at promi­nent loca­tions across Munich, includ­ing the Süd­wiese at the Alte Pinakothek, the Pinakothek der Mod­erne, the Propy­laea at Königsplatz, Vik­tu­alien­markt, HFF, Siegestor and HP8.

For the past four edi­tions, the Pub­lic Space has been locat­ed on the Süd­wiese at the Alte Pinakothek—one of Munich’s most pres­ti­gious and rarely acces­si­ble pub­lic spaces.Situated in the heart of the Kun­stare­al, sur­round­ed by muse­ums and the uni­ver­si­ty quar­ter, it wel­comes thou­sands of stu­dents, fam­i­lies, art lovers and vis­i­tors every day.

Vis­i­bil­i­ty
Your instal­la­tion is part of the mcbw pro­gramme – on dis­play in one of Munich’s most vibrant places.

Media reach
Pub­li­ca­tion in mcbw mag­a­zine, on social media, in press cov­er­age and in a video documentary.

Close col­lab­o­ra­tion
Reg­u­lar check-ins with bay­ern design ensure align­ment and con­tin­u­ous feedback.

Port­fo­lio Project
A real-life exhi­bi­tion project with a pub­lic launch – in terms of con­tent, design and logistics.

Project time­line

1. Appli­ca­tion
Sub­mis­sion of the pro­pos­al by Novem­ber 4, 2026

2. Con­fir­ma­tion & Development
Plans ready for approval and a descrip­tion of the final con­cept by end of Novem­ber 2026 I Work on fur­ther devel­op­ment Decem­ber 2026 till March 2027

3. Exe­cu­tion
Com­ple­tion of the exhi­bi­tion pieces by end of April 2027

4. Instal­la­tion
Assem­bly and Dis­man­tling before and after pre­sent­ing in Munich May 10 till 16, 2027

mcbw 2027 Annu­al Theme
SIG­NAL — NOISE

Our world is full of noise. The con­stant flood of incom­ing infor­ma­tion, stim­uli, and tech­nolo­gies is bat­tling for our atten­tion. The loud­er the noise, the hard­er it becomes to iden­ti­fy what real­ly matters.

SIG­NAL — NOISE explores how we can dis­tin­guish the sig­nal in a world full of noise. We call this abil­i­ty “per­cep­tu­al intel­li­gence.” It com­bines sen­si­bil­i­ty, empa­thy, intu­ition, and an under­stand­ing of con­text, help­ing us rec­og­nize what’s mean­ing­ful when data alone isn’t enough.

How can we sharp­en our per­cep­tu­al intel­li­gence instead of los­ing it in the noise? How do we design prod­ucts, tech­nolo­gies, and spaces that not only func­tion effi­cient­ly but also pro­vide clar­i­ty? And what role does design play when the great­est chal­lenge is not to gen­er­ate more infor­ma­tion, but to make the impor­tant sig­nals noticeable?

Design plays a cen­tral role, shap­ing per­cep­tion. It deter­mines what becomes vis­i­ble, guides atten­tion, pro­vides clar­i­ty, and trans­lates sig­nals into prod­ucts, spaces, ser­vices, and technologies.