Seattle Design Festival

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Seattle Design Festival We unleash the design thinker in everyone to illuminate Seattle’s challenges and ignite action

Every year, Seattle Design Festival brings together the design community, a diverse public, civic leaders and business innovators to explore the role of design in inspiring and advancing our quality of life in Seattle.

HOK's "In[fluid]ence" used water as a responsive and reflective medium, transforming ordinary environmental movements in...
10/14/2026

HOK's "In[fluid]ence" used water as a responsive and reflective medium, transforming ordinary environmental movements into an atmospheric experience.

With a translucent ceiling panel channeling water across the ceiling, a triangular design that fostered movement for the water and attendees navigating the installation, and ambient music, In[fluid]ence created a serene environment at the Block Party.

⏩Swipe to learn more!

10/10/2026

Made from scaffolding and construction site materials, Mithun's Sky Patch re-imagines scaffolding and construction site materials as a shaded, reflective gathering space.

The installation "invites inward reflection as visitors sit, recline, and observe the changing sky and world outside."

With materials donated by Lease Crutcher Lewis and PCI, the project will go on to live its next life at a construction site!

🔗Watch the Festival Replay on YouTube to learn more: https://www.youtube.com/

"I've Come to Bury My Dead" invited SDF attendees to engage with a tactile, analog memorial they could customize: for a ...
10/08/2026

"I've Come to Bury My Dead" invited SDF attendees to engage with a tactile, analog memorial they could customize: for a love, a connection, a dream, or a self.

“I created this as something you could interact with and decide what you felt like releasing that day. Then it takes you through a few different steps as you look at the interactives that would let you go through a little tiny ritual of letting something go.” - Designer Lacy K Campbell

🔗Learn more in Lacy's Festival Replay interview! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do6IGSKj3_U

Loved SDF 2026? Learn more about leading the Festival!🤝If you're excited by SDF's mission, love what you experienced at ...
10/08/2026

Loved SDF 2026? Learn more about leading the Festival!🤝

If you're excited by SDF's mission, love what you experienced at the Festival, and want to learn more about deepening your engagement, we are developing a pipeline of future leaders to fuel our mission.

Our nominating committee wants to connect to learn more about your skills and interests.

🔗Share information about yourself, a colleague, or a friend who is passionate about the Festival via this short form: https://form.jotform.com/262295471321152

Gain [IN]STALL [IN]SIGHT into "Un(Build) Kaleidoscope!"A collaborative installation from Project (Un)Build, University o...
10/01/2026

Gain [IN]STALL [IN]SIGHT into "Un(Build) Kaleidoscope!"

A collaborative installation from Project (Un)Build, University of Oregon's Wood Lab, and Sustainable Northwest Wood, the project invites visitors to see the built environment differently through their series of kaleidoscopes.

"We call [these tubes] tubular timber, and we laminate them together flat using wet and dry layers of veneer. And when we set them out in the sun, they curl autonomously into this shape. And we use the same technology that Project (Un)Build does, with hose clamps, to keep it a consistent diameter. And the whole idea with these is also an idea of reversibility of elements, where they can be re-hydrated and then lie flat." - Helene Brehl, UofO Wood Lab

📸by Brad Curran
🔗Watch the interview on Festival Replay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQHhXYsJ8es

09/24/2026

With re[cover], re[frame], re[member], salvaged lumber was the star.

The Miller Hull Partnership, Magnusson Klemencic Associates, and Hoffman Construction teamed up for SDF to make a contemplative pavilion by reframing salvaged lumber (anywhere from 10-120 years old) - sourced by Deconstruction Dave.

"Markers of time left in nail holes, paint lines, framer’s pencil marks, and mill stamps are left exposed as fragments of someone’s memories and experiences. Rather than concealing or designing away the imperfections inherent to the recovered lumber, the installation celebrates them." - SDF design team

At the Block Party, the Pop-Up Zone was a space for creativity, learning, and connection. Attendees learned to cut their...
09/22/2026

At the Block Party, the Pop-Up Zone was a space for creativity, learning, and connection.

Attendees learned to cut their own glass mosaics, drew a meal that feels like home to them, learned "Table Tension" (not tennis), and so much more.

Thanks to our Pop-Up Partners for developing exciting Block Party programming!

100% of our Built Installation Partners committed to our sustainability commitment this year!Here's a look at some of th...
09/17/2026

100% of our Built Installation Partners committed to our sustainability commitment this year!

Here's a look at some of the amazing work our Partners did this year to recycle materials -

• Cold Calls by Seattle Design Nerds | Made from re-purposed A-Frames from past projects

• The Bicycle Forest by Perkins & Will | Reimagining bicycle rims as living instruments of light and movement

• Resonant Grounds Sonic Pavilion by DLR Group | Made from recycled ethernet cables from a past GLY Construction project

• A Social Pavillion for Collective Agency by Studio Voice | Repurposing dunnage bags that had been decommissioned

SDF 2026 IN[FLUX]: In Review!We're excited to share our Festival in Review, the official report out of the 2026 Festival...
09/17/2026

SDF 2026 IN[FLUX]: In Review!

We're excited to share our Festival in Review, the official report out of the 2026 Festival.

Through 6 days of Festival, 65 Block Party programs, and participation from over 260 local and international designers, 32 sponsors, and our community of volunteers, SDF 2026 IN[FLUX] achieved our mission of unleashing the design thinker in everyone — together.

Cheers to you and another amazing Festival!

🔗Full Festival in Review:https://seadesignfest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/SDF2026_FestivalInReview.pdf

This year's theme IN[FLUX] inspired interactive, playful installations while exploring forces that shape our city: movem...
09/12/2026

This year's theme IN[FLUX] inspired interactive, playful installations while exploring forces that shape our city: movement and stability, structure and experimentation.

Shoutout to these Partners and many more for designing fun, whimsical experiences for the Block Party!

• Bicycle Forest by Perkins & Will: Reimagining Seattle's bicycle culture as a surreal landscape of color, motion, and immersive play

• Be A[maze]ing by Mackenzie: Inviting attendees to release their inner child through a large-scale children's toy

• What Happened to Hello by Angela Goldberg and Lilia Deering: Looking at the nature of relational interaction and flirting through design and the creation of objects

• Input / Output by Gensler: Attendees requested art and the design team inside delivered imperfect hand-drawn illustrations created in real time as a reminder of the creative exchange

• "Pencil" Pantheon by NBBJ: Inviting attendees to "look up and reconnect with the cosmos" in a low-walled space filled with handmade drawing tools

📸Photos by KK (1-4) + Brad Curran (5)

Address

Smith Tower, 506 2nd Avenue
Seattle, WA
98104

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 6pm

Telephone

+12069571915

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