The Design Center of the Philippines, an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), announced the return of Design Week Philippines, the country’s national festival for design and creativity, happening 11–18 October 2025 with 136 partner organizations, creative hubs, and MSMEs across 29 cities and municipalities in 15 regions.
With the theme “Towards Ginhawa,” this year’s edition positions design as a strategic lever for transformation, moving beyond aesthetics and utility to shape systems that enable multidimensional well- being, inclusive growth, and shared prosperity. The festival opened on 11 October at the Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater, Ayala Malls Circuit, Makati City, with a full day of talks and folio reviews featuring designers, entrepreneurs, and changemakers.
The kickoff event to the week-long design festival was “The State of Philippine Design,” setting the tone by exploring how design can drive the transformation economy, where value is created not just through products and services, but through life-enhancing experiences, purpose-driven innovation, and resilient ecosystems.
DTI Secretary Cristina Roque encouraged designers to design with intention and compassion for the “ginhawa” of communities.
“When your work is made with empathy and purpose, it makes a lasting impact,” said Roque.
DTI Secretary Cristina A. Roque welcomes attendees to Design Week Philippines
Design as a force for Ginhawa
At the heart of this year’s theme is ginhawa, a uniquely Filipino compass for designing the good life. It encompasses physical ease, emotional relief, social harmony, and spiritual balance, and is rooted in hawa (“to breathe”), evoking vitality, connection, and the shared conditions that sustain both self and society. These dimensions resonate with B. Joseph Pine II’s Human Flourishing framework, which defines transformation through health and well-being, purpose and meaning, wealth and prosperity, and wisdom and understanding. Ginhawa reflects these aspirations in culturally specific ways: it is not only about comfort, but about living with dignity, pursuing meaning, cultivating relationships, and enabling prosperity that uplifts the many, not just the few. In this light, design becomes a force for humanity-centered innovation—shaping lives, communities, and futures that flourish together.
Insights from the Filipino Dream Study (Boston Consulting Group, 2024) affirm this collective orientation: 76% of Filipinos say their dreams extend beyond themselves to include family and community. This cultural strength aligns with global perspectives shared at the International Design Conference (IDC) 2025, where Pine emphasized that the next frontier of value creation lies in enabling life-transforming change, a vision deeply embedded in the ethos of ginhawa.
“Design is a force that shapes how we live, connect, and thrive,” said Rhea Matute, Executive Director of the DTI-Design Center. “In a world marked by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity, and fragmentation, ginhawa offers a distinctly Filipino compass for designing the good life, where innovation is measured not just by output, but by impact.”
A Nationwide Festival of Design and Innovation
Design Week Philippines remains the only design festival national in scope. The program includes talks, workshops, exhibitions, tours, and creative experiences that reflect the diversity and dynamism of Filipino design, from heritage crafts and circular systems to digital platforms and urban futures.
The festival culminates on 18 October 2025 at the Ayala Triangle Gardens, Makati City, transforming the landmark into a vibrant hub of creativity. The closing day features film screenings, performances, workshops, and the Design Sari-Sari, open from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, where local makers showcase design in everyday life, bringing ginhawa closer to the public through shared experiences of craft, culture, and community. For program updates, visit https://www.designcenter.gov.ph/design-week-philippines
