Berlin – The City of Design

Exciting chaos takes place in the white tent on Bebelplatz during Fashion Week. Regardless of if it’s Fashion Week or any other week on the calendar, Berlin is always trembling. The cardboard sign behind the Fashion Week stage is also relevant to the entire design scene in Berlin. It reads: “We love you. You are beautiful. You are the best. Have a great show. Enjoy it.” There’s no other place in the world where so much is arranged with so little and so much fun is had in the process. Poor, but sexy!

In 2006, UNESCO honoured Berlin as being the “city of design”. With this achievement, Berlin became the first German city amongst the global network of creative cities. Berlin earned this title because UNESCO sees it as a place where design, fashion, art, architecture and music come together.

With more than 1,300 businesses that include agencies, studios for product, furniture and industrial design, fashion designers, countless networks, design festivals and lots of shops, Berlin is an emerging location for design in Europe. Designers love the inspiring environment that surrounds them and they profit from cheap office and living costs because they have a great deal of freedom to experiment. International networks such as Create Berlin, berlindesign.net, the Internationale Design Zentrum and DMY organise presentations and workshops both in Berlin and outside of Germany. Berlin definitely doesn’t have to worry about a lack of up and comers in the field of design, as there are more than 3,000 students who are registered in design-oriented programs at Berlin’s universities and polytechnics. Since the conditions for design-based work are good in Berlin, many graduates decide to stay and work independently.

Berlin has a good reputation throughout the world and Hollywood stars like Brad Pitt are endorsing it. The movie darling and design fan befriended the people at Graft, the innovative architecture office that is designing the shops in the new airport. Together, they plan on collaborating on a few projects in different areas of the world.