Lake Como design Festival 2026 - Contemporary Design Selection Open Call
Lake Como Design Festival announces its eighth edition, taking place from September 12th to 20th, 2026. Confine (Boundary) is the central theme of this new appointment. A boundary not only as a line that divides territories, ideas, states of mind, or levels of consciousness, but also as a point of encounter—a space that defines while connecting. It is a zone of tension and transformation, of contact and exchange. To reflect on this theme today is not only to question where “the other” ends, but to rediscover ourselves — to understand who we are and the direction we wish to take. Nine days of exhibitions, installations, and talks will unfold across a network of venues, offering multiple perspectives on the concept of the boundary.
It provides a package designed to maximize the participant’s visibility, ensure a professional experience and create genuine opportunities for networking and growth.
The fee includes:
– N.2 press tours dedicated to national and international design media
– N.2 invitations to the opening event, an exclusive opportunity to meet participants, journalists, and sponsors
– N.2 unlimited-entry free passes for the entire duration of the Festival
– N.8 exhibition days open to the public
– Promotion in national and international magazines
– Dedicated content on the Festival’s official website
– Features on the Festival’s Instagram profile
– Insurance coverage for the work(s) for the entire duration of the event
– Professional handling and storage of the work(s)
– Guided visits to n.3 leading local companies, offering an in-depth look at the regional production landscape
– Meetings with prominent figures in the cultural and design fields to encourage dialogue and inspiration
– Networking sessions with architecture studios to create meaningful and potentially lasting connections
Optional: a dedicated photo shooting is available for € 250, including at least n.5 professional shots of the work displayed in the group exhibition.
High-resolution JPG images will be delivered at the end of the Festival, offering valuable material for portfolios and promotional purposes.
With its Contemporary Design Selection, the Lake Como Design Festival once again this year gives voice to a multitude of people and cultures who find here a space for reciprocity, learning, transmission and sharing. Designers, artisans, artists and researchers from countless places and backgrounds. Men and women on both sides of the border who, in this context, break down barriers, languages and distances, metaphorically converging in what the great French “gardener” Gilles Clément defined in his Manifesto (2004) as the Third Landscape, a refuge for diversity.
This open call invites to take part in the selection process for the eighth edition of the Lake Como Design Festival, within the “Contemporary Design Selection” section. The deadline for submitting applications is April 30th, 2026. After the selection, chosen participants will receive a participation contract, which must be signed and returned to the Organization, along with the participation fee. The participation fee must be paid by May 15th, 2026.
This year’s theme is Confine (i.e. Border), as outlined in the brochure. Projects will be considered eligible according to their relevance to the theme, as well as the quality of the piece and its development process. The selected works will be showcased in Como from September 12–20, 2026, within a group exhibition curated by Giovanna Massoni and directed by Francesca Prandelli. The positioning of the projects and the exhibition setup will be determined at the sole discretion of the curator and the director.
