ADFF: STIR Mumbai returns with its second edition. A programme that goes beyond the cinematic

Launched in 2009 by New York-based architect and film enthusiast Kyle Bergman, ADFF held its first official edition in Waitsfield, Vermont, and has since become the world’s largest film festival dedicated to architecture and design that celebrates the intersection of architecture, design and artistic storytelling. The event bridges cinema and other creative worlds, highlighting the intrinsic role of storytelling and worldbuilding in both. The spirit of the festival—vibrant, participatory and cross-disciplinary—remains unchanged, with this edition set to expand in scale, ambition and impact. Four dynamic pillars—the Films, ~log(ue) Programme, the Pavilion Park and Special Projects—guide the international event, fostering a space for meaningful engagement amongst the wider creative community and enthusiasts alike.

As the festival’s co-organisers, STIR—an award-winning global media house and curatorial agency—hopes to expand on its pivotal role of cultural dissemination by fostering collaborations within the creative industries in South Asia and beyond. ADFF:STIR Mumbai edition ii invites several notable names to build on the spirit of exchange and a multivalent roster of programming, bigger and more diverse in scale, offering something for everyone in the audience. Expanding on the vision of the event as a fertile ground for interdisciplinary contamination, Aric Chen, director of the Zaha Hadid Foundation, is curating the Pavilion Park, presented by Jaquar, under the theme Mumbai Transcripts, encouraging participation and engagement from creatives from the region and beyond. This year’s ~log(ue) Programme is supported by JSW and the patronage of Mrs Sangita Jindal and Tarini Jindal Handa, aiming to stage creative encounters between the public and influential creatives. Vitally, interventions that aim to engage audiences in innovative formats add to the dynamic nature of the festival.

Bigger and more diverse in scale in its sophomore year, STIR will also present LIVinSET, an immersive product gallery envisioned as a film set where varied aspects of life unfold performatively; culinary experiences that bridge the art of gastronomy with design to foster a sense of community and culture; and a dedicated POP-UP inspired by the museum shops for visitors to take a tangible form of the festival back with them, featuring books, curios, collectibles, merchandise and more.

Gaggenau will be hosting an exclusive culinary experience one evening, parallel to a multifaceted programme unfolding across the three days of the festival at LIVinSET.

“ADFF:STIR 2025 marked the beginning of something truly special for the country’s creative ecosystem, and for 2026, we’re poised to go bigger, bolder and more experimental. The first edition revealed gaps in how our communities perceive and connect across creative disciplines, and it began to bridge them—building a plural platform where film, architecture, design, the arts, their makers and their audiences could meet, much like what we strive for at STIR. The 2026 edition carries this ambition forward, more global and more intersectional, engaging with Mumbai through a lens that is both critical and deeply personal, celebrating the city’s frolic and its faultlines through the language of cinema.”

– Amit Gupta, festival director; founder & editor-in-chief, STIR.

The Films

The heart of the festival remains the films, presenting novel perspectives that document, challenge and reimagine the built world and its relationship with people and our planet. The films, with each rendering new ways of seeing, provide valuable insight into the human/other-than human aspects. The films shall seek to frame perspectives that redefine the creative forces that shape our world, shedding light on the lived realities, shared concerns and diverse aspirations of people in contemporary times. As with last year, the films—including documentaries, docu-fiction and speculative futures—position a plurality of voices, with a focus on perspectives not often depicted in mainstream discourse, including voices from the Global South, women and queer filmmakers, parables on the climate crisis and fearless storytelling highlighting the built world and the everyday.

KEY FILMS: Changing Lanes (a story about bike lanes, democracy and neighbourhood activism); Identity: A Czech Graphic Design Love Story; We The Others (exploring the Campana Brothers’ philosophy of inclusion and design); Eames: The Architect and the Painter; and Frank Gehry: Building Justice, to name a few. The festival will also screen a slew of films on art and design in 3D. These include Anselm and Pina—two films by the auteur German director Wim Wenders centring the lives of the artist Anselm Kiefer and choreographer Pina Bausch respectively. A portrait of Louis Kahn’s Salk Institute—as part of the Cathedrals of Culture series, highlighting similar monuments of architecture globally—will also be screened in 3D. A screening of Berlin Philharmonic in 3D, also in the Cathedrals of Culture series, will be screened at the festival premiere night on January 08, offering guests an immersive experience.

“The response to the first edition of ADFF:STIR Mumbai has been extraordinary. The city’s audience is deeply engaged, passionate and eager to explore how films can influence the world of architecture and design. Our 2026 edition builds on that momentum of bold ideas, exceptional films and conversations that resonate across disciplines and geographies, drawing participants and audiences not just from the city and country but around the globe.” – Kyle Bergman, festival director and founder, ADFF.

Jaquar Pavilion Park

ADFF:STIR Mumbai announces ten winning practices whose visionary proposals will bring the Jaquar Pavilion Park to life at the NCPA, Mumbai, in January 2026.

Supported by Jaquar, the second edition of the festival’s acclaimed Pavilion Park, themed under Mumbai Transcripts, opens January 9 – 11, 2026, set to choreograph space, movement and urban encounters. Among the four dynamic pillars of the festival—the Films, the Pavilion Park, the ~log(ue) Programme and Special Projects—the Pavilion Park stands out as a living, participatory exposition that extends the festival’s ethos beyond the screen and into space itself.

Conceived as a platform for architectural experimentation and public engagement, the Pavilion Park will transform the NCPA lawns into an open-air stage for spatial propositions—temporary structures that shall invite reflection, interaction and play. Curated by Aric Chen, director of the Zaha Hadid Foundation, the 2026 edition builds upon the curatorial theme Mumbai Transcripts (drawing from Bernard Tschumi’s The Manhattan Transcripts) to explore how space, movement and event intertwine in the contemporary metropolis.

“In many ways, architecture brings fiction and reality together. You are able to shape experiences and narratives through the spaces that you create. With these pavilions—able to articulate ideas in ways often not possible outside the pavilion format—we hope that it encourages visitors to become actors, protagonists and audiences in their own storylines.” – Aric Chen, Curator and jury chair, Jaquar Pavilion Park 2026

As one of ADFF:STIR’s most anticipated features, the Pavilion Park this year has grown into an even more plural and democratic field of expression, with 52 architects, designers and artists responding to the curatorial brief and submitting proposals. From these, ten proposals have been selected for realisation by a distinguished international jury comprising Hans Ulrich Obrist (artistic director, Serpentine Galleries, London), Lesley Lokko OBE (founder, African Futures Institute and curator of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023), Raj Rewal (founder, Raj Rewal Associates), Ma Yansong (founder, MAD Architects), and Martha Thorne (former executive director, Pritzker Architecture Prize).

Each of the pavilions selected to be realised—currently under development through a deeply collaborative process between participants, the jury and STIR, facilitated through regular deliberations—seeks to serve as a spatial provocation. Designed as cinematic fragments across materials and scales, they contribute to a collective narrative about Mumbai, its rhythms, its ruptures and its continually evolving urban identity, while speaking to broader global discourse on cities and place. The ten diverse voices in architecture, design and the arts selected to give shape to the Pavilion Park are:

Studio Sangath, Mangrove Pavilion Reddymade, Sift UHA Global, Pentad Pavilion SJK Architects, The Street of Aspiration Bose Krishnamachari, The Pavilion of Conversations Abin Design Studio, Unscripted Field Architects, The Script NORTH, Mountain Transcripts Mathew and Ghosh Architects, The Mumbai Transcripts Anagram Architects, Tectonics of Mumbai

Reimagined through Chen’s lens (drawing from Bernard Tschumi’s The Manhattan Transcripts), the pavilions are set to trace the dynamic interplay between space, movement and event, evoking how architecture can frame new social relations and ways of being together. Much like a playground or a choreography, the installations invite audiences to engage physically and emotionally—whether walking through, resting within or performing alongside them.

“Jaquar Group partners with STIR in an effort to set a benchmark in cultural patronage. This is a commitment to shaping critical discourse, supporting production of new ideas and bringing a meaningful dialogue.” – Mohit Hajela, Group VP-Business Development, Global Operations for Jaquar Group (The Title Sponsor of Pavilion Park at ADFF:STIR Mumbai 2026)

Beyond the festival’s three-day run, STIR is committed to giving these works a continued public life. Each pavilion is designed for relocation and reinstallation, guided by the framework of Recycle, Repurpose, Renovate, Donate, Acquire. This approach reinforces the festival’s circular design ethos, one where temporary structures contribute to lasting cultural exchange and sustainability in practice.

~log(ue) Programme supported by JSW

In line with the festival’s objective to foster cross-disciplinary discourse among professionals from the creative industries and general audiences alike, ~log(ue) 2026, presented in partnership with JSW, builds on its refreshing spin on talks and public programming. Bridging people (log/ लोग) and discourse (~logues) to stage creative encounters between the public and top creatives from the worlds of architecture, art, design, fashion, craft, technology, films and more, the conversations are set to carry the same ethos with renewed agency.

With the patronage of Mrs Sangita Jindal and Tarini Jindal Handa, several distinct mediums of engagement within the ~log(ue) programme are planned: ~monolog(ue)s or theatrical performances; ~dialog(ue)s, bringing together two different positions through livewire conversations; and ~multilog(ue)s or discussions and debates between panelists from the creative fields stitched together by spontaneous moderating. Additionally, ~analog(ue) sessions with workshops, performances, readings and special sessions will give audiences a break from the screen and halls, while ~prolog(ue)s and ~epilog(ue)s from renowned filmmakers, speakers and performers will bookend the film screenings. The programme is geared to unsettle preconceived notions on how creative cultures function through engaging sessions that make the medium the message.

“I am really excited for the second year of ADFF in Mumbai. It’s an incredible property that celebrates culture with film. […] I think last year said it all—the ~log(ue) programme was incredibly successful. Black boxes filled with people, and talk after talk. There were all kinds of people who were speaking on the stage and the interest was apparent. This year, I am sure, will be bigger and better.” – Tarini Jindal Handa, Managing Director, JSW Realty and patron of ~log(ue) programme at ADFF

A special segment of the ~log(ue) programme on Saturday, January 10, 2026, is in collaboration with Mumbai Gallery Weekend and India Art Fair, presenting artist talks and a curator-led walkthrough.

Key participants: Aric Chen (director, Zaha Hadid Foundation); Raj Rewal (Founder, Raj Rewal Associates); Ma Yansong (founder, MAD Architects); Rhael ‘LionHeart’ Cape (multi-disciplinary artist, poet, director and presenter); Subodh Gupta (artist); Mithu Sen (artist); Paul Goldberger (Pulitzer Prize-winning Architecture critic and writer); Lara Lesmes and Fredrik Hellberg (Director, Space Popular); Kulapat Yantrasast (Founder, WHY Architecture); Tasneem Zakaria Mehta (director, BDL Museum); Tarini Malik (Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Royal Academy of Arts); Ekow Eshun (British curator, writer, and broadcaster); Nyrika Holkar (Executive Director of Godrej & Boyce); Rahul Kadri (architect); Kabir Khan (Filmmaker), Terence Lewis (Indian dancer & choreographer), and more.

“At ~log(ue), we explore the energy that arises when people and perspectives meet. Through an expanded range of formats and collaborative exchanges spanning talks, debates, crits, workshops, games and performances, we urge audiences to step into creative cultures rather than stand at their edges. We’ve shaped a space where ideas don’t just circulate, but collide and transform.” – Samta Nadeem, festival curator and curatorial director, STIR

Special Projects

The Special Projects at ADFF:STIR are designed to be a dynamic layer that offers yet another medium with which to unite creativity, communities and publics. This year will see a commissioned installation by British Fashion Designer and Artist Samuel Ross MBE, unveiling his creative practice for the first time in India, DIASPORA PASSAGE 0100A.

ADFF:STIR is strengthened through a network of meaningful partnerships and collaborations, bringing together a distinguished community of leaders across design, culture, industry and hospitality.

Bold Industrial Abstractions

Diaspora Passage 0fi00fiA – Samuel Ross – Mumbai, India

British-Caribbean artist and designer Samuel Ross MBE will debut the site-specific pavilion in Mumbai, in partnership with the British Council, STIR and Friedman Benda New York.

Wielding colour, asymmetry and democratic materials to express states of vigilance, flux, and cultural alchemy, Ross binds shared experiences and meaning by contorting industrial materials, expressing perpetuity in form, and delivering spiritually inspired contemplations through the visual-physical allegory DIASPORA PASSAGE 01001A, a pronounced physical structure granting respite.

An intimate selection of paintings, drawings, objects and manifesto texts crafted by Ross and leading community voices, will be on view alongside new concept seating forms.

Activations surrounding the pavilion will be announced shortly.

Trident Hotels, Hospitality Partner for the 2026 edition, plays a pivotal role in shaping the lived experience of the festival—infusing each moment with its hallmark of refined luxury, thoughtful service and a deep commitment to cultural engagement, and creating spaces for connection both on and beyond the programme.

“This partnership reflects Trident Hotels’ belief that hospitality goes beyond spaces and services to encompass meaningful engagement with creative and cultural discourse. Our association with the ADFF:STIR Festival underscores our commitment to the arts, culture, and contemporary design. By aligning with platforms that celebrate architecture, design, and modern living, Trident continues to foster thoughtful conversations that resonate with the evolving sensibilities of our guests.” says Dhiraj Mehta, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Trident, Nariman Point, Mumbai,

The second edition of the festival is made possible through the generous support of Pavilion Park Title Partner Jaguar, and the individual pavilion supporters – JSW, Godrej Properties, the Vadehra Family, Roca, Royal Enfield and Buildkraft India. The public programme, ~log(ue), is powered by JSW, with the British Council serving as Institutional Partner. Experience Partners include Gaggenau, B/S/H/ and Siemens, alongside Culinary Partner Impressario. The festival is further enriched by Cultural Collaborators India Art Fair, Mumbai Gallery Weekend, Avid Learning and G5A, reflecting ADFF’s commitment to building enduring cross-sector partnerships that expand dialogue at the intersection of architecture, design and culture.

Visit the ADFF:STIR Mumbai website for more information, ticket releases, detailed programme and other updates on the festival.

About The Architecture & Design Film Festival, NY

Founded in 2009, the Architecture & Design Film Festival celebrates the creative spirit that drives architecture and design. Through a curated selection of films, events and panel discussions, ADFF creates an opportunity to educate, entertain and engage all types of people who are excited about architecture and design. It has grown into the world’s largest film festival devoted to the subject, with an annual festival in New York and satellite events around the world. For more information, visit https://adfilmfest.com/ or @ADFILMFEST on Facebook and Instagram.

About STIR

STIR is a global media house and curatorial agency committed to STIRring creative minds—from architecture, design and new media arts. 2019 marked the birth of STIRworld.com—a global digital magazine that publishes daily thought-provoking content contributed by writers from all over the world—ranging from critical case studies, opinion pieces and columns, to original editorial series. In 2021, STIR launched STIRpad.com—a destination for designers, galleries and brands to share new collections, collaborations, exhibitions and announcements. Driven by its motto to constantly #thinkNEXT, the publication pushes the boundaries of creative discourse.

As a curatorial agency, STIR is committed to fostering creativity and supporting the champions of the next through its various IPs and collaborative projects around the globe. www.stirworld.com, www.stirpad.com

Instagram: @stir_world, @amitondesign

About Jaquar

At Jaquar, the belief lies in elevating everyday moments. A global leader in Bathroom and Lighting Solutions, Jaquar offers thoughtfully crafted solutions that bring understated elegance to every home, enhancing each space with purpose and style. Committed to world-class quality, Jaquar is present in over 55 countries and is backed by cutting-edge manufacturing which continues to set the standard in bathroom and lighting solutions for homes. From contemporary bathroom design ideas to modern showers and refined lighting products, each element is designed to create a space that feels as good as it looks. Whether it’s the serene spas or versatile lighting, Jaquar ensures harmony and balance in every detail. The brand’s channel showcases inspiring ideas, interviews, and more, designed to meet the needs of homeowners, architects and designers.

About JSW

The US$23 billion JSW Group is one of India’s leading business houses, with interests spanning Steel, Energy, Cement, Infrastructure, Paints, Realty, and Sports. Guided by innovation, sustainability, and a long-term vision, JSW has played a pivotal role in India’s development while building enduring value.

For over three decades, the JSW Group has also supported India’s art, culture, and heritage through conservation, institutional patronage, and public arts initiatives. Through the JSW Foundation and under the leadership of Sangita Jindal—founder of Art India, now marking 30 years as one of the country’s leading art publications—the Group has supported award-winning heritage restorations and cultural platforms that continue to strengthen India’s cultural ecosystem.

If you object to the content of this press release, please notify us at pr.error.rectification@gmail.com. We will respond and rectify the situation within 24 hours.