CIVICITY marks the first edition of Redesigning Design Weeks, a multi-year residency programme curated by Collective Works and presented by the Nieuwe Instituut. The programme invited designers to critically rethink the impact of design events on the cities that host them, in social, environmental and cultural terms.

Design weeks worldwide have become important platforms for meeting, exchange and collaboration. At the same time, they increasingly contributed to rising living costs, housing pressures, inequality, pollution and over-tourism. The current model proved unsustainable, which made it urgent to explore new approaches that consider both opportunities and consequences.

In partnership with cheFare and the Embassy and Consulate-General of the Netherlands in Italy, the Nieuwe Instituut launched Redesigning Design Weeks at Milan Design Week 2025. Using Milan as a case study, the programme built on earlier Nieuwe Instituut initiatives, such as The New Store and Redesigning the Designer, which tested alternatives to established design systems.

For CIVICITY, the first residency cycle, designers Pete Fung and Studio-Method (Riel Bessai and Pedro Daniel Pantaleone) were invited to spend two months immersed in Milan’s urban, social, environmental and cultural ecosystems. Rooted in the Latin civis (citizen), the project placed emphasis on connections between people, place and participation.

Starting in March 2025, the residents developed site-specific strategies that critiqued, reimagined or addressed the impact of Milan Design Week on pressing urban challenges. They worked from two local partner organisations:

• Terzo Paesaggio in the Chiaravalle district (hosting Fung)
• Magnete, a cultural centre and community hub in Adriano (hosting Studio-Method)

When this first cycle concludes in early 2026, a new residency period will begin, continuing to build on the insights generated.

CIVICITY was launched at Villa Mirabello during Milan Design Week on 9 April 2025. The event shared the residents’ first insights and brought together local partners, experts and international guests in a discussion moderated by Angela Rui. The designers’ final presentations will follow one year later at Milan Design Week 2026, alongside the findings of the next residents. CIVICITY will also be part of Dutch Design Week 2025 in Eindhoven.

Alongside these public events, the project also introduced the CIVICITY-BOT, an automated feed developed by Will Boase. Drawing from the continuously evolving CIVICITY archive, the bot provides real-time updates on both major and minor happenings throughout the residencies, design week and beyond. Delivered as a WhatsApp chatbot, it offers subscribers short texts, media fragments and clickable documents for deeper exploration. The CIVICITY-BOT experiments with alternative narrative structures, publishing formats and ways of sharing. And who knows… a Signal version might be on the horizon too.

Rotterdam-based journalist Nuria Ribas Costa accompanied CIVICITY, documenting the project as it unfolded and observing the city before, during and after the design week. Her critical reflections and “portraits” served both as public outputs and as contributions to international debates on design events and urban futures.

“As a frequent participant in design weeks and biennales, we at the Nieuwe Instituut wanted to look closely at the impact we have on host cities and communities, and to encourage others to join us in creating more sustainable relationships.”
Aric Chen, General and Artistic Director, Nieuwe Instituut

“European cities are facing housing crises, speculation, pollution and global warming. Milan, at the centre of the global event economy, shows how unsustainable these dynamics have become. We must rethink the mechanisms of such events in dialogue with local communities, universities, designers and researchers.”
Bertram Niessen, President and Scientific Director, cheFare

“Too often design events produced temporary spectacles that faded without lasting effect. CIVICITY explored how deeper engagement with local communities might generate more inclusive, sustainable and socially connected urban futures. Even small, well-placed interventions can spark enduring change.”
Peter Zuiderwijk and Karin Mientjes, Collective Works

“Urban transformations demand a broader idea of sustainability that includes the social. We were proud to support Dutch designers in dialogue with Milan on these shared challenges.”
Willem van Ee, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Italy

Practicing design means engaging with systems under pressure. Our presence in Milan during Design Week adds to those pressures through travel, temporary stays and the saturation of space. Rather than ignoring this, CIVICITY treats it as a call to action.

Design is never neutral. Spaces are never just backdrops. They hold histories, struggles and futures shaped by those who inhabit them. This project is part of an ongoing effort to rethink design weeks from within, by questioning established formats, experimenting with new approaches and fostering meaningful exchanges.

If you would like to go deeper into these questions, download the reader for further reflections, provocations and perspectives.

Download reader in English >

Download reader in Italian >

Currently both Studio Method and Pete Fung are in Milan for their second month. An update on all developments will follow soon.