Tackling issues such as climate change, urban transportation, ageing population, green spaces, healthcare access, and water management, Interdesigns are hosted by a different local organization or consortium each time. Over a two-week period, the programme connects established designers, young professionals, students and relevant stakeholders from both the host region and the international design community to research, collaborate and ideate under the banner of a specific theme.

From the first Interdesign in Minsk (1971), which explored the production and distribution of bread, to the most recent in Mumbai (2014), which sought to address some of the social and infrastructure challenges facing the growing city, these unique workshops have produced an array of innovative design solutions with lasting impact.

In 2020, WDO launched a virtual chapter of our Interdesign programme. World Design Challenges are two-week, virtual workshops that bring together international volunteer groups of designers and subject matter experts to tackle a specific issue or topic. Collaborating alongside partners like IBM, Design for America, UN Women Asia and the Pacific, ISS National Laboratory and World Packaging Organisation, WDO has since hosted four World Design Challenges.

1971 — USSR
The production and distribution of bread

1972 — Ireland
Design in tourism

Organized by Kilkenny Workshops, in conjunction with the Irish Tourist Board and the Irish Export Board, the 1972 Interdesign addressed the issue of tourism in Ireland. Bringing together twenty designers from twelve different countries, the aim was to design solutions that catered to Ireland’s tourist trade while preserving the country’s character and natural environments.

Participants were asked to develop projects that focused on four key themes: holiday accommodation, transport, general equipment and colour and materials. With consideration for Ireland’s natural landscape, proposals ranged from the careful conversion of existing dwellings, the management of caravan and car-park sites, the development of tourist infrastructure and services, to the aesthetic treatment of new buildings and structures.  

1974 — Canada
Industrial Design and Small Communities

The 1974 Interdesign was organized by the Association of Canadian Industrial Designers (ACID) and sponsored by the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, Government of Ontario, Canada. As the first Interdesign to be held in North America, some 40 designers from 26 countries took part, exploring the issues faced by communities affected by rapid urbanization. 

The workshop focused on the area of Port Hope–Cobourg in Southern Ontario, which is situated about 100 kilometres east of the city of Toronto. Participants addressed the human needs of the area and investigated the possibilities for new local manufacturing industries through the application of industrial design, the extension of service industries, sound development of the tourist and recreational economy, and improvement in community amenities. 

William Sloan, then President of ACID, referred to the project as “a search for an alternative to the rapid growth of large cities by improving the economic and environmental character of smaller communities to make them more attractive for living and working.” 

1976 — Northern Ireland
The designer and the creation of employment opportunities

1977 – USSR
Design for the aged and the handicapped

1978 — Mexico
Alternative energy sources: wind and solar energy for use in rural areas in Mexico

1979 — Hungary
Design for medical purposes

1979 — Austria
Design innovation for sport and recreation in summer for SMEs

1979 — East Germany
Playgrounds in Residential Areas

With a focus on playgrounds in residential areas, this Interdesign was organized by the AIF – Amt für Industrielle Formgestaltung, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education of the GDR and the Finnish Association of designers ORNAMO. Taking place from 12 – 26 August in the Bauhaus Dessau, the event was part of the larger cooperation between AIF and ORNAMO in the framework of the Child Environment programme, which encouraged the exchange of science and technology between Germany and Finland.

1979 — Norway
Design for Small and Medium-sized Industries

1980 — USSR
Design for city environment

Sponsored by the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Industrial Design (VNIITE), Interdesign 1980 was “a search for methods to purposefully build the environment of big cities,” in the face of urban growth and the increase of populations around the world. 

Bringing together 34 experts from 14 countries, participants of the workshop were charged with building an adequate living environment in new housing developments, specifically focused on designs that could offer residents outdoor green spaces, access to public transport and a central area for public services. After two-weeks of work, the participants submitted a general development concept and a master plan of the housing district. 

1981 — Hungary
Industrial design for traffic safety

1982 — Finland
Production problems of the Northern Cap

As the first Dutch Interdesign event, Interdesign 1982 brought together over forty designers from fourteen different countries to address product design for handicapped persons and the elderly. In addition to developing concepts for products that could be produced for the second generation of plastics technology, Interdesign 1982 aimed to demonstrate to industry, government and the general public that industrial designers work methodically to solve problems and produce designs that integrate functional and aesthetic characteristics.

At its close, nearly 200 designs directed towards twenty-five problem statements were presented to the manufacturers involved at the end stages of the workshop. 

1982 — Netherlands
Product design for handicapped persons and elderly people, second generation of plastic technology

1984 — Sweden
Fun fair for the future

1985 — Belgium
Design for basic medical equipment for developing countries

1986 — France
Rendez-vous with interactivity

1988 — Hungary
Design and information technology

1989 — Norway
Design for elderly people

1989 — Japan
Living with water

1990 — Yugoslavia
Living and working environment

1990 — East Germany
Toys for children’s rehabilitation

As a contribution to UNESCO’s Project No.079 of the World Decade for Cultural Development, the Bauhaus in Dessau hosted an Interdesign exploring the role of toys in the rehabilitation of children. The Board of Industrial Design (AIF – Amt fur Industrielle Formgestaltung), in collaboration with the Union of Artists and the Bauhaus, was responsible for the event, which was held from 10- 21 September 1990.

1992 — Finland
Source of innovation

1993 — Brazil
Creative uses of reforested pinewood

1993 — Germany
Toys for children’s rehabilitation

1994 — Sweden
Transport for the future

Held in the city of Bergslagen, Sweden, where transport has played a central role for industry and trade, Interdesign 1994 explored the theme of Transport for the Future. The workshop aimed to increase the interest and understanding for design as a tool in the product renewal process in all of Sweden, to spotlight Swedish industrial design on an international landscape, and to encourage regional economies to engage in product development. 

Participants were divided into ten teams, each tackling specific topics. These included: solutions for road building and equipment, fostering more inclusive transport services, interregional travel, sustainable transport proposals, and designing the “mass transit system of tomorrow”. 

1994 — Colombia
Crafts as a source of interior design

1995 — Australia
Sustainable development: the design imperatives

1996 — Latvia
Wood: global resource

1996 — Mexico
Design strategies for regional development

1999 — Australia, Mexico, South Africa
The first simultaneous Interdesign workshop: water

1999 — South Korea
Design for body and mind

Organized by the Korean Association of Industrial Designers, Interdesign 19999 explored the possibilities of applying traditional East Asian design paradigms of “body and mind non-dualism” to contemporary design practice.  met to find solutions to a variety of themes. 

Bringing together thirty designers from South Korea and twenty-one from abroad, Intedesign 1999 aimed to explore alternative design paradigms beyond the concepts of modern design theory. It focused specifically on functionalism and formalism in traditional East Asian design and the ways in which these approaches can contribute to humanistic design, giving people an opportunity to cultivate and appreciate the full faculties of both body and mind.

In the end, various proposals were put forth on the themes of communication, education, food, healthcare, transportation, work and leisure.

2003 — Chile
From vineyard to palate

2003 — Mexico
Crafts as a tool for the strategic design development

2005 — South Africa
Sustainable rural transport

The 2005 Interdesign in South Africa aimed to generate viable and sustainable solutions to challenges surrounding non-motorised rural transport in developing communities. During the workshop, the issue of rural transport in developing and emerging economies was considered against the background of social and environmental aspects. 

Focusing on low-cost, non-motorised mobility solutions, the workshop was divided into four focus areas: animal-drawn carts, bicycles and tricycles, alternative modes of transportation, and communication. The two-week period saw the development of several concepts, 19 of which were eventually considered to have real potential to alleviate transport problems in the communities. Of these, a number were developed into prototypes and were field-tested amongst the original communities.

2006 — Argentina
Retail design / Design retail

2007 — Canada
World House Interdesign Forum

Coordinated by the Institute without Boundaries at George Brown College in Toronto, Canada, Interdesign 2005 brought together over 150 participants from 11 countries to take part in a series of design workshops that focused on issues such as sustainable housing, water management, conservation and community development in Southern Ontario. Four aspects of the region’s urban landscape were investigated: Downsview Park, The Toronto Waterfront, the town of Port Perry and the Mount Dennis neighbourhood. 

The solutions proposed during Interdesign 2007 demonstrated how one event could instigate both top-down and bottom-up solutions by bringing together diverse stakeholders and, most importantly, produce actionable results for the case study sites and communities.

2009 — Mexico
Design avenue

2009 — Sweden
City move

2014 — India
Humanising a metropolis

The most recent Interdesign took place in Mumbai (India) in 2014 under the theme of Humanising a Metropolis. Hosted in collaboration with Prin. L. N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research’s WeSchool, Interdesign 2014 aimed to address social and infrastructure challenges facing the growing city of Mumbai. 

Over 40 individuals (20 from India and 20 from abroad) took part in Interdesign 2014, working on 6 sub themes formulated based on the pre-research done by WeSchool faculty. Participants visited various localities to further understand the design challenges faced by the city focusing on key issues like drainage system, waste management, challenges of creating an educational township, socialising in a metro, improving the outdoor experience for citizens, chaotic shopping experience, lifestyle related health problems. 

Many of the design solutions were developed with the intention to later be applied in other Indian metropolises, as well as various international emerging economies. 

Interested in hosting an Interdesign workshop or a World Design Challenge? Contact interdesign@wdo.org for more information.