4 July – 9 August 2026
The WDC Campus was a forward-looking project and one of the highlights of World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain 2026. The exhibition dreams, ideas & prototypes showcased emerging talents in design and architecture, as well as researchers and inventors. It focused on the challenges of our time, such as changes in urban and rural areas, our daily commutes, the digitization of everyday life, our aging society, food, and much more. The exhibition showcased unconventional approaches ranging from the design of public spaces and new forms of coexistence to responsible consumption and technological innovations.
The exhibition showcased how creative and scientific approaches work together to understand societal challenges and develop sustainable solutions. Spanning over 1,200 m² at the Museum Angewandte Kunst and in its outdoor areas, this extensive exhibition presented more than 100 works by young talents in design and architecture, as well as by researchers from other disciplines. A special focus was placed on interdisciplinary collaboration across various fields.
Projects by students, universities, and international institutions formed the core of the exhibition. These included projects developed specifically for the exhibition by participating partner universities as well as by national and international educational institutions. For the first time, award-winning works from the most prestigious design awards for young designers were also exhibited under one roof. The exhibition was rounded off by themed areas where the works of students enter into a dialogue with projects by established designers. Contributors included Ineke Hans, Tobias Trübenbacher, Andreas Mühlenbehrend, Nico Munkler, Sebastian Oschatz, Peter Eckart, and Kai Vöckler.
Their projects tackled topics such as Artificial Intelligence, multimodal mobility, medical technology, and bio-based building materials. This demonstrated how ideas born during university studies could developed further, transferred into practice, and turned into tangible solutions for social and economic challenges.
The exhibition was a co-production of the WDC Campus team with over 40 regional and international universities, nine design awards, and numerous designers, architects, researchers, and other contributors.
Curators: Julia Klaas and Corinna Gratzl (WDC Campus)