The workshop 'Taking care of water" explored how strategic design and innovation can provide answers that help us preserve one of the most important resources on the planet
News
IED Barcelona unites design, strategy, water and nature in a triple exhibition
Date
28 October 2024
As part of the programme of Barcelona Design Week, and an Associated Venue of the event, on 22 October IED Barcelona displayed a triple exhibition of projects by students and designers from across the globe that puts the spotlight on the role of design as a strategic tool for thinking about and providing solutions to the challenge of water, and towards a more sustainable future.
‘Grad selection: Design, Fashion, Visual Arts, Communication’ offers a selection of the best thesis projects by students from IED Barcelona related to water and the blue economy. These works have received the academic recognition of the IED Best Thesis Awards; prizes awarded to final degree projects that stand out due to their high quality and capacity to innovate through design thinking.
‘The Shapes of Nature. A story by Latin-American Designers’ is an exhibition resulting from the initiative IED Latam Creative Talent, which aims to recognise the talent of Latin American designers and showcase the best award-winning projects in their respective countries. In this, its second edition, the exhibition invites us to reflect on the relationship between design and nature in order to identify possible sustainable futures. From the inspiration or the message behind their project to the materials, production systems and techniques used, ‘The Shapes of Nature’ aims to capture the value of nature as a starting point for all design projects.
‘Fusion Point Challenge of Water’ blends design, engineering, business and AI in a selection of multidisciplinary projects carried out by students from IED Barcelona, Esade and the UPC (BarcelonaTech) which, as part of the Challenge Based Innovation for Artificial Intelligence (CBI4AI) programme, held within the framework of the European project ATTRACT Academy, address the critical challenge of water management and conservation.
A co-creation laboratory for possible future scenarios
Previously, IED Barcelona held a co-creation workshop led by the expert in innovation and future thinking IED Barcelona teacher John V. Wilkshire. “Taking care of water” brought together around fifty participants who, in a collaborative session, explored how strategic design and innovation can provide answers that help us preserve one of the most important resources on the planet.
With the collaboration of Manuela Procopio, Academic Director of IED Barcelona, and Marina Ojan and Susana Zarco, respectively Director and Academic Coordinator of the IED Barcelona Master School, who guided the participants through the different phases of the session with the aim of imagining and identifying possible futures and generating concrete ideas to promote positive change.
Design made in IED taking the city
During Barcelona Design Week, Mina Barchi and Hugo Martín, both alumni of the BA in Product Design also participated as speakers in the Speed Talks at No. 18: Design for Human Future. Barchi presented “Terrakos. Plastic Nostrum”, a system for filtering marine waters contaminated by microplastics, to the Disseny Hub Barcelona audience, and Hugo Martín “PurePeak”, an innovative portable fog, dew and precipitation collection system to provide drinking water in humid environments with water scarcity.
In addition, throughout Barcelona Design Week (16 to 26 October) the exhibition ‘What if… water’, organised by Educació per al Disseny per Viure (EDIVI) took place at Cosentino City Barcelona, showcasing works that propose solutions to combat water scarcity from the approach of design. Also, on 19 October, during the Disseny en Diagonal Day, an exhibition showing part of those solutions was held at the location Av. Diagonal / Aribau (mountain side).
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