Melbourne’s citywide design festival returns this May with an expansive, ideas-driven program that asks a simple but urgent question: what kind of world do we want to leave behind? Happening from May 14 to 24, Melbourne Design Week 2026 brings together more than 400 exhibitions, talks, tours and installations that showcase the power of design in shaping everyday life – and the future.
Led by the National Gallery of Victoria’s Department of Contemporary Design and Architecture, and supported by Creative Victoria, this year’s program builds on the festival’s ongoing call to action: “Design the world you want”. In 2026, the focus sharpens on legacy: not just what we create now, but what endures. Five core themes – Living Legacy, Australian-Made, Luminaries, Design Futures and Circularity – guide the program, which explores everything from local manufacturing and influential practitioners to regenerative systems and biodesign.
At the National Communication Museum in Hawthorn, renowned Japanese designer Shunji Yamanaka presents cutting-edge work in robotics and prosthetics, while Transformative Repair at Collingwood gallery Useful Objects brings together practitioners including Lucy McRae and Trent Jansen to explore reuse and circular thinking. Major talks include BLAK: Defining an Australian Future by Alison Page at the Melbourne School of Design, highlighting First Nations design perspectives; the speculative three-panel symposium, It’s 2100: Welcome to the Symbiocene, looking at what lies beyond the Anthropocene and presented in partnership with RMIT University and the Symbiocene Institute; and a series of conversations at the NGV with leading industry figures such as architect and Flack Studio founder David Flack, acclaimed Australian interior designer Mary Featherston and environmental designer David Holmgren.
The Future Wears the Weather explores climate-responsive gear at Salomon’s Emporium store, and Alison Page’s Creative Shape Shifter looks at the ancient and contemporary stories that drive the respected Indigenous designer’s process. The popular Melbourne Art Book Fair also returns to the NGV’s Great Hall, and the Australian Furniture Design Award at Stylecraft spotlights new thinking around compact living. Plus, 100 chairs by different Australian artists, creatives, designers and studios are on display at Abbotsford Convent.
Food, sport and material experimentation also feature prominently. Yiaga: The Craft of Place brings together chef Hugh Allen and architect John Wardle, while chef and designer Ryan L Foote presents his architectural chocolate forms. Meanwhile, teams in the Nothing New Tournament use football kits made from recycled materials, underscoring the festival’s focus on the circular economy and sustainable design.
This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with the National Gallery of Victoria. Browse the full program and plan your Melbourne Design Week agenda.
Words by Broadsheet Editors · Published on 29 Apr 2026
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