360 Design Budapest – the most anticipated design event in 2021

When in 2018 the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency was founded and we started to work on a comprehensive renewal of the Hungarian fashion and design industry, I could only hope that once we would be able to organise events like our multi-award winning 360 Design Budapest exhibition. In 2020 we made our debut in front of the international design scene with great success, and I can proudly say that last year we managed to achieve our goals. The exhibition showed the diversity of Hungary's and the region's design scene in front of almost 3,500 visitors in a large area with several designers, presenting the products of different branches of art.

In the beginning of the year I can only look back on our work throughout the year with satisfaction, and I am especially proud of our successes in the past period. Last autumn was the first time when we organised our thematic event series in the framework of which we wanted to put our fashion designers and designers, as well as their awe-inspiring creations in the limelight. Thinking back on the events of the Fashion & Design Autumn I feel that we have achieved our goals and we have managed to show the creativity in Hungarian fashion and design to as many people as possible.

The first event of our Fashion & Design Autumn was the 360 Design Budapest exhibition the goal of which was not less than to outshine last year's successes!

The 2020 exhibition grabbed the attention of the international community, too. The exhibition received the Bronze Award in two categories of the A’ Design Award & Competition international design competition – Event & Happening Design and Interior Space & Exhibition Design. At the 11th Global Eventex Awards competition in the Virtual Expo category it has received the Gold, while in the Art Event category it has received the Bronze Award. The Red Dot Award is considered to be a huge recognition – our event has received this award in the Brands & Communication Design category. As this award is one of the most renowned design awards of the world, this was really the cherry on the cake. We were extremely proud that 360 Design Budapest could take such an important place among numerous other high-quality creative projects of the international design scene.

I can proudly say that in 2021 360 Design Budapest followed its traditions and was concluded with new successes. We organised the exhibition to make designers from Hungary and from the region more popular and to support them in entering the international market. Last year for the first time we also gave an opportunity for emerging designers to appear with their very first products: alongside the progressive and innovative design enterprises they were also given a place at the event.

The almost 40 debutant designers have achieved outstanding results: many of them have already been approached by companies dealing with furniture manufacturing and distribution, Michelin star restaurants and different store chains who wish to partner up with them.

Although for me it has always been special as design objects fill up our homes and the spaces of the exhibition hall, 360 Design Budapest now also adds a special concept to these objects. When setting up the exhibition for us it was especially important to use sustainable solutions and also to raise awareness. For the placement of the exhibited design objects and the arrangement of the exhibition space we used the elements of a house – beams, concrete blocks and bricks – which would soon take up a new function, this way ensuring their place in the circular value chain.

Just like first time the exhibition could be visited online, too. Up to now the online exhibition was seen already by more than 5,500 visitors. Thanks to this opportunity the 360 Design Budapest and the almost 180 exhibited design objects are accessible to everyone, as the exhibition can still be visited at the official homepage of the event.?I can only recommend it to everyone to visit the webpage and delve into the works of talents from Hungary and the region.

The educational roundtable discussions organised by the HFDA Academy: design DIALOG were also very successful. These discussions create an opportunity for top experts of the profession to share their personal stories and experiences and to start a common dialogue on the future of the design industry. The great number of offline and online viewers was again a proof that a lot of people are interested in the design industry and the profession.

With Art Market Budapest and Budapest Design Week we supported each other as strategic partners, and this way new opportunities opened up for connections between visual arts and applied arts.

I was delighted to see the way different events complemented each other and that through the combination of different genres we could provide a deeper insight into the masterpieces of contemporary arts and design scene.

All this shows that a successful event requires a huge teamwork, and hereby I would like to say thank you to everyone who with their work contributed to the organisation of 360 Design Budapest.

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