Walker Art Center to Launch Design Triennial in Fall 2026, Amplifying Its Longstanding Commitment to the Design Field
The Walker Art Center announced today the launch of a design triennial in Fall 2026, adding an exciting new chapter to its long legacy of celebrating design through exhibitions, print and digital publications, and public programming. The design triennial serves as a dynamic forum to investigate the intricate and numerous ways design affects our everyday experiences, spotlighting the tangible objects, shared environments, and interconnected systems that define our lives. It captures historical contexts as well as today’s fast-paced, future-focused developments, offering a lens through which to consider the narratives, philosophies, and ethics of design through time.
To enhance the depth of voices featured in the presentation, the Walker has invited Joseph Grima to serve as the inaugural curator. An architect, curator, and editor, Grima brings an incredible range of experience and expertise to the development of the triennial. He will work closely with Asli Altay, the Walker’s Head of Design, Communication & Content and the triennial’s Artistic Director, as well as other members of the Walker’s design team.
“I am thrilled to partner with Joseph for the triennial,” said Altay. “His passionate engagement within the field as a designer, thinker, and educator as well as his unwavering dedication to collaboration, enables us to dive deeply into the contexts and evolutions that are shaping the future of design.”
In recent years, many designers have begun to shift away from mass production, reengaging with handmade processes and the creative energy of one-of-a-kind works. The Walker’s design triennial will illuminate the currents shaping this transformation and feature a compelling range of singular and limited edition works, including furniture, lighting, textiles, and objects that blur the assumed boundaries between functional and fine art. In keeping with the Walker’s vision to platform both artists from the Twin Cities and around the globe, the triennial will bring together a diverse array of local and international talents, highlighting common threads of interest as well as the many distinct conceptual and technical approaches defining design today. Together, the objects in the triennial will engage audiences with the depth of artistry within today’s contemporary design.
“The upcoming triennial is an incredible platform to reflect on the unique opportunities and challenges facing designers today, as well as to experience the depth of voices emerging in response to those contexts,” said Grima. “The Walker has long been at the forefront of conversations around design and its evolving role in contemporary culture. I look forward to building further on that illustrious legacy.”
The Walker’s design history can be traced to its earliest days as a public art center, when its first director, Daniel Defenbacher, an architect by training, initiated several groundbreaking projects about modern design. This included the installation of Idea Houses I and II (1941, 1947), which featured the latest innovations in domestic architectural, product, and interior design. The Idea Houses were further augmented by The Everyday Art Gallery, which opened in 1946. Curated by Hilde Reiss, the Gallery offered ambitious exhibitions on design—that also served to bridge the more accessible products of modern living and the less familiar world of modern art. Since those first presentations, the Walker has organized dozens of exhibitions exploring the work of visionary architects and designers. It has also been a leading voice in the development of printed materials and digital resources, exploring new formal and aesthetic approaches to exhibition catalogs, books, and online platforms.
In fall 2023, the Walker launched Idea House 3, a new physical and digital retail platform that brought unique design objects, furniture pieces, and essential texts on design actively into museum context. The emphasis on craftsmanship, singularity of vision, and scholarship inherent in Idea House 3 serves as the foundation for the design triennial, creating another pathway for visitors to connect with contemporary collectible design.
More information about the design triennial, including dates, themes, and participant lists will be announced throughout 2025.
ABOUT JOSEPH GRIMA
Joseph Grima is an architect and curator based in Milan, Italy. He is the founder of Space Caviar, an architecture and research studio working at the intersection of design, technology, critical theory, and the public realm. Through built projects, publications, exhibitions, and films, Space Caviar’s work has been widely presented at institutions such as the Venice Architecture Biennale, Vitra Design Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum. He is also the cofounder of Alcova, an independent platform for forward-looking design held yearly during Milan Design Week and Miami Art Week.
Grima was previously editor-in-chief of Domus magazine and director of Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York. He co-curated the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial in 2014 and co-directed the first Istanbul Design Biennial in 2012. He has curated exhibitions for major cultural institutions, served on international juries—including the 2010 Venice Architecture Biennale—and taught at universities across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. He also previously served as also Chief Curator of Design at Triennale di Milano, where he oversaw exhibitions and research exploring contemporary design’s impact on society. Since 2017, he has been the Creative Director of Design Academy Eindhoven, shaping the institution’s progressive approach to design education.
ABOUT ASLI ALTAY
Asli Altay is the Head of Design, Communication & Content at the Walker and serves as the artistic director of the triennial. Previously, she was a creative director at Apple and the founding director of Future Anecdotes, a leading design studio in Istanbul. Altay has collaborated with various art institutions and museums, contributing to significant projects such as the İstanbul Design Biennial, a touring exhibition on Soviet Architecture, and the Van Abbe Museum’s permanent collection. She has also taught design courses at Bilgi. With a keen interest in building narratives through design, Altay works on diverse projects that encompass branding, communication strategies, and publishing.
ABOUT THE WALKER ART CENTER
The Walker Art Center is a renowned multidisciplinary arts institution that presents, collects, and supports the creation of groundbreaking work across the visual and performing arts, moving image, and design. Guided by the belief that art has the power to bring joy and solace and the ability to unite people through dialogue and shared experiences, the Walker engages communities through a dynamic array of exhibitions, performances, events, and initiatives. Its multiacre campus includes 65,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space, the state-of-the-art McGuire Theater and Walker Cinema, and ample green space that connects with the adjoining Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The Garden, a partnership with the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, is one of the first urban sculpture parks of its kind in the United States and home to the beloved Twin Cities landmark Spoonbridge and Cherry by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. Recognized for its ambitious program and growing collection of more than 16,000 works, the Walker embraces emerging art forms and amplifies the work of artists from the Twin Cities and from across the country and the globe. Its broad spectrum of offerings makes it a lively and welcoming hub for artistic expression, creative innovation, and community connection.