“Where Design Connects” is the theme that ties together the countless initiatives featured in the NeoCon 2026 program. The leading event for commercial design returns for its 57th edition from June 8 to 10, unfolding across the floors of the iconic The Mart. The guiding theme highlights the fair’s role as a gathering place for the global design community: a space to share ideas, build relationships, and observe the evolution of the future of design.
Over the course of the three-day event, product showcases from 450 participating international brands will be accompanied by a rich program of events, talks, and installations, renewed once again for this edition. Alongside the fair’s signature appointments – starting with the “Best of NeoCon,” the official award presented annually by the fair – several new formats will make their debut. The schedule opens on Sunday, June 7, with the inaugural NeoCon Preview Day (12:00–4:00 PM), offering participants early access to the exhibition floors.
Among the most anticipated showcases is Illuminate at NeoCon (7th Floor Exhibit Hall): an event within the event dedicated to innovation in lighting design. This new specialized section brings together more than 60 international and emerging lighting brands – including Axis Lighting, Axolight, CYM x Fixt, Marset, RBW, and Secto Design – alongside installations developed by line + form + light, presenting real-world applications of lighting design, and in-depth talks on topics ranging from circadian health and human performance to adaptive digital environments.
Another major addition is NeoCon Collab: Half Light, a large-scale installation on the seventh floor designed by Charlie Greene Studio. Hospitality-oriented and conceived to explore materiality, light, and spatial experience, the project draws inspiration from the “Chicagohenge” phenomenon: the alignment of the setting sun with the city’s urban grid.
Also among the headline installations, Haworth DesignLab x Paved States transforms The Mart’s South Lobby and Suite 121 into a hybrid environment – part gallery, part exhibition, part concept store – centered around a listening room conceived as the core of the experience. Visitors are invited to explore, touch, and move through a series of spaces entirely furnished with works by emerging designers from North and South America. Conceived as an exploration of “how we will live in the future,” the project marks Chris Force’s second Paved States presentation at NeoCon following its 2025 debut with The Mart, as well as the first joint activation with the Haworth DesignLab program directed by Patricia Urquiola.
Conferences also remain a central pillar of the fair: seven keynote presentations led by major industry figures – including HOK, HKS, The Barack Obama Foundation, ASID, Mattel, Microsoft, and Cisco – will be joined by more than 60 CEU sessions addressing themes such as neurodiversity, materials and artificial intelligence, decarbonization, and design for Generation Z, in addition to four workshops and twelve talks.
Outside the building, the Art on The Mart initiative continues on the south façade, transforming the iconic structure into a dynamic canvas of light and sound with LOVE LANGUAGE, a projection exploring art as a universal form of communication.
