munich creative business week

Explore Innovation and Sustainability at Munich Creative Business Week 2024

Photo credit: mcbw

The 13th edition of Munich Creative Business Week (mcbw) is taking place from May 11 to May 19, 2024. mcbw is the largest annual design event in Germany. It is organized by bayern design. Following the motto How to co-create with nature, mcbw 2024 will provide a place for people to meet experts, designers, representatives of the corporate world, students of design, and other similar fields.

The age in which we live, referred to by scientists as the Anthropocene, is characterized by humankind’s inexorable will to create; however, we must (re-) learn to collaborate with nature, to accept it as a co-designer, to live and grow alongside it rather than attempt to regulate it – in short, to collaborate, not dominate. To give this concept a clear orientation we have formulated the motto for mcbw 2024 – How to co-create with nature.

Nadine Vicentini, Managing Director of Bayern Design

The motto of mcbw will be the focal point of multiple discussions. Internationally renowned speakers in the fields of design and architecture as well as representatives of research institutions, start-ups, and companies will participate. The speakers will focus on finding answers to questions such as ‘How can circularity contribute to biodiversity?’ and ‘How can we partner with nature to design products and processes?

Stefano Boeri will present his vision for future cities, connecting with nature through roof and community gardens, municipal agriculture, parks, and forests. Moreover, other keynoter speakers include Maurizio Montalti, founder and Creative Director of Officina Corpuscoli in Amsterdam and the co-founder and Chief Mycelium Officer of SQIM; Daniela Bohlinger, Senior Expert in Innovation Management at BMW Group, and others. In addition to this, a panel of experts from three design centers in Europe will discuss the continent’s most pressing ecological issues.

Stefano Boeri mcbw
Photo credit: Giovanni Gastel

The program of mcbw 2024 will include a wide variety of events amongst which will be the Arabidosis Symphony by Filip Studios. It is a project that will be on exhibit during mcbw in front of mcbw hub at Ruffinihaus at Rindermarkt Square. Visitors will be able to scan the QR code on their smartphones and watch virtual plants emerge from the soil. The closer the visitor gets to a plant, the louder the sound the plant will emit. Melodies will vary from plant to plant and will depend on the time of day and the weather because, like a real-life plant, the AR installation responds to external factors.

mcbw

Another event of the mcbw are the pop-up containers. In one of them, iconic porcelain manufacturer Rosenthal will showcase its portfolio – a sushi conveyor belt will transport fine creations made of colored porcelain through the glass room. Six vases will be presented. They are the result of the partnership between Rosenthal and designers such as Sebastian Herkner, Studio Dror, and Claus Josef Riedel. The other mcbw container will be set up the installation by Drees & Sommer Brand Experience and EPEA named Feierabendziegel (After-Work Bricks). It will challenge the disposal of construction materials remaining after buildings have been demolished.

Other partners of the mcbw include Parsons Healthy Materials Lab, KISKA, Hochschule München University of Applied Sciences, and DDX.

mcbw will take place at Munich Urban Colab. Tickets are available at mcbw.de.