Z33 is looking for promising designers and architects for the FORMAT edition 2020.

FORMAT is the annual opportunity for recent design graduates to present their talent. It is a competition, but it has a twist. The selected designers will spend a whole year working on a new project. They will receive training from other participants, specialists and coaches. FORMAT plays a major role in the designers’ name recognition and future careers. Our press and communications offices ensure that the selected designers get plenty of media attention, and we present their work to the general public in a group exhibition.

Are you:

– a recent graduate (max. 4 years ago)?
– based (live, work or study) in Flanders or the Euregion Maas-Rhine (Eindhoven, Maastricht, Liège, Aachen…)?
– ready to launch your professional career?

In this training trajectory, you will:
– create new work;
– receive a 5000 euro production budget (incl. VAT);
– choose a personal coach;
– receive advice from professionals and peers;
– discover the activities and international network of Z33
– present your work in a group exhibition at Z33

In short, being selected for FORMAT is the perfect place for ambitious designers and architects to start.

New! 3 positions:

Parallel to the FORMAT trajectory, we are looking for:

– a graphic designer (for the exhibition communications, online and print);
– a scenographer (for the exhibition scenography);
– a writer (to write about the laureates’ work in various formats).

There is a separate call for these three positions at apply.z33.be. The deadline and the selection process are the same.

The jury consists of:
Véronique Closon (Wallonie Design), Roel De Ridder (Architectuurwijzer), Janneke Janssen (laureate FORMAT 2019), Petrus Kemme (Flemish Architecture Institute), Chris Meplon (freelance curator), Tim Roerig (curator Z33), Myriam Vanheusden (MIA-H) and Inge Vranken (Flanders DC).

This jury will select a maximum of 20 candidates who will be invited for the second round, this is a personal interview on 5 or 6 November with Jan Boelen (artistic director Z33) and Evelien Bracke (curator Design Museum Ghent). The chairman of the jury is Heleen Van Loon.

Interested?

Submit your CV, portfolio and project proposal at apply.z33.be before 1 October 2019 (deadline: Monday 30 September 2019 at 11.59pm).

The jury will select a maximum of five FORMAT laureates. They will be informed of their selection in mid-November 2019.

The FORMAT trajectory will run from December 2019 until October 2020 (exhibition opening).

Find out here about the rules. For frequently asked questions about FORMAT, click here.