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Design mediates the physical, digital, and emotional spaces where human connection is possible. It challenges us to facilitate genuine connection, not just efficiency, but the quality of human interaction.
International Design Day 2026, The Spaces In Between, invites designers to look beyond objects and outcomes and toward the shared experiences that shape how we belong, communicate, and coexist. Design lives in the in-between, the thresholds where ideas become experiences and strangers become communities.
To explore this year’s theme, The Spaces In Between, SEGD CEO Cybelle Jones sits down with leading voices across architecture, branding, cultural institutions, social innovation, and experiential design. Together, these conversations examine the thresholds where connection happens—between people and place, memory and meaning, systems and human experience.
Streaming throughout the day on April 27, each session offers a distinct perspective on how design shapes the invisible forces that bring people together.
6:00 AM ET — The Global Context: Why International Design Day Matters Melike Taşçıoğlu Vaughan — President, International Council of Design (ICoD) Jonas Liugaila — Board Member, International Council of Design (ICoD); Founder & Creative Director, Studio Airport Jacques Lange — Former President, International Council of Design (ICoD)
7:30 AM ET — The Theme Made Visible Lucy Holmes — Founder & Creative Director, Holmes Studio
9:00 AM ET — Imagination, Hope, and the Possibility of Design Ashley Lukasik — Founder & CEO, Murmur Ring Sue Walsh — Principal of Design, SYPartners
10:30 AM ET — Architecture, Community, and What We Build Together Carole Wedge, FAIA — Executive Vice President & CEO, American Institute of Architects (AIA)
12:00 PM ET — Design at Historic Scale Aki Carpenter — Vice President & Chief Creative Officer, RAA Global Studios; SEGD Board President
1:30 PM ET — The Philosophy of Experience David Schwarz — Co-Founder & Creative Director, HUSH
3:00 PM ET — Equity, Community, and the Stakes of Design Nu Goteh — Founder, Room for Magic; Co-Founder, Deem Journal
4:30 PM ET — Belonging, Learning, and Radical Empathy Lee-Sean Huang — Co-Executive Director of Learning & Programs, AIGA
6:00 PM ET — The Spaces We Inhabit Cheryl S. Durst, Hon. FIIDA — Executive Vice President & CEO, International Interior Design Association (IIDA)
7:30 PM ET — Legacy, Curiosity, and What Endures Llisa Demetrios — Chief Curator, Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity
9:00 PM ET — The Space Between a Brand and a Human Being Joanne Chan — Chief Executive Officer, Turner Duckworth; SEGD Board Member
Design is not just what we make. It is what happens between people.
The spaces in between include moments of transition, exchange, and encounter. They shape how people feel welcomed or excluded, how trust is built, and how meaning is shared. These spaces are often the least discussed and least consciously designed, yet they quietly influence how we move through the world together.
At a time of constant communication and increasing disconnection, design has the power to rebuild the spaces that bring people together, across streets, screens, museums, objects, and cities.
International Design Day is a global invitation to designers, educators, organisations, and communities to design for connection and use creativity as common ground.
Participation may range from in-depth gatherings, such as a symposium of speakers, to lighter creative discourse shared through social platforms.
Ways to participate include:
Hosting or attending conversations and forums
Creating events inspired by The Spaces In Between
Sharing reflections, projects, or questions on social media
Using the IDD2026 toolkit to support local participation
