ExperimentaDesign Lisboa/Amsterdam is a cultural biennale dedicated to design, architecture and contemporary creativity and a trademark of Experimenta, a Portuguese non-profit association.

The Biennale generates and showcases original projects, concepts and ideas in different formats: conferences, screenings, exhibitions, urban interventions, workshops and debates. Staged in a variety of venues, they give rise to alternative visitor itineraries and original ways of exploring the host city. ExperimentaDesign takes place in Lisbon and Amsterdam in alternating year with different programmes. The Portuguese capital, where it was created, hosts the Biennale in odd years since 1999 (with the exception of 2007, whose edition was cancelled). Since 2008, it also takes place in the Dutch capital in even years.

It is a dynamic platform committed to the promotion of design and contemporary cultural production through discussion, experimentation and critical thinking. Striving for the democratization of knowledge and skill updating, it views culture as a key factor in innovation and socioeconomic development.

The main driving force of the Biennale is design in the broader sense, both in its multiple creation and production aspects and as an operative discipline and work methodology. The second driving force is architecture, in its varying scales and areas. Making project culture its touchstone from a comprehensive, interconnected perspective, ExperimentaDesign Lisboa/Amsterdam presents new content in such areas as industrial design, architecture, communication design, film, ambient design, photography, multimedia, sound design, light design, video and visual arts. Facilitating exchanges, intersections and incentive in the academic and creative communities, it operates in a network of collaborations and co-productions with cultural institutions and agents, schools, universities, private companies, critics and thinkers, both national and international.

In Portugal, the Biennale is produced in strategic partnership with the City Hall of Lisbon, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Economy and Innovation. It also benefits from the Statute of Superior Cultural Interest within the Patronage of the Arts’ Law and the High Patronage of his Excellency the President of the Portuguese Republic.

In January 2008 ExperimentaDesign Amsterdam Foundation was created to ensure the Biennale’s production in the Netherlands, with the City Hall of Amsterdam and the Ministry of Economic Affairs/Pieken in de Delta as strategic partners and Droog Design as local partner.

A springboard for emerging talent and cutting-edge creative practices, the Biennale is in constant transformation and growth, flexible and receptive to new inputs and challenges.
Visited by over 356,776 people since its first edition, it has won the recognition of the creative community, critics and audiences alike.

Themed «Space and Place», the Biennale’s debut in Amsterdam took place from 18 September to 2 November, with a total of 71,200 visitors.

Combining culture, economy, communication, research and education as catalysts for sustainable development, both local and global ExperimentaDesign Lisboa/Amsterdam now ranks among the leading international events in culture today.

* Number refers to the Lisbon editions, which added to the visitors of the 1st biennale in Amsterdam makes 427,976.