Budapest Select brings Hungarian design to Milan Design Week 2025

After the successful takeover by the talents of Budapest Select during September’s MFW, the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency returns to Milan, this time for Design Week. Among the most anticipated installations at the upcoming Milan Design Week is Budapest Select – A VVoven View, a collective exhibition showcasing the complexity of contemporary Hungarian design, balancing craftsmanship and artificial intelligence, organic matter, and generative software. Organized by the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency, the exhibition will take place at Via Santa Marta 21, in the heart of the 5VIE district. More than just a showcase, it’s a statement of intent: 24 emerging Hungarian designers and artists bring a layered vision to Milan, where human gestures and algorithms coexist and mutually enhance one another. The exhibition is structured into three sections – one dedicated to traditional craftsmanship, one to technological experimentation, and a third where both worlds harmoniously blend – creating a path that thoughtfully addresses key themes like sustainability, adaptability, memory, and future.

Craftsmanship becomes the focal point of the exhibition but is not limited to mere nostalgia; instead, it serves as a critical foundation for reflecting on innovation. Likewise, artificial intelligence is not celebrated as a definitive solution but rather as an active partner in the creative process. Visually, this dialogue takes shape through white paper sheets suspended in space, a metaphor for creativity continually being written and rewritten, shared between human and machine. Particularly striking is how artists manually alter some exhibition texts, stitching them with woven threads to highlight the indispensable importance of human sensibility, a symbolic gesture reaffirming the centrality of personal interpretation and resistance to standardized creativity. Objects presented by Hungarian talents include the Karton chair by HENIBARA and the Bouy lamp by Make Sail, demonstrating how simple materials can acquire a sophisticated aesthetic, while Tektonika by SUSU Keramika and the HILO vases by Daniella Koós fluidly explore contemporary minimalism and more traditional material language. The Cherry Herd Nightstand by VUUV Works further illustrates how sustainability can naturally integrate into an object’s concept without appearing forced.

The strength of the exhibition lies in overcoming outdated stereotypes; as stated by the organizers, Budapest Select – A VVoven View does not depict Eastern Europe as a nostalgic place, nor does it position technology as an absolute solution. Instead, it offers a complex vision made of productive intersections and tensions, using design as a language to narrate a culture that values contradictions and finds its identity within them. To enrich the experience, during the week, there will be workshops, guided tours, folk performances, and local wine tastings – activities curated by the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency, an entity founded in 2018 to internationally promote Hungarian talent.