Calendar

How can negotiations be modeled? Democratic Tableware explores how design can support discussions, decision-making processes, and conflict solutions. In practice, negotiations are often characterized by misunderstandings, imbalances, or conflicts. Time pressure, differing interests, varying levels of information, or personal prejudices can lead to discussions failing. At the same time, democracy lives on both – controversial debate and the ability to develop joint solutions.

The designed objects address precisely this issue. They explore how physical artifacts can structure, visualize, or moderate communication processes – not only about language as the central medium of democratic discourse. The body also plays an important role: gestures, movements, postures, and spatial relationships influence how people communicate with each other and make decisions.

Based on embodiment research, the objects experiment with physical, visual, and haptic elements. These design elements enable new forms of multimodal negotiation situations that involve multiple senses and open up alternative ways of participation. The objects developed are intended as tools that can help to make communicative barriers visible and make conversations more productive.

The event will be held in German. Free entry.
More information and registration at: WDC 2026

The course is suitable for all levels. Please bring your own mat.
No registration required. Free Admission.

Guided tour in Russian with art historian Tatiana Khaustova.
No registration required. Included in the admission price.

Prof Dr René Spitz presents the iF Foundation series Designing Design Education, a flexible framework for reorienting design education. It addresses the balance between analog and digital skills, the re-politicization of design, interdisciplinary and intercultural collaboration, and the social mission of design. Volume 4 is presented along with accompanying workshops, lectures, and a panel.

The workshop will be held in German. Free entry.
More information and registration at: WDC 2026

The course is suitable for all levels. Please bring your own mat.
No registration required. Free Admission.

The Okeanos Foundation has developed a method for teaching cooperative interaction and collective teamwork while the team is on a sailing trip. Our quality of life and the future development of democracy depend not only on the preservation of ecosystems – fundamentally sustained by the global ocean. How we, from the perspective of the Main River, keep the sea and its demands on us in view is conveyed by design students from the Hochschule Darmstadt, accompanied by greenD and supported by the Okeanos Stiftung. They are developing and testing new sustainable, cooperative, and self-empowered forms of living together and will make them tangible at the WDC Campus.

The workshop will be held in German. Free entry.
More information and registration at: WDC 2026

The course is suitable for all levels. Please bring your own mat.
No registration required. Free Admission.

This workshop demonstrates the design thinking methodology in three phases. With Prof Markus Weisbeck and Vera Kunz, students develop design-thinking processes in three phases, moving from individual approaches to collective results. Visual experiments, exchange, and teamwork lead to works with shared authorship and present design as an open process of shaping the future.

The workshop will be held in German. Free entry.
More information and registration at: WDC 2026

The course is suitable for all levels. Please bring your own mat.
No registration required. Free Admission.

Without registration. Free entry.

For 168 years, the Frankfurt Zoo has shaped the cityscape and served as an oasis of biodiversity. The traditional center for nature and species conservation is being modernized. The first step is the new Africa area, inviting visitors on a journey through the Serengeti. The public area of a zoo serves many purposes. Design and furnishings consider aspects such as immersive animal experiences, quality of stay for individuals and groups, accessibility, climate, education, information, and furniture.

The planned savannah area at Frankfurt Zoo includes an animal house and an outdoor area of about 24,000 m². Different species are housed together wherever possible. The visitor path stretches over 1,000 m, leading to hippos, giraffes, flamingos, and more.

Immersive zoo design visually connects the habitats of animals and visitors. Visitors move along clearly defined paths through the new habitats, with the path becoming a central architectural element: it guides movement, creates visual connections, and enables varied encounters between visitors and animals.

In cooperation with Mainz University of Applied Sciences, Department of Architecture, this topic was explored as a project task.

Program:

Starting at 1 pm, an exhibition will present the results of the collaboration and provide insights into the Frankfurt Zoo’s master plan, ZOOKUNFT2030+.

At 5 pm, a panel discussion will follow: students, zoo representatives, and zoo planners discuss the complexity of building in zoological facilities.

The workshop will be held in German. Free entry.
More information and registration at: WDC 2026

The course is suitable for all levels. Please bring your own mat.
No registration required. Free Admission.