Last week was the first annual Munich Creative Business Week, the latest in the year-round cycle of global design events. Neverthless, Bayern Design, which organized the event, hoped to differentiate MCBW from, say, IMM Cologne of just a few weeks prior: Executive Director Silke Claus noted that the event team at made a conscious decision to include the word "business" in the name to draw a contrast to the ever-increasing number of design 'festivals' and 'fairs'—not necessarily in terms of commercial appeal but looking towards the future of creative industries.

Bayern Design Executive Director Silke Claus

[MCBW] keeps the realities of society and the economy in mind, taking up the challenge of offering holistic, relevant solutions that take into account our planet's future, promoting contextual discourse about design topics and concepts... [Thus, MCBW] draws attention to the fundamental importance of the culture of design in our living and workign environments and facilitates the formulation of new perspectives for the business sector.

Indeed, the events and exhibitions—nearly 100 in all—benefited from high production value throughout, while the programming itself was thoughtful and thought-provoking. In fact, the relatively small scale of the event meant that it was manageable despite temperatures that hovered around 12°C and persistent flurries.

Looking towards the City Center from the Oscar von Miller Forum

We took a whirlwind tour of a couple exhibitions, as well as the iF Design Awards Night (more on that to come). "MCBW Moments - Thinking Spaces for Design" was notable not only for the exhibits themselves but the interior architecture of the brand new Museum for Egyptian Art—the tour guide noted that the space was still far too humid to install the artifacts that will eventually go on display—a massive subterranean exhibition space in the museum district.

The "Mercury" pendant lamp by Raumfieber was inspired by NASA's "Friendship 7" space capsule

Universal Train by Neonmind

Upcycled furniture by World of Eve; the suitcase seating (center) was a favorite

This is but the smallest sampling of the projects that were on view; see more here.

The second exhibit, just a five-minute walk down Gabelbergerstrasse for anyone willing to brave the bitter cold, was held at the cutting-edge Oscar von Miller Forum. Produced by universal design Germany, "Creative Dialog Spanning Generations" featured several recent examples of Universal Design products alongside student projects that are in contention for the 2012 Universal Design Award.

The entries pictured above were developed by students at Munich Technical University, but further details remain scant. Judging took place just a few days ago, during MCBW, and the results will be announced at the end of this week, so hopefully we'll have more details on the "Fliz" bicycle and "Babyprotector" shortly.