There are over 300 events and exhibits to be found throughout the city, around the center of town at galleries and collectively run studios across Eindhoven. Covering an area that is manageable on foot, bike, or a BMW-sponsored Mini Countryman as cab (courtesy of the show), this is one of the biggest programs yet.

As with previous Dutch Design Week events, the old converted Philips factory campus is the main location. One of the most unique of settings Eindhoven has to offer, the factory offers inspiring backdrops for visiting resident designers and graduate designers alike to show their work. Covering a wide variety of mediums such as housewares, lifestyle design, fashion, textiles, film, and other more unique sensory experiments, the show is a fascinating journey with eclectic collections to explore and discover.

After the economic downturn and with changing times, several buildings that used to contain heavy industries in the city of Eindhoven have become home to designers. These industrious denizens have converted these spaces into studios, set up shop to design and manufacture their work, and focus their creativity and production holistically.

At every exhibit there is the chance to meet and talk with the designers and get their first-hand perspective on their work. It is an intimate journey into their vision, their world of material experimentation, and constant discovery into new expression and shifting paradigms, applying that energy into the concepts that can be readily put into practice.

Among the hundreds of events happening, here are some highlights from the design graduation show and independent designers that we were able to capture early on, but there is much more to follow.