Media Release
SYDNEY DESIGN WEEK 2025 — DESIGN THAT PLACES COMMUNITY AT THE CENTRE
Powerhouse has today announced the Sydney Design Week 2025 program, presented across the city from 12 – 24 September. This year’s festival titled ‘Community Design’ places people at the heart of design. Presenting renowned national and international designers whose work creates connection and fosters resilience, through a program of talks, tours and industry workshops.
Now in its 29th year, Australia’s longest running design festival continues to bring together the world’s leading architects and designers. This year, the program includes community leaders and creative practitioners across Western Sydney to create a festival that reflects the distinctive contemporary and cultural design of the region.
Pritzker Prize-winning architect Francis Kéré, will launch the week in a public conversation with Incidental Architecture’s co-director Daina Cunningham and Western Sydney high school students, discussing how sustainable design can transform schools into places of comfort, culture and creativity. His work—internationally recognised for responding to heat, climate and community—begins a program that is deeply rooted in sustainable public design.
Internationally acclaimed Beijing-based architecture studio OPEN, led by architects Li Hu and Huang Wenjing, will deliver a keynote at the UTS Great Hall. Known for their conceptual and ecologically attuned architecture, OPEN will explore how public spaces can reconnect us with nature, ourselves and each other.
The week also features leading Dutch architectural photographer Iwan Baan, who has captured the interplay between iconic architecture and everyday life around the world. Baan, whose work includes projects by both Kéré and OPEN, will offer rare insights into his impressive global practice.
From Bangkok to Bonnyrigg, the 2025 program embraces a global-local dialogue. Thai landscape architect Kotchakorn Voraakhom joins Living Lab Northern Rivers’ academic director Professor Elizabeth Mossop, Sydney Water’s Phillip Birtles and CHROFI director John Choi to explore how cities can adapt to rising waters—drawing on urban case studies in New Orleans, Bangkok and Sydney.
Multilingual type designer Vincent Chan will present work exploring the cultural identity of letterforms, while a day of ceremony and dialogue led by local cultural leaders at Bibbys Place in Bonnyrigg will offer space for shared reflection and storytelling.
Design innovation takes centre stage at the Advanced Manufacturing Readiness Facility in Bradfield—Australia’s newest city—where workshops, tours and talks with Industrial Design Xchange (IDX SYD), Australian designer David Caon and architecture studio Hassell will introduce festivalgoers to the future of Australian manufacturing.
Holdmark Property Group Chief Operating Officer Kevin Nassif said, ‘Design has the power to unite, adapt and imagine new possibilities for the way we live. We’re proud to support a festival that puts community at the centre of creativity.’
Powerhouse Chief Executive Lisa Havilah said, ‘Sydney Design Week 2025 celebrates the power of design to bring people together. This year’s program highlights the role communities play in shaping public spaces, and how design can respond to place, climate and culture in meaningful ways.’
Sydney Design Week 2025 is presented with the support of Principal Partner Holdmark Property Group, Foundational University Partners University of Technology Sydney and Western Sydney University, Festival Partner City of Parramatta and Accommodation Partner Ace Hotel Sydney.
Click here to view the full program.
Program Information
Heat and Resilience | Francis Kéré
Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Francis Kéré joins architect Daina Cunningham and local students for a collective conversation on climate-adaptive schools.
Friday, 12 September 2025
12.30-1.30pm, Parramatta Town Hall
$40, Registration
Coexistence | OPEN Architecture
Li Hu and Huang Wenjing, founding partners of Beijing-based OPEN Architecture, share their innovative approaches to designing spaces that connect us with nature, each other and ourselves.
Friday, 19 September 2025
6-7pm, UTS Great Hall
$10, Registration
Sites of Ritual | Bonnyrigg
A day of ceremony and conversation, exploring how design and architectural principles support faith and cultural practice.
Saturday, 20 September 2025
11am-3pm, Bibby’s Place
Free, Registration
Language Typographies | Vincent Chan
Australian type designer Vincent Chan joins local collaborators to discuss a recent multilingual project featuring text in Simplified Chinese, Arabic, Dharug and Vietnamese.
Monday, 22 September 2025
6.30-7.30pm, Parramatta Town Hall
$10, Registration
Sensing Technologies | Bradfield
Industrial designer David Caon, Hassell and Industrial Design Xchange (IDX SYD) host an industry afternoon at the Advanced Manufacturing Readiness Facility (AMRF) in Bradfield, Australia’s newest city.
Monday, 22 September 2025
1-7.30pm, Advanced Manufacturing Readiness Facility
Adults $30, Registration
Shared Spaces | Iwan Baan
Leading Dutch architectural photographer Iwan Baan presents his expansive practice exploring public buildings and the communities that interact with them.
Tuesday, 23 September 2025
6.30-7.30pm, UTS Great Hall
$10, Registration
Porous Cities | Kotchakorn Voraakhom
Arts centres, canal gardens and water-collecting parks feature in this conversation on architecture and landscape design for delta and flood-prone cities.
Wednesday, 24 September 2025
6.30-7.30pm, Parramatta Town Hall
$10, Registration
Media Contacts
About Powerhouse
Powerhouse sits at the intersection of arts, design, science and technology and plays a critical role in engaging communities with contemporary ideas and issues. We are undertaking a landmark $1.2 billion infrastructure renewal program, spearheaded by the creation of the new museum, Powerhouse Parramatta; expanded research and public facilities at Powerhouse Castle Hill; the renewal of the iconic Powerhouse Ultimo; and the ongoing operation of Sydney Observatory. The museum is custodian to over half a million objects of national and international significance and is considered one of the finest and most diverse collections in Australia. We are also undertaking an expansive digitisation project that will provide new levels of access to the Powerhouse Collection.