shapeshift festival 2026

24-26th april

:save the date:

SHAPESHIFT is a three-day festival by Next DC featuring an immersive lineup of talks, workshops, exhibitions & screenings. The festival explores the dynamic relationship between humanity, creativity, and innovation in a time of constant transformation.

Talks : Workshops : Exhibition : Screenings : Party :

Our new Co-Curators for SHAPESHIFT 2026

We’re pleased to welcome technologist-designer Maciej Zasada and immersive-experience lead Karol Góreczny as co-curators of the upcoming edition. Maciej’s work—spanning Google, Amazon, and Disney—often turns emerging tech into everyday tools. Karol, formerly Head of Design at UNIT9, guides projects for Meta, Nike, and Formula 1 that blur the line between physical and digital space.

Together they’ll shape a programme that asks how design and technology can move from prototype to lived experience—details to follow in the months ahead.

{speakers announcement}

Francesco Walker – Cognitive Psychologist, Leiden University

Francesco Walker leads the Humans, Art & Technology Lab (HATlab) at Leiden University, using tools such as mobile eye-tracking to study how visitors actually look at and navigate exhibitions. His findings are helping museums refine layout, interpretation, and accessibility, and have been featured in The Boston Globe, The Times, and The Conversation.

At SHAPESHIFT he will share practical insights on designing cultural experiences that resonate both intellectually and emotionally.

Alexandre Mballa-Ekobena, Senior Manager, Advanced 3D – Adidas Originals

Alexandre (Sasha) Mballa-Ekobena links architecture, computation, and product design. At adidas Originals, he steers 3D workflows and future-collection strategy; earlier, he bridged concept and fabrication for artists and advanced-manufacturing studios. With training in architecture, integrative technologies, and an Executive MBA in progress, Sasha joins SHAPESHIFT 2026 to show how cross-disciplinary teams move speculative sketches into market-ready objects—and what that shift means for design’s next chapter.