DESIGNING FOR THE PLURIVERSE: IDC 2026 BRINGS MANY WORLDS TOGETHER THROUGH DESIGN

 


MANILA — September 18, 2026 — What if there is more than one way to design the future?

That question takes center stage at the International Design Conference (IDC) 2026, as the Design Center of the Philippines celebrates the 10th edition of its flagship conference with the theme “Designing for the Pluriverse.”
Held today at Foro de Intramuros, Manila, the conference brings together Filipino and international designers, educators, creatives, innovators, cultural practitioners and other changemakers to explore how design can respond to a world shaped by different cultures, communities, identities and ways of knowing.
The theme draws inspiration from the work of Colombian scholar and designer Arturo Escobar, particularly his view of design as a world-making practice. IDC 2026 looks beyond the idea of a single future and asks how different ways of living and creating can coexist.

FROM DISRUPT TO DESIGN
The conference program is structured around three movements: DISRUPT, DWELL and DESIGN.

The morning session challenges familiar assumptions about progress and explores lessons from the Philippine archipelago. Speakers include Dr. Tita Larasati of Bandung Institute of Technology and Filipino ethnomusicologist Dr. Grace Nono.
The afternoon moves into DWELL, featuring “Archipelago Activations,” followed by the DESIGN sessions focusing on voice, agency, authenticity and collective agency.

Among the featured speakers are Dr. Jefa Greenaway, founding director of Greenaway Architects; Indonesian designer and creative director Budiman Ong; and fisheries trade specialist and curator Twinkle Floro.
DESIGNING WITH COMMUNITIES
A central message emerging from IDC 2026 is that design does not have to begin with imposing solutions.
Instead, it can begin with listening—to people, place, culture and knowledge already present within communities.
For a country made up of thousands of islands and diverse communities, the Philippine archipelago provides a particularly relevant lens for exploring how different perspectives can exist together.

As the Design Center puts it, the conference invites participants to become better “weavers and repairers” of relationships among people, communities and places.

#TheSocialSCENEPH #IDC2026 #DesigningForThePluriverse #InternationalDesignConference #DesignCenterPH #PhilippineDesign #DesignInnovation #CreativeEconomy #Intramuros #ManilaEvents #DesignForChange

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