The tenth edition of the Italian Design Day in the World (Italian Design Day – IDD) opened on 5 March in Slovenia with the panel “RE-DESIGN. Regenerating spaces, objects, ideas, relationships”, organized by the Italian Embassy, the Italian Cultural Institute, and the Italian Trade Agency (ICE).
The event, hosted at the Museum of Architecture and Design in Ljubljana (MAO), a partner of the initiative, was moderated by its director, Arch. Maja Vardjan, and opened with welcome remarks by Ambassador Giuseppe Cavagna. The panel focused on the theme of regeneration as a key to rethinking the role of contemporary design.
Speakers included the Italian Design Day testimonial, architect Pippo Ciorra, senior curator at MAXXI Museum in Rome, and Slovenian designer Nika Zupanc.
On 6 March, architect Pippo Ciorra continues his visit to Slovenia with a stop in Izola, where he will meet with students from Slovenian schools offering Italian as a language of instruction. The meeting is part of a program curated by the Consulate General of Italy in Koper.
Building on this presence, Italy will also participate in the BIG SEE Festival 2026, the main sectoral event in Slovenia organized by Zavod Big – Big See, which will take place in Portorož from 21 to 22 May. Italy will be represented with an institutional stand featuring an illustrative exhibition dedicated to the Italian Design Day.
The 2026 edition is centered on the theme “Too Much? What is just enough?”, a reflection on the need to restore balance and relevance in an era marked by an excess of products, buildings, and information. Awards, conferences, exhibitions, and a trade fair will revolve around the concept of “enough”, explored through the lenses of balance, responsibility, urban humanity, and the future.
Within this context, the theme RE-DESIGN. Regenerating spaces, objects, ideas, relationships is fully aligned with the international debate, offering an Italian perspective on regeneration as a concrete response to the question: “What is truly necessary?”
The Italian Design Day in the World 2026 is promoted and organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and by the Ministry of Culture - Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity, and is an integral part of Italy’s strategy to promote Italian design worldwide. The initiative was created within the Permanent Roundtable for the Internationalization of Design, which brings together key institutions and stakeholders - including the Ministry of Culture, ADI, the Compasso d’Oro Foundation, the Salone del Mobile, the Triennale di Milano, FederlegnoArredo, Fondazione Altagamma, and Confindustria - with the aim of enhancing the global visibility of Italian design excellence through engagement with professionals, media, and a qualified public.
From 2017 to 2025, IDD generated approximately 1,700 events in over 60 countries, involving more than 1,000 designers, architects, entrepreneurs, academics, and journalists. For 2026, the ICE Agency’s foreign office network has already identified around 70 countries in which dedicated initiatives will be organized.
In 2024, total trade between Italy and Slovenia in the furniture and lighting sector reached a value of over 179 million euros. Italy confirmed its position as Slovenia’s second-largest partner in the sector - after Germany - with a market share of 9.8%.
