The international design community has a busy schedule this fall, with festivals, biennales and fairs opening around the globe, all of them with bustling programs and satellite events. Here’s an overview of what’s coming up, more coverage to follow:Helsinki Design Week September 1-11, 2016The go-to event for Nordic Design, Helsinki Design Week kicks off the Design Week season on September 1. Next to a program encompassing the entire city, the Design Week’s “Showroom” is one of the highlights from September 7 through 9 as part of the Habitare design trade fair, as is the “Design Market” at the Cable Factory, the “largest design stock sale in the Nordic countries,” offering furniture, interior products, clothes and accessories from about 200 design firms. Helsinki Design Week traditionally makes its mark with a wide selection of installations all over town, too. This year’s signature installation comes from Berlin-based architecture platform Plastique Fantastique which has designed a gigantic bubble of compressed air around the city’s famous “The Three Smiths” statue. Further highlights include a talk program in collaboration with selected embassies and prolific guest speakers from the industry, as well as numerous open studios, gallery receptions, and events.Click here for more informationParis Design Week & Maison et ObjetSeptember 3-10, 2016; September 2-6, 2016Paris Design Fair Maison et Objet is the heart of Paris Design Week. For its September edition, the trade fair for decoration, furniture, and home accessories has chosen the theme “House of Games.” Next to the main exhibition t offers an array of special formats, including a presentation of Ilse Crawford’s work in the “Designers of the Year” section, emerging designers at “Soaring Talents”, and a new format titled “Home Observatory” to highlight new consumer trends. Maison et Objet is accompanied by a bustling program of gallery openings, exhibitions, design walks, receptions, and talks all over Paris, including presentations by seven guest countries, formats on slow design and upcycling and a series of “City of Light” events.Click here for more information about Paris Design WeekClick here  for more information about Maison et ObjetSydney Design FestivalSeptember 2-11, 2016Since 1996 the Sydney Design Festival has followed a policy of combining institutional exhibitions with a diverse public program, including numerous workshops and hands-on activities. This year’s edition is titled “Make or Break” and includes the exhibition “Out of Hand: Materialising the Digital,” which was organized in a collaboration between the Sydney Museum of Arts and Applied Sciences and the Museum of Arts and Design, New York; an “Indigenous Design Day” at the Powerhouse Museum; talks and workshops such as the “Virtual Reality Family Challenge, ” as well as many presentations of works by local and international designers and groups.Click here for more information.Inaugural London Design Biennale & London Design FestivalSeptember 7-27, 2016; September 17-25, 2016London’s inaugural Design Biennale takes place at Somerset House, featuring commissioned contributions from 37 countries. “Utopia by Design,” the Biennale’s overall theme, references the 500th anniversary of Thomas More’s novel “Utopia,” uniting international projects dedicated to making the world a better place. This year’s London Design Festival once again revolves around the V & A as its central hub. Numerous fairs, events, and dedicated programs contribute to the city-wide design fest. This year’s commissioned landmark installation by Alison Brook Architects in collaboration with The American Hardwood Export Council, Arup, is sure to attract crowds, too, not least because of its friendly title: the 34 meter pavilion with two 12 meter cantilevered sections is called “The Smile”.Click here for more Information about the London Design BiennaleClick here for more information about the London Design FestivalVienna Design WeekSeptember 30 – October 9, 2016Vienna Design Week is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a program of about 150 events including two new formats for graphic design and industrial design, plus congratulatory “birthday party” events at the MAK – Museum Angewandte Kunst and the University of Applied Arts Vienna, as well as a “Safari” to Mies van der Rohe’s famous UNESCO-listed “Haus Tugendhat” in the Czech town of Brno. Many exhibitions, participatory projects, workshops, collaborations , talks, and guided tours have been announced for the festival itself, complemented by a number of international collaborations, including a “VIENNA DESIGN WEEK” exhibition at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York (to be announced), and a design appearance together with the ADN – Austria Design Net at the inaugural Design Biennale London (See above).Click here for more information.Istanbul Design BiennaleOctober 22 – November 20, 2016“Are We Human?,” the Istanbul Design Biennale asks in its third edition. Subtitled “The Design of the Species: 2 seconds, 2 days, 2 years, 200 years, 200,000 years,” it’s a grand retrospective on “a time period that spans from the last 2 seconds to the last 200,000 years.” Structured in four overlapping project “clouds” spread across various locations in the city, the Biennale focuses on core themes “Designing the Body”, “Designing the Planet”, “Designing Life”, and “Designing Time”, joined by “The Open Call for Videos”; a collaboration with e-flux that presents more than 50 international writers; and the “Turkey Design Chronology” with a “inventory of design and working library” by an interdisciplinary group of Turkish experts. Programs such as Design Districts and Design Routes also provide insights into local studios and galleries.Click here for more information.Dutch Design Week, EindhovenOctober 22-30, 2016The largest design festival in the Netherlands is celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2016, with a program titled “The Making Of.” The full schedule will be released in September. So far, 2,500 national and international designers have been confirmed to present their works and projects. Two exhibitions, “It’s Your World” and “Mind the Step” at Klokgebouw have also been confirmed, among shows in various other institutions, as have regular formats such as the “Graduation Show” at the Design Academy Eindhoven, and a presentation of the Dutch Design Awards.Click here for more information.Tokyo Design WeekOctober 26-31 and November 2-7, 2016More than 700 exhibitors will be present at this year’s Tokyo Design Week on the Meiji Jingu Gaien campus. It’s Japan’s largest trade fair for design, also incorporating architecture, fashion, graphic design, and short films. Targeting everyone from businesses to professional creators; from students to interested families with children, the Tokyo Design Week’s offerings range from sectors such as the “Creative Life Exhibition”, the “Professional Creators exhibition”, the “100 Creators Exhibition”, and the “School Exhibition” to more specialized formats like the “Architectural Models Exhibition,” and, yes, a show dedicated exclusively to “Super Robots.”Click here for more information.Triennial For Design GhentNovember 19, 2016 – March 5, 2017Not much has been released yet about the program of the 8th Triennial For Design at the Design Museum Ghent, but judging from the title “Hands on Design,” it’s going to be a practically oriented event. The organizers do reveal that it will take a closer look at “the chemistry between the designer/maker and industry.” Initiated by the association Design Flanders in 1995, the Triennial traditionally focuses on special aspects of creation, with a pronounced interest for Belgian positions and histories.Click here for more informationDesign Miami/November 30 – December 4, 2016Rounding off the fair season before Christmas, Design Miami opens its doors concurrently with art fair super giant Art Basel Miami at the end of November. A meeting point for international galleries, designers, and collectors (as well as the occasional celebrity), the trade fair provides an international market overview, as well as glitzy satellite events and programs. Not much has been released yet about the upcoming edition. More to follow.Click here for more information.For an illustrated version of this article, see the slide show. Read more