Winners of DFA Design for Asia Awards 2026 Unveiled

Asia-focused Designs Shine Globally with Groundbreaking Creativity and Social Value

HONG KONG, Oct. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Hong Kong Design Centre announced today the awardee list for the DFA Design for Asia Awards 2026. After a rigorous judging process, a panel of 26 renowned local and international design leaders selected 209 winning projects from entries across 15 economies. Among the six design disciplines, Spatial Design recorded the highest proportion of winning entries, while projects from Thailand and India returned to the Grand Award leaderboard for the first time since 2020, demonstrating the growing design strength of ASEAN countries. This year's winning projects showcase how design serves as a strategic driver of transcultural, economic and social progress. Several Grand Award and Gold Award-winning projects introduced forward-looking solutions in spatial design, urban planning, product design, and digital innovation. In addition, many entries actively address critical regional challenges, including climate resilience, affordable housing, and accessible healthcare.

Organised by Hong Kong Design Centre, with the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA) under the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the HKSAR Government as the lead sponsor, the DFA Design for Asia Awards (DFA DFAA) recognises outstanding design solutions that embody Asian aesthetics, culture and perspectives. The Awards features six major design disciplines — Communication Design, Digital & Motion Design, Fashion & Accessory Design, Product & Industrial Design, Service & Experience Design, and Spatial Design—reflecting the diversity and depth of contemporary design across Asia and beyond.

Since its inception in 2003, this internationally recognised award programme has conferred around 3,300 accolades on outstanding projects from more than 40 economies worldwide. As a premier platform for design excellence, DFA DFAA champions human-centred design solutions that enhance quality of life, address evolving societal needs, and contribute to the future advancement of design globally.

Ms Rainy Chan, Executive Director of Hong Kong Design Centre, said, 'Beyond addressing pressing social issues, this year's winning projects demonstrate excellence in the application of cutting-edge technology, innovative materials, and immersive spatial experiences. From breakthroughs in spatial and communication design to award-winning works across diverse disciplines, these projects exemplify creativity, ingenuity, and forward-looking thinking at the highest level. What is particularly encouraging is how Asia-focused designs are evolving beyond responding to local needs to set new benchmarks in quality, creativity and impact. I look forward to these exceptional achievements continuing to inspire the industry, foster meaningful change, and shape the future of design.'

More than an honour, the DFA DFAA offers awardees a powerful launchpad for global visibility, industry recognition, and cross-sector engagement. In addition to leveraging the globally recognised DFA DFAA Endorsement Mark, winning projects benefit from multi-channel exposure through exhibitions, the DFA Awards Online Showcase and the official Awards Publication. By participating in key events such as the Presentation Ceremony, exhibitions, and selected regional and international forums, winners can establish valuable connections with leading figures across the design and business communities. These platforms enable awardees to unlock new business opportunities, expand their professional networks and amplify their impact on the global stage.

To view the full winner list, please visit our website at: https://dfaa.dfaawards.com/en/winner/

Please download the DFA Design for Asia Awards 2026 Press Kit, including the Grand Award project introductions and high resolutions images at: https://bit.ly/4iYwlGG

About DFA Awards (www.dfaawards.com/en)

Since 2003, the Hong Kong Design Centre has launched the DFA Awards to underpin the role of designers in society, to celebrate design leadership and exemplary designs and projects with commercial success or impact in Asia, as well as to recognise the rising force of emerging designers in Hong Kong. The DFA Awards, through its seven major award programmes, has grown in its international influence in Asia. The seven award programmes include DFA Lifetime Achievement Award, DFA Design Leadership Award, DFA World's Outstanding Chinese Designer, DFA Designer of the Year, DFA Asian Design Vanguard, DFA Design for Asia Awards and DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award.

About DFA Design for Asia Awards (www.dfaa.dfaawards.com/en)

Since 2003, the 'DFA Design for Asia Awards' honours design excellence and acknowledges user-centric design projects which embrace the unique Asian perspectives to enhance and improve the quality of life for people in the region. Organised by Hong Kong Design Centre, with Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as the Lead Sponsor, as one of the seven DFA Awards programmes, the "DFA Design for Asia Awards" has been a platform for design talent and corporates to showcase their design projects internationally.

About Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) (www.hkdesigncentre.org/en) 

Hong Kong Design Centre is a strategic partner of the HKSAR Government in leveraging the city's East-meets-West advantage to create value from design. 

The major programmes include Business of Design Week, bodw Future Lab, DFA Awards, Fashion Asia Hong Kong and DESIGN@HKG. Since 2024, we have also been operating the DX design hub in Sham Shui Po, dedicated to fostering emerging design talents and facilitating collaborations and exchanges in the design industry, as well as providing visitors an immersive experience through innovative exhibitions, fashion showcases and cultural events.  

To achieve our goals, we:   

• Cultivate a culture of design   
• Bridge stakeholders to opportunities that unleash the power of design  
• Promote excellence in various design disciplines

About Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (www.ccidahk.gov.hk/en)  

The Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA), formerly known as Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) since 2009, was established in June 2024. CCIDA is a dedicated office under the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR Government) to provide one-stop services and support to the cultural and creative sectors with a mission to foster a conducive environment in Hong Kong to facilitate development of the arts, culture and creative sectors as industries. CCIDA's strategic foci are nurturing talent and facilitating start-ups, exploring markets, promoting cross-sectoral and multi-disciplinary collaboration, promoting industrialisation of the arts, culture and creative sectors under the industry-oriented principle, and fostering a creative atmosphere in the community, thereby reinforcing Hong Kong as Asia's creative capital and our positioning as the East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange.   

Disclaimer: The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region provides funding support to some of HKDC's activities/projects only, and does not otherwise take part in such funded activities/projects.  Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication and relevant materials/events (or by members of the project teams) are those of HKDC only and do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency, the CreateSmart Initiative Secretariat or the CreateSmart Initiative Vetting Committee.  

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Winners of DFA Design for Asia Awards 2026 Unveiled

—Huawei and 14 Partners Jointly Launch the Global AI CITY Innovation & Development Ecosystem Alliance to Build a New Era of AI CITY

SHANGHAI, Oct. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- During HUAWEI CONNECT 2026, the Global Government AI CITY Innovation Summit was successfully held. Themed " Digitalize & Innovate Cities ,AI Delivers Value to All Nations," the summit brought together over 500 participants, including global industry experts, government representatives, and ecosystem partners, to discuss how AI and data can empower industry development, government services, and city governance. Meanwhile, Huawei and 14 partners jointly launched the Global AI CITY Innovation & Development Ecosystem Alliance, aiming to build an open and shared ecosystem for digital and intelligent city innovation and development.

At the summit, Huawei invited customers from Angola, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia, as well as Guangzhou and Shanghai in China, to share their experiences in AI CITY construction. Tao Jingwen, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Huawei, delivered a welcome speech, and Yang Ruikai, CEO of Huawei Government Public Services Digitalization BU, attended the event.

Tao Jingwen remarked that AI is deeply integrating into all aspects of city development, optimizing government service experiences and innovating city governance models. Compute and data have become the core drivers of high-quality city development. Huawei has always adhered to the principles of openness, inclusiveness, and win-win cooperation. By solidifying the computing backbone, building AI-ready data infrastructure, and delivering ultimate business experiences, Huawei will work closely with ecosystem partners and global government customers to explore innovative paths for the digital and intelligent transformation of government services and cities.

From city governance to government services and industry enablement, AI agents have permeated every aspect of cities. In his keynote speech, Simon Zou, Vice President of Government Public Services Digitalization BU and President of Marketing & Solution Sales, Huawei, shared several real-life stories from Shenzhen's Longgang District and the city of Shantou, illustrating how AI will help cities become safer, more efficient, and more harmonious. The city governance agent makes city safety visible, reducing labor costs with compute and improving governance efficiency. The government service agent, which enables "Chat-to-Process," transforms city services from the conventional model of "citizens crowding service windows and guessing the policies" to a proactive, user-centric service that delivers benefits directly to those eligible. By consuming power locally, keeping data within borders, and exporting AI services globally, the Token Factory cross-border model not only empowers the local AI industry but also drives cross-border cooperation. Leveraging its ICT capabilities and experience, Huawei has worked with innovative cities and partners to propose the AI CITY technical reference architecture. This architecture uses OpenHarmony as the unified foundation for various types of city terminals, and leverages the compute of Ascend AI to enable device-edge-cloud intelligent collaboration. In this way, a brand-new AI CITY Solution can be built to support the large-scale implementation of the aforementioned service scenarios.

During the event, Huawei and the State Information Center of China jointly released the AI CITY Development Research Report 2026, providing guidance for the comprehensive digital and intelligent upgrade of cities. The report defines the paradigm of AI CITY and proposes that cities are moving from the "data-driven" era to the era of "city super agents." AI CITY will use intelligent computing and city public clouds as the foundation to support the implementation of high-value intelligent scenarios, and shift the focus from building capabilities to delivering value. The report also includes benchmark cases from Shenzhen, Wuhan, and Karamay, providing replicable paths for intelligent city upgrades.

With the successive establishment of the World Data Organization and the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO), global cooperation in the AI and data fields is poised to enter a new phase of vigorous growth. The innovation journey of AI CITY calls for global partners to harness their collective wisdom, pool ideas, and collaborate closely. At the conclusion of this summit, Huawei, together with 14 global partners including TIS, Egabi Solution, HMN Tech, Epoint, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), launched the Global AI CITY Innovation & Development Ecosystem Alliance. The alliance aims to focus on compute collaboration, data circulation, and scenario innovation, consolidating industrial strength to jointly build an open and shared digital and intelligent urban ecosystem.

Under the theme of "Smart-Digital Innovative Cities, AI for Global Inclusion," Huawei looks forward to working with more customers and partners to jointly build, share, and embrace the AI CITY.

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Global Government AI CITY Innovation Summit Successfully Held

Global Government AI CITY Innovation Summit Successfully Held