Walker Design Triennial: Beyond Materialism

On October 17, the Walker Art Center will present its inaugural Design Triennial, titled Beyond Materialism. Guest-curated by leading design voice Joseph Grima, in close collaboration with the Walker’s Asli Altay, the presentation explores the importance of spirituality, emotional connectedness, and communal engagement to contemporary design. It features approximately 95 new and recent works by 26 designers and collectives representing more than ten countries, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Nigeria, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Beyond Materialism includes seven designers showing in the US for the first time, including Espace Aygo, Stef Fusani, Shao-Chun Hsu, Jonghoo Jeong, Maximilian Marchesani, Moon Seop Seo, and Christoph Wimmer-Ruelland, and two commissions created especially for the show by VESSEL (James Bridle and Navine G. Dossos) and Lucas Muñoz Muñoz. Among the other featured designers are Ananas Ananas, Germane Barnes, Theaster Gates, Objects of Common Interest, and Superflux. Together, the works reflect the varied and dynamic ways that today’s designers are confronting societal challenges and opportunities to imagine different futures.    

Walker Design Triennial: Beyond Materialism will be on view from October 17, 2026, through February 14, 2027. The presentation builds on the Walker’s long-standing commitment to exploring innovation in design, which can be traced to its earliest days as a public art center when it initiated several groundbreaking projects about modern design. Today, design is an essential part of the Walker’s celebrated multidisciplinary program. Beyond Materialism is accompanied by an expansive, fully illustrated publication produced by the Walker’s acclaimed design studio.   

“As faith in material abundance as a measure of happiness erodes, we need new metrics for prosperity. A new generation of designers is abandoning the ethos of accumulation that has long sustained consumer culture, turning instead to a new idea of design that foregrounds immaterial concerns, attending to the soul and spirit as much as the body,” said Grima. “This exhibition gathers reflections and explorations—recent and not so recent—on how design can chart a richer and more imaginative alternative to rampant consumerism.”

The Walker Design Triennial series builds on the museum’s nearly 90-year commitment to the field of design. Beyond Materialism is the Walker Art Center’s first Design Triennial, marking the start of a long-term commitment and experiment. Every three years, the Walker will examine two key questions: Who is the designer? What is design today? The inaugural exhibition is guest curated by Joseph Grima, Milan-based architect and founder of Space Caviar. 

Curatorial team: Joseph Grima, Architect, Curator, and Founder of Space Caviar; with Asli Altay, Head of Design, Communication & Content, Walker Art Center; Hanna Babyna, Design Programming Administrator, Design and Editorial; and Laurel Rand-Lewis, Curatorial Fellow, Visual Arts. 

Acknowledgements 
Walker Design Triennial: Beyond Materialism is organized by the Walker Art Center and made possible with lead support from Andrew Duff.  

Major support is provided by Martha and Bruce Atwater, and the John Gabbert and the Room & Board Foundation Exhibition Fund.  

Additional support is provided by the Edward R. Bazinet Charitable Foundation and the Whaley Foundation. The Walker’s commission of VESSEL’s Learning to Build, Building to Learn is supported by Lois and John Rogers.  

The exhibition catalogue is supported by Lewis Baskerville and a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in support of Walker Art Center publications.