The tenth edition of Italian Design Day 2026 once again confirms itself as one of the most important events for promoting Italian excellence abroad. At the heart of this year’s edition is the theme “RE-DESIGN. Regenerating spaces, objects, ideas, relations”, which goes beyond a simple statement of intent and responds to a very timely need to rethink how we live in spaces, design the present, and build more meaningful relationships.
Promoted by the Embassy of Italy in Kosovo, the initiative will take place at the Autostrada Biennale Hangar in Prizren, a city with a strong cultural and architectural identity that reflects layers of history and a dialogue between different forms of expression.
The event, scheduled for Friday, April 10, will open with institutional remarks by Chiara Castaldo, Deputy Head of Mission of Italy in Kosovo, together with Leutrim Fishekqiu and Vatra Abrashi, directors and co-founders of Autostrada Biennale, a long-standing partner of the Embassy and a key reference point in Kosovo’s cultural landscape, as well as the Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism, Nora Arapi Krasniqi.
The highlight of the day will be the keynote address by Gaetano di Tondo, President of the Olivetti Historical Archive Association and Vice President for Communication at Olivetti. He will offer a reflection on the value of Re-Design within Olivetti’s history and legacy, providing a concrete example of how innovation, culture, and social responsibility can generate sustainable models and forward-looking visions. This will be followed by an open discussion enriched by the contribution of Professor Flaka Xerxa Beqiri, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Pristina. The event aims to bring into dialogue industrial vision, historical memory, and education, restoring design to its deepest essence as a tool capable of shaping change.
Within this perspective, di Tondo’s reflection highlights the cultural value of design as a key to understanding innovation and guiding contemporary transformations: “Olivetti has always embraced Re‑Design as an attitude: the belief that every evolution gain strength when design elevates technology, clarifies complexity and places people at the centre. This approach turns transformation into meaning, and meaning into a powerful engine for the future”.
At the end of the open discussion, participants will visit the exhibition “Olivetti al Femminile”, dedicated to the role of women in Olivetti’s iconic advertising campaigns.
Italian Design Day 2026 is not just a celebration, but an opportunity to connect past and future, bringing together aesthetics and function. It is a moment when design re-emerges as a real driver of renewal and a tool that can open up new shared perspectives.
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Italian Design Day in the World, now in its tenth edition, is promoted and coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture. The annual event features a wide-ranging program of promotional activities worldwide, organized by the network of Embassies, Consulates, Italian Cultural Institutes, and ICE Offices abroad, together with the main stakeholders involved in the internationalization of the wood, furniture, and design sectors. The initiative forms part of a broader strategy to promote Italian excellence, with the aim of supporting these sectors in international markets, sectors that account for over 3 percent of Italy’s total exports.
