ADFF NYC 2026—the New York edition of the Architecture & Design Film Festival—runs 12–17 October 2026, opening for the first time at The Museum of Modern Art before moving to Village East by Angelika. If you are searching “ADFF New York dates,” MoMA tickets or which films premiere roughly three weeks out, this ADVANCE guide locks the season spine before the mid-October spike.
Founder Kyle Bergman frames the slate around one practical question: what do we do with what is already built? That through-line—adaptive reuse, contested housing, and figures written out of design history—sits cleanly beside our other Design-festival explainers on this desk.
ADFF:NY dates and venues
• Opening night: MoMA — world premiere of MUNDO FRÁGIL, directed by Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine.
• Days two through six: Village East by Angelika — including the world premiere of Five Living Buildings (by Renzo Piano), directed by Jonathan Goodman Levitt.
• Tickets: Official ADFF materials say the full schedule went live on adfilmfest.com from 1 September, when tickets went on sale.
• Presenter: Eventscape presents ADFF:NY for this edition; the festival marks its 18th year.
Azure Magazine and the Griffin PR release both emphasise the MoMA open as a first in ADFF history—useful for SERP titles that promise “MoMA opening night,” not only a generic festival date.
Opening film: Mundo Frágil and the 2026 Pritzker laureate
MUNDO FRÁGIL follows Chilean architect Smiljan Radić. Filmmakers Bêka and Lemoine spent a week travelling with him across Chile; the film was shot about six months before Radić became the 2026 Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate, which is why the release calls it an unguarded pre-fame portrait. After the MoMA screening, Radić and the directors speak in a conversation moderated by Martino Stierli, Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA.
Second world premiere: Five Living Buildings
At Village East, Five Living Buildings (by Renzo Piano) follows doctors, interns, security guards and retirees who inhabit five Renzo Piano Building Workshop landmarks across four continents. The pitch is people-in-buildings rather than a polished trophy tour—matching Bergman’s “what’s already built” season brief.
Selected U.S. and New York premieres worth booking
Official selected-film notes highlight Barbara Buser – Swiss Pioneer of Sustainability (Gabriele Schärer); bauhaus forever. (Nico Weber); COPAN (Carine Wallauer); The Tingbjerg Experiment (Louise Detlefsen); Out of the Picture (An. Ash Smolar); and Googie (Jake Gorst) as a New York premiere on mid-century L.A. roadside modernism. Treat this as a booking shortlist—check adfilmfest.com for screening times as October approaches.
2026/2027 season map after New York
ADFF:NY launches the global season: Toronto 4–7 Nov 2026; Vancouver 10–15 Nov 2026; Mumbai 13–17 Jan 2027; Detroit 4–6 Feb 2027 (inaugural); Chicago 18–21 Feb 2027. Mumbai and Detroit matter for dual-geo readers later; New York remains the hub piece now.
People also ask: is ADFF only for architects?
No. The festival markets itself to design professionals, students and general audiences who watch buildings as culture. MoMA opening night and Village East programming both lean public, not closed trade screenings.
Why this Design festivals cluster piece now
October 12 is inside the 7–14 day ADVANCE window from this Sunday desk. Pair with our live DesignUp26 Bengaluru (https://www.thesundayprofile.com/designup-2026-bengaluru) India product-design hub and Vienna Design Week 2026 (https://www.thesundayprofile.com/vienna-design-week-2026-20th-edition)—same cluster, different cities and formats.
Sources: Griffin PR / ADFF release (17 Aug 2026); Azure Magazine ADFF NY 2026 listing; SURFACE global-lineup note. Film titles and venue facts follow those materials only.