Southern Sweden Design Days

Southern Sweden Design Days 2025

22–25 maj 2025 är det dags för femte upplagan av Malmös designfestival. Utforska design genom en mängd utställningar, seminarier och workshops på flera platser i staden. Lokstallarna är festivalens huvudarena med 6 000 kvm utställningar, livestudio, aktiviteter för barn, matverkstad och mycket mer.

SOUTHERN SWEDEN DESIGN DAYS 2024

On 23–26 May 2024, Malmö was filled with 166 program activities in over 70 locations in the city where visitors could experience, among other things, exhibitions, workshops, open houses, seminars and festivities.

In the design magazine FRAME, editor-in-chief Floor Kuitert reported from the festival, including the following reflection: "A refreshingly local and community-centric festival with a non-commercial atmosphere that addressed some of the most pressing climate-related issues of today, something she felt was alarmingly absent in Milan earlier this year."

Theme 2024

Each year a new theme is presented with the aim of inspiring, promoting creativity and new ideas for an exciting program. The theme for Southern Sweden Design Days 2024 is CARE. To CARE is to look after and provide for the needs of others. From intimate, personal subjects to large-scale contexts, this years’ theme may cover a wide spectrum of topics.

For some, CARE may bring to mind attention to detail, the design of an environment or the choice of a specific material. To transform instead of building new. Others may associate it with people's physical and mental health. Compassion for the user enables designers to gain a deep understanding of their needs and desires. By putting themselves in the shoes of the users, designers can develop a holistic understanding of the problems they aim to solve.

SOUTHERN SWEDEN DESIGN DAYS 2023

25–28 May 2023, the third edition of Southern Sweden Design Days took place – a new international design festival in Malmö. Southern Sweden Design Days invites visitors from all over the world to experience the best the creative southern Swedish design region has to offer. 

– Malmö is a city bubbling with energy with pioneering designers, studios, collectives, schools and producers. With Southern Sweden Design Days, we want to create a platform to communicate to the world what the southern Swedish scene has to offer through its open approach. With that, also put the southern Swedish region on the map, says Dorte Bo Bojesen, CEO at Form/Design Center.

Southern Sweden Design Days is open to visitors of all ages and is aimed at a broad public as well as professional visitors. Both national and international participants are welcome to take part.

Theme 2023

The theme for Southern Sweden Design Days 2023 is dissonance. Dissonance is a state of imbalance – a feeling that something is not right. Dissonance can be unsettling, but often gives rise to innovative development in its constant pursuit of harmony. In music, dissonance is a combination of tones that create uneven pitches that do not follow a musical pattern. Intervals that strive to be resolved into a consonance, a tension-free harmony.

Dissonance is abrasive and creates mixed emotions. At the same time, dissonance can spark creativity and the desire to drive change. Today’s turbulent times require adjustments and adaptations. Overwhelming and uncomfortable facts and events are triggering disagreement and polarization. Nevertheless, dissonance is fundamental for a democratic society and a driving force for discussion, debate, and development.

SOUTHERN SWEDEN DESIGN DAYS 2022

On the 19–22 May 2022, the second edition of Southern Sweden Design Days was held - a new international design event in Malmö organised by Form/Design Center. The event that highlights and builds knowledge about design – focusing on sustainability, collaboration, development and innovation. During four days, a platform is created showcasing a full range of design disciplines and the city is filled with exhibitions, seminars, workshops, networking events and festivities in a variety of places.

The program

At more than 60 different locations in the city, visitors could take part of exciting, free activities such as exhibitions, window displays, outdoor installations, workshops, tours and open houses. The program of approx. 160 program activities. The festival involved a total of 390 content-creating participants, which include individuals as well as studios, collectives and organisations. In total, the festival had 21,250 visitors.

Main Location

The old railway workshop Lokstallarna in Kirseberg formed a gathering place for Southern Sweden Design Days with over 6,000 m2 of exhibition space, food workshop, pop-up shop and a live studio with 14 seminars and panel discussions in front of an audience. During the four festival days, the Locomotive Stables had over 10,000 visitors.

Theme 2022

The focus on meetings and interaction is also reflected in 2022’s theme: "PROXIMITY” - nearness in space, time, or relationship. The theme calls for interpretations reflecting on the notion of being close – the connection between people, cities, countries, species, professions, etc. Proximity can include several dimensions. To produce and consume locally – to use the assets and resources that are close by to build a sustainable future. At the same time, be globally interconnected between continents, countries, and cities. To feel kinship with people all over the world and consider how closely we all are connected to each other.

SOUTHERN SWEDEN DESIGN DAYS 2021

May 27th-30th, 2021, the first edition of Southern Sweden Design Days was held. For four days, a platform was created for all sorts of disciplines within design through seminars, workshops, exhibitions and networking events. The goal is to be an inclusive, exploratory and experimental event. To make Southern Sweden Design Days available both nationally and internationally during the current pandemic, the premiere of the annual event was expanded to a major digital focus. Physical activities at various locations in Malmö were carried out in an adapted and safe manner during the event days through booked visits and a limited number of visitors. The digital platform southernswedendesigndays.com became the heart of Southern Sweden Design Days 2021 and gathered everything that could be experienced during the days. Visitors could explore the program, mark favorites and make their own selection of both the digital and physical events in the city.

From the old Lokstallarna in Kirseberg in Malmö, SSDD Studio broadcast a packed program with panel discussions, seminars, interviews and workshops, with both established names and new designers, linked to the theme "1 + 1 = 3". The theme can be seen as a symbol of synergy and sustainability - to solve existing and future challenges, cooperation and innovation are needed so that new equations are created. On Southern Sweden Design Days Instagram, visitors could also dive into the participants' creative environments when they broadcast live from their studios.

SSDD STUDIO

Broadcasting from the old railway workshops in Malmö SSDD Studio is showcasing a rich programme, streaming on the website. Experience panel discussions, seminars, interviews and workshops. Revisit the tableau if you missed something or want to watch it again!

THEME 2021

The theme for Southern Sweden Design Days 2021 was “1 + 1 = 3”. We want to encourage collaborations and cross-fertlizations and highlight the openness of this region. The theme could also be seen as a symbol for synergy and sustainability – in order to solve some of our current and future challenges we will need to collaborate, innovate and come up with new equations. The theme is open to interpretation – it can be a mix of different materials or techniques forming a new whole, it can be different expressions and styles combined in a new fashion or it can be different industries or disciplines joining forces etc.