The most global Barcelona Design Week

June 15th, 2016

La 11th Barcelona Design Week, the international event organized by BCD Barcelona Design Center closed its doors for creatives, companies, professionals, entrepreneurs and the general public. From June 2 to 12, it “invaded” the city with more than 70 activities, surpassing the 12.000 participants of the previous edition, a figure that will increase even more when some of the exhibitions that will remain open to the public during the months of June and July are finished. .

Under the slogan 'The Invasion of Design', this edition has offered a program consisting of conferences, exhibitions, workshops, talks, presentations, circuits, round tables, celebrations and networking activities that have allowed a debate on the future of design and the su impact in the social, professional and business spheres.

Pau Herrera, president of BCD, highlights “the importance of having a design week in the city, an international showcase, an event that connects us with large international cities, that allows us to take the pulse of the most current issues and everything what happens in the world in terms of design ”. Herrera, adds that the BDW "is also a platform that makes Barcelona design known and its protagonists, professionals, entrepreneurs and companies that have made this discipline the key to their success."

The 11th Barcelona Design Week began on June 2 at the Disseny Hub Barcelona with the inaugural conference 'What if the solution was Design? Rethinking the Role of Design in Business and Society ', in which Alice Rawsthorn, design critic at the International New York Times and Frieze and author of the book' Hello World: Where Design Meets Life ', explored the impact of design on our lives: in the past, present and future.

In his presentation, called 'Desing and Us', Rawsthorn showed examples of how design can improve society by focusing on areas such as the environment, health, education, the environment and the quality of life of various disadvantaged groups. The day was completed with the opening party, which was attended by more than 1.500 people, who had the opportunity to celebrate the start of the BDW and to visit this year's main exhibition, 'Interfaces: 100 years of Simon design', which It can be visited at the Disseny Hub Barcelona until July 30.

2nd edition of the 'Design is Future'
The 'Design is Future', created and organized by BCD and toormix, has been the main attraction of BDW 2016, an event that from June 6 to 8 has defended the economic and social value of design, and has become a meeting space, exchange of knowledge and debate for companies, entities and professionals from all over the world. This second edition has been a successful participation with more than 300 companies and professionals, 30% more attendance than the previous year. For three days the participants have been able to enjoy conferences and workshops led by a luxury lineup made up of 15 renowned experts such as Doug Powell (IBM Design), Chris Moody (Wolff Olins), Miguel Ballester (Fairphone), Laszlito Kovacs (WeTransfer ), Andreas Enslin (Miele), Cristina Bustillo (Sant Joan de Déu Hospital) or Ed Gillespie (Futerra), among others.

First edition of the 'Design4Food'
One of the novelties this year has been the first edition of 'Design4Food: what is the relationship between design and gastronomy?', An event organized by BCD and the Papila design studio that on June 8th became a space debate and reflection on the role of design in the conceptualization of products or services related to gastronomy and food, a strategic sector of the Catalan economy. More than 300 attendees were able to enjoy renowned experts such as Joxe Mari Aizega, general director of the Basque Culinary Center; Toni Massanés, general director of the Alicia Foundation; Javier Peña, scientific director of Decoding Elisava and Materfad, or Juan Viñallonga, responsible for innovation and development of new products at Farggi. 

BDW Thematic Workshops
Once again the BDW has included in its program workshops organized by leading companies and design studios in the city that have allowed us to discover the creative potential of design in Barcelona. These practical sessions were held on June 9 and 10 and were intended to introduce participants to different design topics: branding, creative innovation, 3D printing, smart marketing or moodboarding. The workshops were organized by Xavier Bassa and Marcel Batlle (Batllegroup); Dani Pàmies and Pere Rosales (Unusual); Eduard Vandellós (Creactivitat); Antoni Parera (Innou Barcelona) and Nuria Balogun (Finsa), with a great success of participation.

Design Week open to the city
The Open Design Studios have made it possible to learn about some of the most relevant creative studios in Barcelona through five itineraries that have covered different areas of the city, with visits to VASAVA; PAIR; Class Bcn; Tigges Architekt; Studio Committee; Hey Studio; Emiliana Design Studio; Lagranja Design; Run Design; Andrés Requena; Wassabi and H2o.

On the other hand, for the third consecutive year, Barcelona Design Week has added to its official program the parallel activities of BDW City, which have opened the event to the city with exhibitions, presentations, conferences, seminars, workshops, networkings, showrooms or celebrations organized by entities, professionals, companies, establishments and other agents in the sector.

Finally, one of the assets of Barcelona Design Week, and of recent editions, is the involvement of the main agents of the sector, both in the design and business fields. This year, more than 80 companies, entities and schools have actively participated.

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