The Nue Black Aesthetic is a major forthcoming exhibition at London’s Design Museum exploring how contemporary Black designers are reshaping global design culture. Spanning furniture, architecture, fashion, product design, and sculpture, the show presents more than 100 works about identity, culture, community, and material practice.

Helsinki Design Week 2026 will take place across Helsinki and online under the theme “The Oncoming Other.” As one of the Nordic region’s largest design and architecture festivals, it brings design into everyday city life through exhibitions, open studios, markets, forums, Children’s Design Week, and public programs.

The 2026 AIA International Design Awards invite architects and design practices worldwide to submit international projects in architecture, interior architecture, unbuilt work, urban design, firm practice, sustainable futures, and inclusive design. The program highlights design for people and planet on an international professional platform.

The International Furniture Design Competition Asahikawa (IFDA) 2027 invites designers worldwide to submit previously unpublished wooden furniture. Under the theme “Origin,” entrants are asked to return to the relationship between furniture, materials, craft, technology, and everyday life.

KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD 2027 invites designers worldwide to submit stationery, furniture, and tools for work, learning, and everyday life under the theme “dialogue.” Entrants are encouraged to explore reciprocal relationships between people, objects, and their environments while proposing concepts with social relevance and product potential.

Design Vancouver Festival 2026 explores the theme “BUILD” through a citywide program of open studios, architecture and landscape tours, talks, panels, workshops, installations, pop-ups, screenings, portfolio reviews, and social gatherings, inviting the public to experience Vancouver’s design ecosystem across its neighbourhoods.

IDS Vancouver 2026 will take place at Vancouver Convention Centre West. As a leading interior design platform on Canada’s West Coast, the show brings together international and local brands, designers, and industry professionals through product launches, curated features, networking, and editorial programming focused on interiors, furniture, materials, and contemporary living.

M.A.D. Festival 2026 will take place in Montréal’s downtown Quartier des spectacles. The 26th edition brings fashion, arts, and entertainment together through runway shows, live performances, creative markets, pop-ups, and public programming that connect the design industry, emerging talent, and the city’s cultural life.

DesignTO Festival 2027 is inviting designers, artists, studios, and organizations to propose Independent Projects and other curated programs. One of Canada’s largest annual design festivals, DesignTO activates locations across Toronto with exhibitions, installations, talks, workshops, and public programs that connect the professional design community with the city.

The 2026 Canadian Architect Awards of Excellence invite submissions of outstanding projects at the design, pre-construction, or construction stage. Established in 1967, the program evaluates architectural form, site and context, innovation, environmental performance, and contemporary priorities including social equity, reconciliation, and inclusion.

Organized by Archisource, London Creates 2026 will take place at The Truman Brewery in London under the theme “Experience Creative Intelligence.” Bringing together architects, engineers, designers, creative-technology teams, and academic institutions, the exhibition traces creative processes from concept development, drawing, and experimentation to models, fabrication, and construction.

Organized by Buildner, The Quiet Tower invites participants to design a small observation tower on Latvia’s Livonian Coast near Cape Kolka. Set among forests, dunes, sea winds, and distant horizons, the competition calls for a restrained and sensitive architectural response that reconsiders the relationship between an observation tower, nature, silence, and pause.

Organized by Buildner in collaboration with Yoga Farm Italy, The Oak Moon Pavilion invites participants to design an open-air timber yoga pavilion beneath a historic oak tree in the countryside of central Italy. A moon-shaped platform should support yoga, meditation, and community activities while balancing simplicity, sustainability, craftsmanship, and the surrounding landscape.

Organized by Buildner in collaboration with the City of Vancouver and the University of British Columbia’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), the Vancouver Tall Challenge invites architects, designers, planners, and creative thinkers worldwide to rethink tall buildings in downtown Vancouver. The competition explores new relationships between height, density, sustainability, public space, and urban life.

Organized by Buildner in collaboration with Stockholm Furniture Fair, the sixth edition of The Architect’s Chair invites architects, designers, and other creative professionals to distill their architectural ideas into an iconic chair. The competition explores materials, craftsmanship, structure, ergonomics, and innovation, with selected winning proposals potentially exhibited at Stockholm Furniture Fair.