The 8th edition of Romanian Design Week was organized around the theme CHANGE, between September 11th – 20th 2020. The main location of the festival was Combinatul Fondului Plastic (Plastic Fund Complex), transformed for this occasion into a design park, which offered visitors the opportunity to enjoy both indoor exhibitions and outdoor relaxation and socializing activities, all in accordance with the safety rules imposed by the context.
During a time when local creative industries have been deeply affected by the outbreak of the pandemic, Romanian Design Week adapted to offer designers, artists and architects the opportunity to exhibit their work despite the unfavorable context and to demonstrate how, with a touch of creativity and solidarity, even difficulty can turn into a real opportunity.
At Combinatul Fondului Plastic, visitors could discover the Possible Realities exhibition (designed by Attila Kim Architects), which aimed to investigate the "new normal", but also possible future scenarios and the role of creative industries; Antifragile (designed by Zeppelin Design), brought together a series of initiatives and projects that contributed to improving the situation caused by the pandemic; and the IQOS World Installation, which initiated a conversation about new perspectives through design and technology.
The three exhibitions were completed by a series of interactive installations located in the courtyard of the Combinat, brought together under the RDW Open Air format. Visitors could enjoy ping-pong tables made of recycled materials signed by ASAP and LIDL Romania, a game of badminton reinterpreted by Absolut Vodka, a minigolf presented by UniCredit Bank, balance boards and a rack for bicycles proposed by Urban Monkey and a pétanque field signed by Zeppelin Design; physical distancing being possible and respected throughout the event due to the nature of the proposed games.
The architecture of the RDW Open Air format was made by the Zeppelin Design team.
The festival also included, under the name RDW In the City, a series of central interventions, in spaces of public utility, carried out in partnership with prestigious cultural institutions such as the National Art Museum of Romania or the Central University Library, complemented by over 60 satellite events, organized by creative and cultural entities from Bucharest, brought together under the umbrella of Design Go!.
For 2020, RDW has also launched a digital version of the festival, an Online Design Market, a series of materials created under the UK Focus initiative, as well as virtual design galleries, developed in partnership with the London Design Festival. All this was brought together in an interactive map through which the event could be explored by users right from the comfort of their own home.
At the same time, Romanian Design Week included a new category of events, Design Flags, presented by Qreator by IQOS. In the creative hub with the same name, seven international design exhibitions could thus be visited, as a complement to the local creative visions.
Romanian Design Week is a cultural event financed by the Ministry of Culture.
RDW 2020 partners
A project by: The Institute
Presented by: UniCredit Bank
Principal partner: IQOS, which through Design and Technology supports the conversation about new perspectives
Partners: Absolut, Almalux Lighting, ASAP, Electrica, Regina Maria Private Health Network, Urban Monkey
Top held by: Jidvei, Savana, Siniat
Co - producers: The municipality of Bucharest and Expo Arte Cultural Center
Cultural partners: Combinatul Fondului Plastic, The Romanian Cultural Institute, the National Art Museum of Romania, the Union of Plastic Artists
Strategic media partners: Rock FM, Radio România Cultural
Media partners: Contemporary Lynx, Designist.ro, Feeder.ro, Glamour, Igloo, Inspirationist.net, IQads, RFI Romania, Modernism, Molecule F, Munteanu, 7apte Seri, V Fair, Zeppelin, Zile și Nopți, World Architecture Community
Creative teams: Gavrilă & Asociații, Radu Manelici + Sebastian Pren
Monitoring partner: mediaTRUST Romania