Barcelona
The creative city connected to design
Study in Barcelona, live in a Mediterranean, cosmopolitan city actively connected to the world. A hub of creativity with an internationally acclaimed quality of life, it’s a city that embraces culture and where you’ll find innovative design at every turn.
Barcelona, one of the world's leading cities, hosts major international events focused on innovation and the creative industries. In Europe, Barcelona is known as the place where ideas connect, it’s a city driven by design.
The city’s creative facet is a guarantee of an extensive cultural offer, world famous architecture, mouth-watering cuisine, spaces and services designed for those who inhabit them, evident freedom in the creation of fashion and style, all a clear sign of the will to design a better world.
Barcelona is like a magnet for creative people. A land of traditions, it preserves its cultural customs and authentically combines its identity with the diversity of the people who live there. In time, great artists such as Gaudi have left their mark on the capital of Catalonia, known to locals as the Ciudad Condal, a place where world heritage emerges amongst the contemporary works of artists from all over the world.
In the streets you breathe an air of sustainability, cocreation, inclusion, tradition, technology, design and entrepreneurship; students can connect the projects they’re working on with real-life challenges and participate in a number of international events: Mobile World Congress, Sónar, OFFF, Barcelona Design Week, Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week, and more.
IED Barcelona is located in the central Gracia district, well known for its young, artistic scene, with easy links to the rest of the city, the sea and airport.
Barcelona actively connects you with design. Want to know how?
Centro Superior de Diseño
IED Barcelona academic offer
Discover the schools of IED Barcelona
A school
made of people
Our spaces
Our Labs
Discover our facilities with the virtual tour
Point One
Point Two
At the service of our students
Services, facilities, customised counters and dedicated teams: live well to learn better
Studying at IED means living in a community and connected to Barcelona. Students, teachers, alumni and school staff form part of an ecosystem on and off campus, at the service of students and in connection with the business world.
The centre's 7,000 m2 of services, distributed in classrooms, networking spaces and laboratories, are equipped with the latest technological tools, materials and services for design training; Fashion Labs, Render Lab, Media Lab, XR Lab, Textile Lab, Mobility Lab, etc., make the centre a dynamic creative laboratory at the service of design training. The particular needs of the students are attended to in a personalised way by a team of professionals, oriented towards both curricular competencies and personal growth throughout the training course.
Discover the services available to you to get in touch and learn more about IED, find your way through your admission process and the important steps you will need to take to successfully start your IED journey.
Discover all the general services of the IED
Please consult the calendar for details of the current academic programme.
Where to find us
IED Barcelona Point One
IED Barcelona Point Two
How to reach us
IED Barcelona can be reached by intercity public transport: metro (Lesseps and Fontana stations, respectively 5 and 10 minutes' walk ), by bus or using the city's extensive electric bicycle, e-moped sharing or e-scooter network.
The Josep Tarradellas El Prat International Airport is just 30 minutes away on public transport.
The two central bus stations; Estación del Norte and Estación de Sants, are a 20-minute drive by car.
Aitarekin Afaltzen
Inspired by the student’s memory and the image of his father who died some time ago, this collection sends an optimistic message.
Aitarekin Afaltzen [Dinner with my father] emphasises the value of traditional handicraft, such as the creation of hand-woven and embroidered fabrics from scratch. The vivid colour palette symbolises commitment to a positive outlook on life.
There are a variety of things that stand out in this collection: overlaying garments, shirts made from napkins, divided skirts made from tablecloths, and prints taken from photographs of family scenes.
Every year, appointment with...
The Mobile World Congress (MWC) is a mobile communication event held every year at the Fira de Barcelona trade fair. It’s considered the biggest event of its kind in the sector, where manufacturers present the latest innovations on global technologies and international connection platforms to experts and entrepreneurs operating in the mobile communications world. Barcelona has played host to the event since 2006. 4YFN is a start-up event at the MWC to help investors and companies start new business projects.
Sónar was created in 1994 in Barcelona as a pioneer cultural event offering a unique format and content; it has become an international point of reference thanks to a meticulous offer that combines the playful with the artistic, avant-garde and experimentation with the latest electronic dance music. In each new edition, Sónar expands its creative innovation with technological partners and design schools by offering disruptive scenarios.
OFFF the International Festival of Creativity, Art and Digital Design. A virtual community of international creators of visual art, which for a few days every year takes tangible shape in cities around the world such as Tel Aviv, Sao Paulo, New York and Shanghai. Barcelona is the festival’s historic capital, a showcase of the latest works from new digital talent, renowned artists showing their creations, and awards presented to new and professional designers.
ISEA Art and Science is one of the most consolidated annual events at an international level exploring the direct intersection between art, design, science, technology and society. It’s celebrated in a central European city, with other editions held in Montreal, Durban, Manizales, Hong Kong and Sydney, by a local and international community, with Barcelona leading the way in terms of scientific research, intellectual character and cultural creativity.
Barcelona Design Week (BDW), first organised in 2006 by the Barcelona Centre de Disseny, is an truly unmissable annual date for anyone interested in design, creativity and innovation in the city. BDW is an event in the global World Design Weeks network, an organisation based in Barcelona, and it’s one of the most important in a calendar of around 40 international events. BDW includes the Food Design Week, focused on food designers and gastronomical experiences.
080 Barcelona Fashion is an open, plural, multidisciplinary and international fashion platform, organised by the institutional organisations of Barcelona. Its goal is to promote the city as a creative hub. Fashion and art merge to drive innovation and sustainability in the fashion industry. Its on-site programming, virtual shows and films are sure to catch the eye of the fashion industry and fashion designers, both emerging and professional.
The international bridal fashion event held every year in Barcelona, with top Spanish and international names in the bridal sector. The fashion show merges with the stand area promoting bridal fashion, giving visibility to new creators and design students. The fashion show reaches way beyond the actual event, thanks to its international digital networking platform, unique in the sector.
Map your interests
Discover IED locations and all the places of creativity, fashion and culture in Barcelona
- Fundació Joan Miró
- Museo Picasso de Barcelona
- Museo Europeo de Arte Moderno
- Museo Nacional de Arte de Catalunya
- Casa Vicens Gaudí
- La Pedrera-Casa Milà
- Casa Batlló
- Park Güell
- Museo de Historia de Barcelona
- Palau de la Música Catalana
- Basílica de la Sagrada Família
- Catedral de Barcelona
- Recinto Modernista de Sant Pau
- Centro de Arte Santa Mónica
- Museo del Diseño de Barcelona
- Pabellón Mies Van der Rohe
- Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (MACBA)
- Fundación Antoni Tàpies
- Centro de Cultura Contemporánea (CCCB)
- La Virreina centro de la Imagen
- Gran Teatre del Liceu
- Palo Alto
- Passeig de Gràcia
- Playa Mar Bella
- Playa de la Barceloneta
- Parc de la Ciutadella
- Mercado de La Boqueria
- Barri Gòtic