EXD is an international biennale dedicated to design, architecture and creativity; a forward-thinking platform that cultivates and analyses contemporary culture through discussion and reflection. It is a springboard for up-andcoming talent and experimentation in different formats, from exhibitions to urban interventions, debates and lectures. Focusing on people and ideas, the biennale’s programme is designed to provide insight and incentive to both a specialized audience and the public at large, disseminating information and provoking debate.

Taking place in Lisbon since the first edition in 1999—with an international spin-off in Amsterdam in 2008—, EXD engages a worldwide network of agents in various fields, promoting innovation and design culture as driving forces for sustainable development at all levels. Strongly committed the creation of a legacy that will positively impact individuals and institutions, EXD promotes design as an active tool for positive intervention and mediation across society.

In 2012 a process of redesign for the Biennale was initiated, leading to an altered format along with a visible transformation. Thus, the programming of the Biennale has been restructured to reinforce its capacity of informing and educating through an increase in the number of conferences, debates and workshops. Furthermore, the programme now invests more in the development of projects and contents that are directly applicable to the city where the Biennale takes place, in order to build a legacy that has an extended permanence and duration. Also fundamental for this process of transformation, is the forging of a partnership and of a joint platform with Brazil, resulting in the execution of a Biennale in São Paulo, scheduled for 2014.