BOLOGNA, ITALY -- For the second edition of Bologna Design Week (BDW), design, creativity, education and productive world meet up in Bologna. From Wednesday, September 28 to Saturday, October 1, 2016, with two-day preview from Sept. 26 to 27, a rich program of cultural events, exhibitions and talks about design will be held in the historic buildings of the city. From Palazzo Pepoli and the History Museum of Bologna to the Ex Ospedale dei Bastardini and De 'Toschi, BDW will invade galleries and showrooms with thematic routes to animate the city for a week dedicated to the cultural and creative industries.

Some of the exhibits are as follows:

  • "Scatto Libero. Dino Gavina, for design ," curated by Elena Brigi and Daniele Vincenzi
  • "Miniature Exhibition - 100 classic seats," curated by Vitra
  • "Amare Gio Ponti," screening of the medium-length film directed by Francesca Molteni
  • "Dissezioni del quotidiano" (Dissections of the everyday life), with Alberto Meda, Marco Zanuso Jr. and Marco Zito
  • "Play Design", exhibition of the winners of the international competition of the UNESCO Creative Cities
  • "A 'Design Award & Competition,'" exhibition of the 2015-2016 winners
  • "Fashion & Design," curated by Lorena Zuniga and BDW
  • "Wearabil_IT," international symposium organized by the University of Bologna.

BDW is an international event dedicated to the promotion of the culture of design in Bologna. This cultural event maps the widespread creativity, activating original collaborations between institutions, companies, designers, universities, research institutions, associations and individuals. The mapping process is done through the principles of co-design, participatory design, and all data is open-source, published on bolognadesignweek.com site.

For a week, during Cersaie, the International Exhibition of Ceramic Tile and Bathroom Furnishings, BDW will involve old buildings of the city, galleries and unusual location, which will be reconfigured to welcome exhibitions, workshops, book launches, conferences and design talks, open to the public, to bring together cultural, productive, creative excellences of the territory.

The prize named to Dino Gavina, promoted by the University of Bologna, which was created to sensitize the community to the memory and the role played internationally by Dino Gavina, will be launched on September 26. Every two years, designers and companies that have promoted their work through design will be awarded.

Palazzo Pepoli will also be the scene of the screening of the film "Amare Gio Ponti," directed by Francesca Molteni.  The eighteenth-century rooms of Palazzo Isolani will welcome the installations of companies and designers. The restored spaces of Palazzo Zambeccari will host the exhibition of the winners of the Design Award & Competition, which will bring a selection of companies and international designers to Bologna. Palazzo De' Toschi will host the international symposium, "Wearabil_IT," organized by the University of Bologna, in order to discuss the new challenges and opportunities that the convergence between fashion and wearable computing can offer.

The ancient Teatro Anatomico inside the Archiginnasio Library was elected as the space for "Dissezioni del quotidiano" (Dissections of the everyday life), lectures on objects related to the bodies, held by Alberto Meda, Marco Zanuso Jr. and Marco Zito, introduced by Mario Turci and Flaviano Celaschi.

Galleria Cavour, thanks to its historical role as a meeting point between fashion, art and design, will host events and installations inside the luxury gallery in the temporary store of Giampaolo Gazziero, thanks to Giulio Cappellini and Paolo Castelli. The different rooms of the former Atelier Corradi will be the showroom for international fashion designers involved in the exhibition "Fashion & Design;" while the spaces of the Ex Ospedale dei Bastardini will be the fascinating stage of the winners of the international competition "Play Design," promoted in collaboration with the Municipality of Bologna, IncrediBOL! the network of UNESCO Creative Cities, and also of the projects developed by the students of the invited universities.

Finally, this year's edition will feature the BDW Live Project: a series of appointments held prior to BDW 2016, inaugurated in May, in collaboration with Ex Forno Mambo. The format is 6 DESIGNER X 5 MINUTES, where five minutes is the time for six designers to present their products, one per month.

The event is organized by YOUTOOL//design out of the box, in collaboration with the Municipality of Bologna, IncrediBOL! and Confcommercio Ascom Bologna. For more information, visit www.bolognadesignweek.com.