Format Get tickets

14·15 May 2027

Maassilo, Rotterdam

400 seats · one room

Format

A two-day design conference about the shape things take — twelve speakers, no parallel tracks, inside a 1910 grain silo on the Maashaven.

Get tickets — €390 See the twelve speakers
The Maassilo grain silo seen across the water of the Maashaven in Rotterdam-Zuid

Two days, one room, four hundred people

Friday 14 and Saturday 15 May 2027. Six speakers a day, no parallel tracks.

Maassilo, a 1910 grain silo on the Maashaven, Rotterdam-Zuid.

  • 2days
  • 12speakers
  • 400seats
A designer sketching letterforms in a notebook, lanyard on her knee

Line-up

Twelve people who make things

Each gives one named talk, on the one stage. Hover a name to see it.

A speaker on the concrete stage seen from the back rows
  1. Ines ValkenburgType designFri 14 · 10:00The Weight of a Serif
  2. Tomás FerreiraArchitectureFri 14 · 11:00Concrete Has a Grain
  3. Mirte de WitEditorial designFri 14 · 12:00Forty Pages, No Images
  4. Kofi MensahIdentityFri 14 · 14:00A Logo Is a Promise to Keep
  5. Hanne LindqvistProduct designFri 14 · 15:00Buttons Nobody Notices
  6. Jorrit BakkerMotionFri 14 · 16:30Slow Is a Frame Rate
  7. Amara OkaforFurnitureSat 15 · 10:00Chairs for Long Talks
  8. Luuk VerhoevenWayfindingSat 15 · 11:00Arrows Over Metro Lines
  9. Sofia MarchettiPrintmakingSat 15 · 12:00Two Colours, One Press
  10. Daan RietveldSystemsSat 15 · 14:00Grids That Forgive
  11. Yuki TanabePackagingSat 15 · 15:00The Shape of a Fold
  12. Noor El-AminClosing talkSat 15 · 16:30What Format Means

Schedule

Small enough to fit on a ticket

Six talks a day, one room, one lunch. Nobody has to choose between two stages.

Friday · May

14

  • Doors and coffee9 am
  • Talks one to three10 am
  • Lunch in the silo12.45 pm
  • Talks four to six2 pm
  • Drinks on the quay6 pm

Saturday · May

15

  • Doors and coffee9.30 am
  • Talks seven to nine10.30 am
  • Lunch in the silo1 pm
  • Talks ten to twelve2.15 pm
  • Closing talk5 pm
The raw concrete hall of the Maassilo with steel hoppers overhead and rows of folding chairs

Venue

The room is part of the programme

Maassilo is a 1910 concrete grain silo on the Maashaven, in Rotterdam-Zuid. Four hundred folding chairs, steel hoppers overhead, harbour light through the windows. Metro Maashaven is next to the door; the Erasmusbrug is two stops away.

The elevated Maashaven metro platform with harbour cranes beyond
Buy a ticket — €390Find Maassilo on the map

Both days, one seat, €390

One ticket covers Friday 14 and Saturday 15 May 2027: all twelve talks, lunch on both days and a printed timetable. Only 400 seats in the Maassilo, and when they are gone, they are gone.

Buy a ticket — €390 Student ticket? See the questions

Good to know

How do I get to the Maassilo?

Take the metro to Maashaven; the stop is next to the venue. From Rotterdam Centraal it is a short ride south across the Erasmusbrug side of the river.

Can I get a refund?

Yes, until 30 days before the conference. After that you can pass your ticket to someone else by email.

What language are the talks in?

All twelve talks are in English, in one room, one after another. Nothing runs in parallel.

Is the venue accessible?

The hall is on one level with step-free entry and seating space for wheelchairs. Write to us and we will reserve your place.

Is there a student ticket?

A limited number of student seats are released a few weeks before the event. Check back here for the date.

Is lunch included?

Yes. Lunch on both days is part of the €390 ticket, served in the silo between the talks.