360 Design Budapest returns this October at a new venue, with programmes drawing upon the cultural diversity of the region

The Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency (HFDA) organises the 360 Design Budapest event series for the fourth time, presenting works of industrial and fine artists for the first time alongside product designers. Nearly 170 objects and products of almost 60 well-known and emerging domestic and regional creators, professional presentations, exclusive guided tours and other exciting programmes and side events await those interested between the 17^th and the 22^nd of October in the Adria Palace and all around the capital. The chief guest at the event series will be one of the greatest icons of international contemporary design, Rossana Orlandi. The HFDA emphasises the importance of professional partnership by joining forces with numerous design and art institutions, offering a unique opportunity to explore the broad spectrum of the industry, both at home and in the region.

360 Design Budapest will be housed by the Adria Palace in 2023. The multiple award-winner professional design event aims to present the domestic design culture in 360 degrees, support emerging and renowned creators, educate, make artists’ works available for everyone and incentivise the sales of Hungarian design and interior design products. Including actors in tourism and hospitality, creative and cultural education institutions in the sector, and construction and design companies, the programme series is experience-based, evolving into a unique design event in the CEE countries.

“The Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency’s strategic goal is to turn the domestic fashion and design sectors into the regional market’s centre. A tool for this is organising international cultural events that contribute significantly to increasing the visibility of the national image and domestic cultural heritage. 360 Design Budapest introduces creators from five countries in the region besides Hungary. International press representatives will also participate in the event, whom we will invite to a hospitality tour, showing them the cultural and artistic values of Budapest." – stated Zsófia Jakab, the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency’s CEO.

An important novelty of the event is that besides product designers, industrial and fine artists could also join the circle of exhibitors. Creators could apply in three categories – Brand / Product, Collectible Design and Prototypes / Digital Design – moreover, introducing new talents has an accentuated role in every aspect of the event. The number of applications was higher than ever, 70 entries were submitted to the HFDA’s call for applications, among which 27 by emerging designers. Based on the decision of a professional jury, more than 160 creations by nearly 60 artists will be available at the exhibition, including the works of 15 new entrants and objects of 10 regional designers and artists which will arrive at the venue from Austria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland and Ukraine.

Gáspár Bonta, the curator of 360 Design Budapest, prepared a spectacular concept for the event, using room dividers by JAB ANSTOETZ, one of the leading house textile companies, which will turn the interiors of the Adria Palace into an exceptional world where a creative vision can be interpreted and often reinterpreted. The selected items and products represent on a large scale how an artistic vision and functionality are embodied in unique artworks. The concept blends Hungary’s rich design and applied art heritage with contemporary works to create a real past-present-future axis, accompanied by an educational framework.

Stepping outside the walls of Adria Palace and the exhibition space, 360 Design Budapest awaits an audience interested in design and the world of art in several venues in the capital with its collaborating partners. The partners of the event series are Art Market Budapest, the Museum of Applied Arts, Czechdesign, and this year, Code Showroom, Virág Judit Galéria, Solinfo Group and FIKSZ also joined the cooperation.

“360 Design Budapest presents new, innovative, and sustainable directions for domestic and regional professionals and a design-conscious target audience. This year, we are bringing you a fantastic, exciting, and diverse programme series featuring renowned international guests so that 360 Design Budapest will be the bridge in the region that connects the most important institutions and artists in a high-quality event. In collaboration with our partners, in 2023, we created an event series that is outstanding in the region, the special guest of which will be Rossana Orlandi, the acclaimed ambassador of the international design scene and curator of our incubation programme, design LAB curated by Rossana Orlandi. We hope to form the present and future of Hungarian design with our collaborating partners, designers, and industry players” – highlighted Anita Forintos-Szűcs, Deputy General Managing Director of the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency, in connection with the programmes.

The most prominent element of the partnership with Art Market Budapest to be realised for the third time is a joint professional day, Inside Art / Building on Art Hungary, which will place the emphasis on how contemporary art and design contribute to increasing value and utility of real estate developments and investments and forming the cityscape and the national brand image.

As part of 360 Design Budapest, the designer-manufacturer duos of design LAB curated by Rossana Orlandi will present their visual designs and bring their product ideas to life by the end of January 2024. After the demonstration of the visual plans, Rossana Orlandi, the chief guest of the event, will hold a direct conversation as a mentor, to which she awaits primarily emerging talents interested in a career in the arts.

During the week of the event, galleries, museums, and showrooms will enrich the range of related programmes, the so-called side events. The new generation 6:AM Glassworks Italian design brand's team also debuts in the 360 Design Budapest exhibition space and will realise a special outdoor pop-up event. Similarly to previous years, those interested can explore the exhibited works through exclusive guided tours again this year.

The event series to be held between the 17^th and the 22^nd of October 2023 offers programmes and exhibitions free of charge for everyone to get to know a broad spectrum of domestic and regional design as well as applied and fine arts.

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About the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency

The Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency was founded in 2018 to support every actor in the fashion and design industry in an efficient and structured way, following predetermined strategic pillars: professional coordination, enhancing Hungarian brands’ availability and trade opportunities, educational development and manufacturing development. To realise their goals, the HFDA organises domestic events each year, such as the region’s major fashion event, the Budapest Central European Fashion Week, or the 360 Design Budapest exhibition, which has received international awards. Besides, they provide Hungarian creators opportunities for participation and debuting at international professional events such as the Milano Fashion Week. Strategic cooperation with professional organisations, increasing exports, and supporting Hungarian brands’ professional development with mentoring programmes are among their accentuated goals.

360 Design Budapest

The 360 Design Budapest event series, organised yearly by the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency, draws attention to the everyday role of design surrounding us in 360 degrees with online and offline exhibitions, guided tours, and roundtable discussions. The event aims to make Hungarian and regional product designers more widely known using modern tools, help domestic design brands enter the international market, and present new, innovative, sustainable directions for the target audience interested in design. By realising the event, the Agency wants to help Hungary become a regional centre in the design industry and create a programme which attracts tourists from all around Europe.