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*This programme is subject to change; please refer back to this page for the latest updates.
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OPEN DOORS
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FIRST ACT
The Other Design: Imagining and Transforming from the Local
We open the festival with a powerful conversation about creative practices that emerge from territories, communities and local histories. Designers, artists, and collectives from Ghana, Chile, Brazil, and Mexico share how design can serve as a tool for preserving knowledge, rebuilding identities, and responding to social and environmental challenges from other perspectives.
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YAYRA AGBOFAH
GHANA / FOUNDER AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR / THE REVIVAL EARTH ORG / @THEREVIVAL.EARTH
Designer and researcher working at the intersection of design, memory and identity. Through The Revival, he explores how design can reclaim local knowledge and propose new forms of creation from the Global South.
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ECOLANA / ALE VALDEZ
MÉXICO/ ENGINEER/ECOLANA/@ ECOLANAMX
Environmental Systems Engineer and co-founder of Ecolana, a digital platform connecting over 1 million people with more than 6,000 recycling points across Mexico.
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SANTIAGO ARAU
MEXICO / PHOTOGRAPHER / @SANTIAGO_ARAU
A photographer and filmmaker with twenty years of experience, he has exhibited at the Venice Biennale and the Palacio de Bellas Artes, among others. He has specialized in aerial drone photography, published by outlets including the BBC, The Guardian, and Reforma.
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CRISTINA PÉREZ & EMIGDIA HERNÁNDEZ / MI VALEDOR
MEXICO / CULTURAL MANAGER/MI VALEDOR/ @ MIVALEDOR
Cristina Pérez, lawyer and doctor in human rights philosophy. She drives alliances and social transformation strategies at Mi Valedor, and oversees artist engagement at the New Modern Art District in Mexico City. Emigdia Hernández has been a “valedora” (street vendor/seller) since 2024. In addition to being an excellent salesperson, she has designed her own fanzine featuring ranch-style home cooking recipes — the best-selling title in the Valedores fanzine series.
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Victor Imperiale & Sebastian Rozas / gt2P
CHILE / ARCHITECTS/GT2P/ @GT2P
Guillermo Parada, Victor Imperiale, Tamara Perez, Sebastian Rozas, gt2P is a Santiago-based studio whose work dissolves the boundaries between public art, architecture, craft and technology through “paracrafting”. Their pieces are held in collections at the Met, the Cooper Hewitt and the London Design Museum, and they are represented by Friedman Benda.
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Coffee break
Take a break with coffee, accompanied by a selection of foods & music. Access back to the venue with food is forbidden.
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SECOND ACT
Imagining futures from different geographies
How do we imagine the future from such different cultural contexts? This act brings together voices from Mexico, Brazil, and Australia to reflect on the possible futures of design, cities, ancestrality, technology, and collective life.
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Desireé Ibinarriaga
MÉXICO / AUSTRALIA /SENIOR LECTURER, DESIGNER, R
Educator, researcher and lecturer at Monash Art Design and Architecture, with Maya, Nahua, Basque and Spanish heritage. She coordinates Indigenous Higher Degrees by Research at the Wominjeka Djeembana Research Laboratory.
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SIODUHI WAÍKHᵾN
BRAZIL / CREATIVE DIRECTOR /SIODUHI STUDIO/@SIODUHISTUDIO
Sioduhi is a designer and founder of Sioduhi Studio, whose work investigates the relationships between fashion, territory and Amazonian indigenous knowledge
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KARLA PANIAGUA Y JORGE CAMACHO - MODERADOR MAEL VALLEJO
MEXICO/ANTHROPOLOGIST AND LEARNING EXPERIENCE DESIGNER/CENTRO/@KARLAPANIAGUARAMIREZ + MÉXICO / STRATEGIC DESIGNER & PROFESSOR / CENTRO / @j_camachor
Karla Paniagua is a doctor in cultural studies, researcher and speaker. She co-directs the UNESCO design methods chair at CENTRO, hosts the radio program El futuro fue antier and is the author of 4 books.
Jorge Camacho is a strategic designer, futurist, and researcher; director of the Master’s in Design at CENTRO and co-founder of Diagonal and Territorios Futuros. Co-curator of “Futuros Pánicos,” the central exhibition of Abierto de Diseño CDMX 2026.READ MORE
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Alexis Georgacopoulos / ECAL DIRECTOR
ENG- SWITZERLAND/FRANCE/GREECE / ECAL- UNIVERSITY OF ART AND DESIGN LAUSANNE / @ECAL.CH
Alexis Georgacopoulos is director of ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne, one of the most influential art and design universities in the world. Trained as a product designer, he has led award-winning projects and collaborations with brands like Hermès, Google, and Vitra. Wallpaper* magazine named him one of the “100 most influential persons in the world of design”.
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LUNCH BREAK
After an enriching morning, the Lunch Break is the perfect time for all attendees to take a break and enjoy a meal accompanied by curated music before the Breakout Sessions.
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Breakout sessions
You’ll be able to sign up for the Breakout Sessions starting on September 17. All sessions will take place at the same time, so you’ll need to choose one for you to sign up for, once you have your access ticket to WDCD MX GNP 2026. Keep an eye on our socials and website for more details and information on the available capacity for each session. Most have a very limited capacity.
DESIGNING FROM THE GLOBAL TO THE LOCAL: USEFUL TOOLS OR APPS
PRESENTED BY: Chingos de Impacto
The activity takes the form of a virtual installation to interact with useful tools.
CREATIVITY WITH RESPONSIBILITY, BEYOND GREENWASHING
PRESENTED BY: Ecolana
In this workshop, we will explore the concept of greenwashing and tools to identify it.
TERRITORIES, GEOGRAPHIES, AND BORDERS
PRESENTED BY: What Design Can Do Mx GNP
From where do we design, and how does that place transform what we create?
DESIGNING TO TAKE A STANCE
PRESENTED BY: What Design Can Do MX GNP
What can design do when it decides to take a stance?
COLLECTIVE INSTINCT: NATURE’S STRATEGIES FOR FACING SHARED CHALLENGES
PRESENTED BY: Centro.
Collective Instinct is a strategic and educational experience inspired by the ways of nature.
DEMOCRATIC DESIGN 2040: A MANUAL FOR COLLECTIVELY CREATING TOMORROW’S FURNITURE
PRESENTED BY: IKEA
What happens when designing stops being an individual act and becomes something collective?
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THIRD ACT
Designing across cultures, territories, and borders
The closing of the festival brings together creative practices intersected by migration, cultural exchange, and hybrid identities. Architects, photographers, researchers, and designers with backgrounds spanning Mexico, India, Morocco, Europe, and the United States share how design can connect different realities and open new conversations about community, territory, and belonging.
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ERICH MARTINO (KOGGI, SO/LO)
MEXICO / UNITED STATES / DESIGNER / PRODUCER / MUSICIAN/ A SHIFTING ARTS RELEASE / MICROSOFT/@DJKOGGI @_SH.A.RE
Designer, musician and Principal Designer at Microsoft, whose work bridges AI experience design, sound production and art, with recognitions including the Freda Sack Award and a D&AD 2024 nomination.
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WDCD MX GNP AWARD 2026
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TATIANA BILBAO
MÉXICO/ ARCHITECT/ TATIANA BILBAO STUDIO / @TABILBAOESTUDIO
Mexican architect and founder of Tatiana Bilbao Estudio, Yale professor and Honorary Fellow of the AIA, whose work develops architecture as a platform to enhance life across geographies and communities.
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AKANKSHA DEO SHARMA
INDIA/DENMARK/ DESIGNER AND VISUAL ARTIST/IKEA / @ AKANKSHA.SHARMA
Indian multidisciplinary designer at IKEA, Forbes India 30 Under 30, whose work merges craft, technology and sustainability, with exhibitions at the London Design Museum and features in Wallpaper, Dezeen and Fast Company.
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SAMIR BANTAL
MOROCCO/NETHERLANDS/ARCHITECT AND PARTNER AT OMA / OMA / @samirbantal
Architect and partner at OMA, Samir Bantal led AMO for years working at the intersection of architecture, design, fashion and technology. He is co-curator of Countryside, The Future, presented at the Guggenheim in New York — an investigation into the non-built territories reshaping the future of the planet.
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Cocktail
Join us for a brief close up cocktail and afterwards follow the festival and join us to celebrate at an independent cultural venue, Luzy, in one of Mexico City’s most vibrant neighbourhoods, colonia Juarez and enjoy a party curated by independent radio community Radio Nopal.