Philips Design. Soul & Science

The idea

There are moments when technology fades into the background, and moments when it creates wonder. Great design knows when to do either. A light that calms. A sound that reassures. A small detail that quietly says: you matter here. Or an innovation so bold it redefines how technology is lived and remembered.

At Dutch Design Week, Philips Design invites you to walk through those moments and feel what care is like when it puts people first. No heavy narratives, no product showcases. Just moments that ask a simple question: done well, can design give technology something close to a soul?

Three journeys

Soul & Science runs across three DDW experiences, each showing care in a different dimension. Care envisioned, at the Philips Museum, is about how design imagines a better future. Care felt, at Area51, is about how design turns technology into human feeling — something you can hear, feel, and maybe even dance to. Care lived, through the streets of Eindhoven, is about how design shapes not just products, but the wellbeing of a whole community.

One theme, three connected journeys. Grab a free map at the Philips Museum and follow care as it moves from idea to feeling and to life.

Care envisioned — At the Philips Museum

This exhibition is inspired by Syd Mead – the visual futurist who imagined the worlds of Blade Runner and Star Trek by night, while designing everyday products and bold visions of the future for Philips by day.

From there, it travels 600 years, through how every age imagined tomorrow, from medieval fears of the apocalypse to the age of AI. It ends by handing the visitor a pencil: an invitation to add their own future to a wall already pinned with ideas from Philips designers. Because imagining a better tomorrow is the first step to building it, and that is something anyone can do.