From May 14 to 20, 2026, NYCxDESIGN transforms the city into an open-air creative laboratory. This edition confirms New York as one of the most vibrant design scenes in the world.
In May, New York City shifts gears. The NYCxDESIGN festival takes over the city and reveals its true nature: one of the densest and most demanding creative scenes in the world. For its 14th edition, from May 14 to 20, 2026, the city comes alive with a special energy—that of a creative community leaving its studios and agencies to occupy public spaces, from DUMBO workshops to Madison Avenue showrooms, from Harlem's alternative spaces to Hudson Yards' newest addresses.
What makes NYCxDESIGN unique among global design weeks is its refusal to be confined to a single location. No central showroom, no exclusive district. The festival takes over all five boroughs simultaneously—from DUMBO studios to Madison Avenue showrooms, from Harlem's alternative spaces to Hudson Yards' newest addresses. In 2025, more than 163,000 attendees crisscrossed the city for seven days, a third of them coming specifically from outside New York City. This figure says something essential: NYCxDESIGN has become an international event, not just a local celebration.
The 2026 edition opens on May 14 with the inaugural party at Halo Twenty Eight, one of Manhattan's most enticing new venues. The tone is immediately set: this week will not be just a trade fair, but a celebration of creativity at its most vibrant. Among the highlights is the exhibition SHINE The Seaport exhibition immediately stands out as one of the most anticipated events. Conceived by industrial designer Harry Allen in collaboration with Cool Hunting, it brings together seventy designers around the theme of light—its materiality, its uses, its poetry. From the most delicate handcrafted object to the most advanced technology, the exhibition explores what light reveals about our ways of living and designing.
In Times Square, the Design Pavilion by Lexus will host a six-day immersive experience blurring the lines between industrial design, craftsmanship, and visual culture. And on May 16, Santiago Calatrava will speak at Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church—a building rebuilt after the 9/11 attacks, imbued with memory and resilience. The Spanish architect and structural engineer, whose work spans continents like a calligraphy of concrete and steel, is one of the few who can speak about design in terms of human destiny without it sounding hollow.
The international dimension of the festival is embodied this year by Yes Design!The program, presented by Villa Albertine for its fourth edition, features exhibitions, open workshops, roundtables, and events throughout the week, culminating in a major presentation at the Payne Whitney Mansion showcasing winners of French Craft & Design residencies, several of whom are exhibiting their work in the United States for the first time. This is one of the festival's most stimulating aspects: its ability to foster dialogue between seemingly disparate creative scenes that nonetheless recognize themselves in shared concerns.
Behind it all is Ilene Shaw, executive director of NYCxDESIGN, whose background speaks volumes about what the festival aspires to be. Co-founder of ICFF—the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, which remains one of the most important showcases for North American furniture design—she has dedicated her career to building platforms that give visibility to design in all its forms. Under her leadership, NYCxDESIGN works year-round to open up creative professions to new generations, reflecting the city's diverse population. The week in May is just the tip of the iceberg of a much deeper undertaking.
New York in May, under the sign of design: seven days to understand why this city remains, year after year, one of the most stimulating in the world for anyone interested in how we make our environment.
Practical information
NYCxDESIGN Festival 2026
From May 14 to 20, 2026 — in the five boroughs of New York
Full program: nycxdesign.org
Instagram: @nycxdesign
