The 13th edition of Barcelona Design Week opens its doors with a program that includes more than 130 exhibitions, workshops, installations, markets, presentations, inaugurations, conferences, documentaries, jornadas, and parties, among other events. Below we recommend some of the most outstanding activities:
1. Inaugural conference by Humberto Campana On June 5, Barcelona Design Week will open with a very special guest: Humberto Campana, from the Campana Brothers - one of the most recognizable and prestigious studios in international design. Campana will talk about his way of understanding design from Estudio Campana through his works, in which the idea of transformation and reinvention always emerges, which is precisely the central theme of this year's edition: 'Revalue'. Humberto will be introduced by journalist and curator Ana Domínguez Siemens, with whom he will hold a conversation about some of the concepts presented during the conference.
2. Exhibitions "BASICS", "The best design of the year" and "Do you design or do you work?" One of the most anticipated areas of Barcelona Design Week is the exhibition area. This year, on June 5, coinciding with the inaugural day, "The best design of the year" will open its doors, an exhibition with 500 pieces from the winners and finalists of the different awards granted by the FAD associations in the different creative disciplines and, "BASICS: A walk to question ourselves", a space that, with the help of BCD, invites us to rethink current society to redirect it towards a more sustainable model based on criticism and collective consciousness. Finally, from June 9, "Do you design or do you work?", organized by the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona, which collects the transformations of graphic design from 1980 to 2003, will also be open to the public. All will be at the Disseny Hub Barcelona.
3. Barcelona Design Summit An essential meeting point between the business sector and design to share knowledge and be inspired by experts and professionals from various fields who will participate in two days of conferences and a workshop organized by BCD, on June 6 and 7. In line with the theme of BDW'18, 'Revalar', two of the UN Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda have been chosen as the main topics of debate and reflection: on the one hand, promoting responsible consumption and production, and on the other, building more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and communities.
4. Tastadisseny: Barcelona Gastronomy and Design Festival The Disseny Hub Barcelona will be the setting for the first edition of Tastadisseny on June 10, a day of Design and Gastronomy, two worlds that are closely related and feed off each other. Attendees will be able to enjoy a market with tastings, workshops and performances. All activities will revolve around food repurposing and new trends in this field. The "RR201" installation, created by Andreu Carulla for El Celler de Can Roca and its ambitious project to achieve a zero-waste restaurant through the use of design, will also be a highlight.
5. Barcelona Design District: Poblenou and Gràcia BDW'18 extends throughout the city, with special prominence in two neighborhoods that stand out for their creative potential. On Saturday, June 9, the appointment will be with Poblenou Design District, which includes the screening of a selection of films from the Milano Design Film Festival; the International Pavilion: Italy, in Palo Alto, which will host the exhibitions "Ferri Taglienti" and "Grado Cero", and the presentation of the "Àgora urbana" installation around the chimney of the old Can Saladrigas factory, a tribute to one of the most characteristic elements of the neighborhood's architectural heritage. On the other hand, on June 11, the Gràcia Districte Disseny activity program will open the doors of some of Barcelona's most relevant design and architecture studios, among other activities.
6. FAD association awards Throughout Barcelona Design Week, the FAD association awards will be presented in different creative disciplines: on June 6, the MODA-FAD Awards for the most relevant fashion proposals of the year; on June 7, the FAD Architecture and Interior Design Awards, on their 60th anniversary; on June 8, the ADG Laus Awards for visual communication; on June 12, the ArtsFAD Awards for artistic creation will be presented and, finally, on June 14, the BDW will close with the ADI Awards for industrial design and design culture.
7. LATENT. Talent Day New event that brings together companies looking for talent, schools that promote it, and young people who have a lot to offer. LATENT. Talent Day will take place on June 13 at Disseny Hub Barcelona throughout a day that will include GROUP workshops to discover skills where young people, schools, and companies will work together to solve a challenge and learn about mutual capabilities and motivations. There will also be conversations about cases of young people who have joined companies and spaces for supply and demand.
8. "General Rehearsal 18: 'The Rebellion of Objects'" FAD returns with a new "General Rehearsal," the activity that, through design, addresses a topic of social concern each year. Under the title "The Rebellion of Objects," General Rehearsal '18 will reflect on the emotional ties that people have with things in today's consumer society. It will materialize in two main activities: a rehearsal prologue in the form of a conference session on June 7, and "The Rebellion of Objects," an event that will include a party, a still life of objects, and a public exhibition that will take place at Hangar on June 9.
9. "New domestic landscape. BCN: 2018" Installation by Mau Morgó Within the framework of the General Rehearsal, experimental artist and designer Mau Morgó will create an installation in Plaça Universitat from June 5 to 9 to invite us to reflect on our ties with technology and one of its consequences: the generation of waste. "To rethink the domestic experience of the future, we have designed a place that is ahead of its time, where discarded technology and electronic waste meet the archetypal structures that we have been building for thousands of years. This waste will be so accessible that we will begin to build with technology to escape technology."
10. 'Design in Family' Days Within the framework of Barcelona Design Week, the Design Museum organizes a new edition of "Design in Family," a program of activities aimed at families with children up to 12 years old, an invitation to participate in a playful day combining games and workshops to do together, as well as exhibitions for all audiences. It will be at Disseny Hub Barcelona on June 9 and 10, from 11 am to 6 pm continuously.