FutureDesignDays 2001 started out as an experiment. Would it really be possible to gather designers and architects from all over the world to debate and talk about design? Would there be an audience, and would it understand how important it was to listen, learn and...

FutureDesignDays 2002 concentrated on highlighting the people with the courage to cross all boundaries in their work. The people whose work advanced the boundaries of what can be achieved and what design can signify. And they were all there. The stage was invaded by...

Exhibitions, parties, mingling, a very extensive speaker list and more than 1,000 visitors. The theme of FutureDesignDays 2003 was “They said it couldn’t be done”. But everyone who attended saw that it could be done. New ties were formed between visitors and speakers....

FutureDesignDays 2004 left its hometown Borås for the swedish capital Stockholm. The event grew big at the Stockholm International Fairs with a huge EXPO, compared to what was exposed at Åhaga in Borås. The conference developed further and Breakout Sessions were...

The festival of 2005 took on a different shape. It became more like four festivals in one – a conference with four blocks, each providing in-depth information and inspiration in the fields of industrial design, architecture, new media and fashion. The Breakout...

Since FutureDesignDays is an ongoing process, never completed or ready to settle down, this years festival­ just like all the other festivals took on a different shape.­ The intimicy was in focus. The goal was to create­ a tight and intensive meeting place with...

Managing director and design manager Finland Despite strongly worded warnings against buying Marimekko, Kirsti Paakkanen decided to take over the tottering company in 1991. What she has since achieved is almost beyond compare. Marimekko, which was founded in 1951 by...

Business developer France In brief: - Founder of the L’Eclaireur store concept featured in Paris and Tokyo. - Has introduced several of the fashion trade’s most important brands. - Working with young Swedish fashion designers at the Tranoï Fashion Show. ARGUABLY THE...

Industrial designer Germany At a time characterised by self-assertion and the cult of the star, Konstantin Grcic is an unobtrusive, low-profile designer, who puts his work first, not his own person. Although he claims that he wants to create realistic design and...

Industrail designer Italy Massimo Morozzi was born in Florence, but he lives and works in Milan. As a young man, in the 60s and 70s, he was a prime mover in the Italian anti-design movement and one of the prominent figures in the Archizoom Group. He was subsequently...

Design Leader Procter & Gamble Beauty Care United Kingdom In brief: - Design Leader Beauty Care at the world’s largest consumer product manufacturers. - Member of several Procter & Gamble Design Lead Teams. - Advancing Procter & Gamble from being a...

Professor, Institute of design, IIT Chicago, USA Professor Patrick Whitney is a well-known lecturer and design consultant. He was former President Bill Clinton’s advisor on design issues. Human-centered design is IIT’s method and it’s one of the most important fields...