Jumpstart your week with our insider's guide to events in the design world. From must-see exhibitions to insightful lectures and the competitions you need to know about—here's the best of what's going on, right now.

Monday

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To celebrate the launch of the Downtown Design Festival, the Seaport District will host an opening night event on the picturesque cobblestone pavements of historic Fulton Street, featuring music, live entertainment, food and spirits. 

New York, NY. May 9, 2016 at 6 PM. 

Tuesday

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Don't miss the inaugural Design Pavilion exhibition, housed in the newly renovated Astor Place Plaza. Among the curated selection of interactive displays and immersive exhibitions is American Design Club's "Growth," exhibit–a showcase of innovative functional objects made to encourage the growth of natural plants in our man-made world.

New York, NY. On view through May 11, 2016.  

Wednesday

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Tadao Ando—the Japanese architect and Pritzker prize recipient known for melding the aesthetics of his native country with those he gleaned on travels to Europe, Africa, and the United States—will speak about his current work and hold a book signing of his latest monograph, Ando (Taschen, 2014).

New York, NY.  May 11 at 7 PM. 

Thursday

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The motto at this year's TYPO Berlin conference is "strictly no design." The annual conference is Europe's largest event devoted to graphic design, typography and media studies. Programming this year will explore the future directions of design, but there won't be any design professionals speaking—instead, the focus is on multi-disciplinary creatives (musicians, artists, writers) who are working to re-define the boundaries of the genre with new perspectives. 

Berlin, Germany. Through May 14, 2016. 

Friday

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Opening on Friday is the annual End of Year show at the IIT Institute of Design, showcasing problem-solving proposals that span across healthcare, education, urban environments, technology and business. 

Chicago, IL. On view through May 16, 2016. 

Saturday/Sunday

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Kick off ICFF 2016 with the opening night party this Friday, hosted in MoMA's beautiful sculpture garden. Then, get some rest and head out to see the marathon fair this weekend—with over 30,000 global designers on view! 

New York, NY. Opening party on May 14, at 7 PM. ICFF will be on view through May 17, 2016. 

Check out the Core77 Calendar for more design world events, competitions and exhibitions, or submit your own to be considered for our next Week in Design.