Detroit Design Festival celebrates its fourth year

Long a symbol of car culture and urban decay, Detroit is now becoming something of a poster child for industrial renewal. In addition to autoworkers, the city has the largest population of industrial and commercial designers of any American metropolis. It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that a relatively new annual design festival celebrating the thriving local scene is garnering international attention.

Entering its fourth year, the Detroit Design Festival, sponsored by the Detroit Creative Corridor Center (DC3), spotlights every corner of the city’s creative industry through a series of shows, lectures, panel discussions, retail events, and open houses.

The festival, which begins on September 23, will include work by up-and-coming talents from the College of Creative Studies (the fest’s partner institution), as well as industry stalwarts like watchmaker Shinola. This year, the focus will be on the intersection of art and design, culminating in a collaboration with DLECTRICITY, Detroit’s annual Nuit Blanche celebration, a two-night event during which artist installations light up the city’s historic architecture.

The five-day festival will conclude on September 28. detroitdesignfestivalom

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