The sixth edition of Genoa Design Week will take place from May 21 to 25, 2025. Organized by DiDe – Genoa Design District, the 2025 edition includes the contents that have made it a success in previous years: Container 02, Outdoor without Borders, Designer Under 35, Design Talk Festival, as well as the novelty Best Italian Houses.
Started in 2018 to revitalize an area of Genoa’s historic center, the event has gradually expanded to the entire city. In recent years it has fostered the reopening of about 20 new businesses in the historic area involved. This demonstrates how well-structured design events can give a concrete contribution to urban regeneration.
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Piazza dei Giustiniani, Genova Design Week 2024
Genova Design Week 2025: revitalizing the area
Genova Design Week was conceived from the beginning to enhance a valuable but little-visited part of the historic center. The idea of creating an event around design came about spontaneously. The organizers are active in creative fields, such as art galleries, architecture and design studios, and the chosen area was historically home to furniture factories and artisan workshops. The inaugural edition, dubbed “Edition 0,” took place in 2018 and quickly yielded positive results.
Genova Design Week 2024
The 2024 edition counted 166 exhibitors, 122 events including lectures, exhibitions, meetings and musical performances, spread across 110 locations including historic buildings, businesses and squares. It hosted about 20,000 20,000 visitors, although without an exact count, as access is free to maintain a welcoming and informal atmosphere. The success of the event has had tangible repercussions. The district area, located on the “Left Bank” of Via San Lorenzo, next to the Cathedral, has seen more than 20 new businesses spring up since Genoa Design Week began. Today the area is once again a lively neighborhood, with a strong presence of activities related to art, design and architecture. A distinctive feature of the event is the participation of residents. Private buildings open to the public, turning into temporary exhibition spaces and contributing to the fusion of historic architecture and contemporary design.
Focus on young designers
Young talents attract a special attention, thanks to the Under 35 project. In fact, they can showcase their designs in some smaller spaces, such as atriums of little-known buildings, free of charge.
Over the years, the Under 35 project has become more structured. A scientific committee selects applications, seeking to exhibit all works compatible with the theme. Ten projects from those selected will also be presented in an exhibition at the ADI Design Museum in Milan, by next November.
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Elia Maschio, winner of Under 35 in 2024
The 2025 edition expect about 30 projects, coming from about 20 locations in Italy. Some groups, such as the Rimini designers, will share a common space, while others will showcase their designs in smaller venues. This year, the majority of participants are already active professionals, sometimes with small businesses – a fact that confirms the value and attractiveness of the event.
Genova Design Week beyond the historic center
Since 2024, Genova Design Week has expanded its horizons with the Container project, which takes place in the Porto Vecchio area and reaches its second edition in 2025. Simona Finessi is the curator for 2025 of this project, started in 2024 from an idea of Mario Dalle Sasse, founder of the Genoese studio DLA.
Spazio Giustiniani
The project aims to reinterpret the container, a unique symbol of the city’s port vocation, as an exhibition space and a place for reflection. The 2025 edition involves exclusively female professionals: twenty-one female architects, individually or in teams, designed installations for thirteen containers. Cinzia Anguissola D’Altoè, a reference figure of the group in terms of experience and professional background, designed the main installation, placed in front of the Galata del Mare Museum.
The project aims to popularize the culture of design, bringing design closer to everyday life. It is not about educating about beauty – a concept already rooted in Italian culture – as much as it is about showing how the work of an architect can improve even the simplest spaces. Design is presented as a process affecting living and personal well-being, transforming homes into more functional, welcoming and meaningful spaces.
Container thus aims to be a bridge between design and real life, with the intention of making it accessible to everyone, not just those with big budgets.
Genova Design Week, Genoa, May 21-25, 2025
For professionals and general public
Size: 122 events, 160 exhibitors, 20,000 visitors
Various locations
Visit Didegenova.it for info