Bucharest Design Festival is turning the city into a sprawling showcase of design, art and architecture through June 21, with events spread across 10 central venues and more than 150 spaces around the capital. The festival brings together professionals, cultural organizations, embassies, international cultural institutes and a broad public audience in one of Bucharest’s most ambitious creative programs.
The festival opened with BDF Highlights – Branding Romania Through Creativity, hosted at the National Cotroceni Museum’s Cerchez Salon. Under the High Patronage of the President of Romania, the exhibition presents a curated selection of internationally recognized Romanian creators from fields including architecture, interior design, product design, graphic design and fashion.
The launch exhibition features names such as ADNBA, Ancuța Sarca, Corvin Cristian Studio, Dan Perjovschi and Lia Perjovschi, Fabrik, Meze Audio, Mircea Cantor, Murmur and Zeppelin Design, among others. The exhibition design is signed by Attila Kim Architects.
Another early highlight is BDF Young, a format created by DIPLOMA Show and presented by UniCredit Bank, which opened at the ground floor of the National Gallery of the Romanian Art Museum. Running through May 30, it traces the professional paths of 24 former DIPLOMA Show participants.
Citywide programs
The festival is structured around several parallel formats that extend the experience well beyond a single exhibition site. BDF Communities, presented by Banca Transilvania, connects three city-center programs: Brezoianu, Amzei and Grivița, with events running from late May through June 21.
Starting June 5, BDF Professional, created by RDW and presented by UniCredit Bank, brings 10 international exhibitions and 13 local design and architecture shows to Bucharest across two venues.
The local section at the CINA building on Benjamin Franklin Street focuses on Romanian projects, while the international section at the Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urban Planning gathers exhibitions supported by embassies and cultural institutions from Sweden, Italy, Poland, Denmark, Spain, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovenia.
One of the most anticipated public events is Architecture Studios Night, scheduled for June 11. The format invites Bucharest residents into the world of architecture studios and their projects, opening a field that is often visible only through finished buildings and urban debates.
Alongside the core program, BDF Satellites adds three independent exhibition strands across the city. At SCÂNTEIA+, visitors can see The Picture. Explaining Photography in 37 Works, while ARCUB – Hanul Gabroveni hosts Lia & Dan Perjovschi – DRAFT, a shared retrospective running through late July.
Exploring the city
The festival’s citywide arm, BDF GO!, links more than 150 showrooms, galleries, creative hubs, studios, cultural organizations and local businesses into a design route that encourages visitors to rediscover Bucharest through architecture, art and design experiences. The route includes weekend-focused circuits in Dorobanți, Cotroceni and Ioanid–Icoanei, each highlighting a different layer of the city’s creative geography.
