If design is capable of rethinking the world, Barcelona will become in the next ten days a great creative epicenter capable of conceiving and reinterpreting the needs of a society shaken by a global pandemic. The Barcelona Design Week (BDW), organized by Barcelona Centre de Disseny (BCD), reaches its 16th edition this year, reaffirming, once again, the city's role as a hub of ingenuity, innovation, and revitalization, as well as a meeting point for professionals from different disciplines.
"In a moment of profound transformation like the one we are experiencing, design can emerge much stronger insofar as it is very necessary. And the BDW is the ideal platform to highlight its value and amplify the message," says Isabel Roig, director of the BCD. The major annual design event presents "much better expectations than those of the November 2020 edition, when it was held almost 100% online," comments Roig. Even so, the decision has been made to divide the Barcelona Design Week 2021 into two moments: now, from June 7 to 17, the BDW Pro for mostly professional content and, from October 7 to 30, when the situation is expected to be much better, the BDW City Festival, with in-person activities aimed mainly at the general public.
Under the motto Think, Design, Act, this edition proposes to address new social challenges through design, providing new solutions capable of transforming reality and achieving more sustainable, economically more viable environments oriented to the real needs of people. "Design is a key ally for any sector; we are not just talking about objects or spaces, but about processes, innovation, digitalization, sustainability, and putting people at the center," points out Isabel Roig.
The Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde will be in charge of opening the week with the inaugural conference Landscapes of the Future where his work and the way he fuses people, technology, and space under the desire to create future realities that persist over time will be explored in depth. Roosegaarde's ingenious work finds a social role in design, key to improving life in urban environments. In this edition, The Bauhaus, the avant-garde school of architecture, design, craftsmanship, and art founded in 1919 by architect Walter Gropius, will be the subject of analysis through the project The New European Bauhaus (NEB), a new interdisciplinary and inspiring movement whose objective is to make Europe more inclusive, more beautiful, and greener.
The challenges and opportunities for Barcelona and its business and creative fabric in the face of this new initiative will be debated, with sustainability as the central axis for a better quality of life in the face of climate change. Around sustainability, the BDW agenda hosts the dialogues (E)co-designing the spaces of tomorrow, on how, from the perspective of technology, the co-development of projects and the integration of circular design premises, environments that generate a positive impact for both the planet and people can and should be created; the Student Service Design Challenge with the participation of Chris Grantham, executive director of Circular Economy at IDEO, who will share his vision on the power of human-centered design within the development of the circular economy; or ADI Making Of ... Materiality, on experiences in the development of products that stand out for the careful selection of materials used.
After a year of great challenges for tourism, the BDW debates about its industry and how the sector adapts to a reality full of constraints due to the health crisis caused by Covid-19. In New Tourism - New Scenarios for a Sustainable Future, Product Design and Interior Design students from IED Barcelona present several design proposals related to tourism for a more sustainable city future.
Exhibitions and parallel events
The design and creativity festival is accompanied by an interesting selection of exhibitions with talent and genius as a common denominator. The Best Design of the Year, organized by Fomento de las Artes y el Diseño (FAD) in collaboration with the Barcelona Design Museum, brings together all the winning and finalist works of the different awards granted by the FAD associations. More than 400 works and projects by professionals and students invite you to immerse yourself in the best design at the Disseny Hub Barcelona.
In the same venue, during these days, you can enjoy the work of one of the great master couturiers of the 20th century, Cristóbal Balenciaga. Balenciaga. The Elegance of the Hat, from June 17 to October 2, delves into the haute couture designs created by the Basque designer, from the late 1930s to 1968. More than 80 pieces and a dozen ensembles make up the first international monographic exhibition focused on Balenciaga's unique, artisanal, and exquisite technique with hats and headpieces. And without leaving the venue, the exhibition Miralles. Perpetuum Mobile, exhibits a complete selection of furniture pieces designed by the renowned Catalan architect Enric Miralles.
In parallel, within the framework of the BDW, the Off BDW is held, which hosts exhibitions, installations, presentations, open doors to creative spaces, as well as talks with creatives, conferences, workshops, and seminars, related to design and innovation and which can take place in any of the 10 districts of the city, in person or virtually.
Award-winning talent
The vindication of design as a creative engine involves recognition. And in this sense, Barcelona Design Week turns out to be the perfect setting for the awards ceremony for the winning projects of the 51st edition of the ADG Laus Awards, which recognize quality and graphic creativity in the field of visual advertising communication. The celebration of the ADG Night will be held online and will be broadcast via streaming on the ADG-FAD Youtube channel.
The Association of Artists and Artisans of FAD (A-FAD), for its part, also awards the best works of the year in the 12th edition of the FAD Art Awards for artistic creation, awards that aim to vindicate new expressions of contemporary art based on the mastery of materials and craft techniques.