3 key learnings from business of design week 2025

CURIOSITY PROVOKES DESIGN INNOVATION AT BODW 2025 IN HONG KONG

The Business of Design Week (BODW) 2025 Summit has concluded in Hong Kong, leaving the global creative community with a new blueprint for the future. With contributions from over 60 global business and design experts and a total attendance of over 15,000 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, BODW 2025 partnered with Italy to explore the theme ‘Curiosity Provokes Design Innovation’. Over three days, the summit moved beyond traditional design discourse to investigate how curiosity acts as a catalyst for systemic change, serving as a super-connector for international cultural dialogue. From pioneering leaders in urban design to legacy brand directors and trend forecasters, the summit uncovers pivotal insights for the future of smart cities, heritage, and AI.

the BODW Summit 2025 gathered over 60 global business and design experts to explore curiosity for design innovation | all images courtesy of BODW

URBAN DESIGN needs to act as A RESPONSIVE ORGANISM

While the design world has spent 30 years focused on mitigating environmental impact, the current climate reality demands systems that sense and respond in real-time. In his opening keynote, ‘Curiosity. Adaptation. Collaboration,’ Dr. Carlo Ratti, co-founder of CRA – Carlo Ratti Associati and director of the MIT Sensible City Lab, reimagined the city not as a static grid, but as a living, breathing system. Moving beyond the 20th-century focus on environmental mitigation, Ratti proposes active adaptation as the essential design frontier for a planet already in flux. He showcased the Roboat project, the world’s first fleet of autonomous boats developed for Amsterdam’s canals, illustrating how mobility can transcend simple transport. These modular, self-driving vessels sense their surroundings via LIDAR and open electronics, allowing them to dynamically cluster into floating bridges or stages, effectively shifting road traffic to the waterways while monitoring air and water quality in real-time. Ratti demonstrated that curiosity-driven technology can turn historical cities into living labs for climate resilience, treating urban infrastructure as a responsive super-organism.

Dr. Carlo Ratti during his opening keynote ‘Curiosity. Adaptation. Collaboration.’ at BODW 2025

HERITAGE IS A CONTINUOUS SPIRAL OF ADAPTATION

Susanna Minotti, Head of Interior Decoration Department at Minotti, defines curiosity not as a hunt for novelty, but as an intentional discipline of listening before shaping. In her keynote, ‘Curiosity as Craft: A Way of Design,’ she argues that heritage does not evolve in a straight line but in a spiral, where designers must return to the same core questions of comfort and identity with a different gaze. Rooted in the artisan traditions of Brianza, Minotti illustrates how a localized productive ecosystem can successfully absorb international perspectives — integrating voices from Japan, Brazil, and Scandinavia into a single, cohesive design language. By treating design as an integrated lifestyle vision rather than a collection of standalone objects, she demonstrates that the evolution of heritage requires a precise balance between technological innovation and the emotional science of comfort.

Susanna Minotti speaking about ‘Curiosity as Craft: A Way of Design’

HUMAN STORYTELLING IS THE ONLY CURE FOR ‘AI SLOP’

Trend forecaster and Global Director of VML Intelligence Emma Chiu reveals a landscape where the convergence of physical and digital worlds is rapidly reshaping human potential. Drawing from an exclusive preview of VML’s ‘The Future 100: 2026’ report, she explores a paradox in connection: many feel technology brings people together, yet others worry it erodes the very attention spans and personal interactions that define us. This shift is most profound among younger generations who navigate hyper-realities, moving seamlessly between online inspiration and physical creation, often finding digital experiences as meaningful as the physical world.

With the ability to generate complex visuals and narratives through natural language, the tools of creativity are becoming accessible to everyone, fundamentally boosting the creator economy. However, Chiu suggests that while AI can accelerate production and even manage brand legacies, it cannot replicate human traits like empathy and imagination. Ultimately, the work that stands the test of time is that which moves people through lived experience — hardships and joys that technology cannot feel. To thrive in this new economy, creators must use these intelligent tools not to replace their intuition, but to amplify the storytelling that remains the heart of the human experience.

Emma Chiu presenting ‘Unlocking the Future: Technology as the Catalyst for a New Creative Economy’

Unlock the full BODW 2025 archive on bodw+ to enjoy unlimited access to curated video content from the 2025 Summit and previous editions. The insights shared by Ratti, Minotti, and Chiu are only the beginning of the cross-disciplinary dialogue. Delve deeper into the six topic pillars — Urban Visions, Mobility Revolution, Crafted Living, Luxury Reimagined, Innovating with AI & Technology, and Cultural Innovation & Creativity — and explore sessions featuring over 60 global experts who are shaping the future of design.

Register to bodw+ for free.

project info:

event: Business of Design Week (BODW) 2025 | @bodwplus
organizer: Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) | @hkdesigncentre
dates: December 1-6, 2025
partner country: Italy