Gesprächsreihe: Moving Business by Design
German Design Council in cooperation with IHK Frankfurt
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Terminal 3 at Frankfurt Airport is one of Europe's largest infrastructure and design projects and an international flagship project for mobility, orientation and user experience. It is a place where infrastructure, design and social expectations come together in a new quality. Today, airports are places of cultural identity and international interfaces of a globally networked economy.
Design as a creative force in public spaces
Against this backdrop, the talk series on design and business, Moving Business by Design, will open on 26 February 2026 with a discussion on how design creates orientation, shapes experiences and enables economic transformation in complex infrastructure projects. The focus will be on the creative, political and economic decisions behind projects of this magnitude – and the responsibility of design as a strategic driver.
The initiator and curator of the series is the German Design Council, Germany's leading design institution since 1953. In cooperation with the Frankfurt am Main Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the series highlights key topics for the future and positions design as a driver of transformation. With an eye on Frankfurt Rhine-Main as World Design Capital 2026, Moving Business by Design contributes to the strategic positioning of Frankfurt as a location for future-oriented economic and political decisions.
Terminal 3 – Design between infrastructure, identity and experience
How do you design public infrastructure on an XXL scale? Using Terminal 3 as an example, leading voices from business, architecture, design and politics discuss responsibility, creative freedom and the future of public spaces as a strategic location factor.
Welcome: Lutz Dietzold, CEO German Design Council – Rat für Formgebung, and Ulrich Caspar, President IHK Frankfurt am Main
Panel: Stephanie Pudwitz, Commercial Managing Director, Fraport AG, Prof. Christoph Mäckler, Architect, Mäckler Architekten; Sibylle Schlaich, Managing Partner, Moniteurs, Berlin; Kaweh Mansoori, Hessian Minister for Economics, Energy, Transport, Housing and Rural Affairs
Moderator: Carsten Knop, Editor, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Schedule for 26 February 2026
17:00 Reception at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Frankfurt am Main
18:00 Talk: Terminal 3 – Design between infrastructure, identity and experience
19:30 Networking & catering (until approx. 22:00)
