The promotion of design culture has been one of the main focuses of World Design Capital Valencia 2022, already cemented from their candidacy and launched through a process of consolidation of institutions and activities channelling the design energy of recent years.
The programme of activities proposed in 2022 in Valencia, beyond being short-lived, have been driven by emphasizing the possibilities offered by design, providing exceptional international attention and a didactic base as well as pedagogical work extended to all levels of society, through exhibitions, publications, and workshops that serve to demonstrate that design improves the quality of life.
This work of institutionalization and didactics tries to empower designers and industry, not only through obvious actions such as the promotion and dissemination of their work in congresses, conferences, or publications of which the programme is composed but with work that will see its continuation through the Municipal Design Council, as well as the Fundació de la Comunitat Valenciana, the entity responsible for furthering the legacy of World Design Capital Valencia 2022.
1. Creation of the Fundació del Disseny de la Comunitat Valenciana to encourage and promote design
The Fundació del Disseny is a space dedicated to unifying the Valencian design ecosystem, with the main purpose of supporting the culture of knowledge in the creative, economic and social field of design.
With the aim of promoting the legacy of World Design Capital Valencia 2022, the Foundation emphasizes the importance of design as a tool for valuable creation necessary to increase the competitiveness of companies and contribute to a better quality of life, both in cultural and socio-economic aspects.
2. Constitution of the Consell del Disseny in the City Council of Valencia
In July 2022, the Consell Municipal del Disseny was established, a council of professionals external and independent from the municipal Valencian government formed to advise all areas of the local administration. This group was created with the mission of improving, and aiding in decision-making on key issues for the city and its inhabitants, such as urban planning, communication, architecture and the development of services.
The Consell Municipal del Disseny de Valencia is made up of expert advisors and independent professionals whose mission is to ensure excellence in design, architecture, and urban planning by promoting the innovative, sustainable, and inclusive design of the city’s public spaces.
3. Dissemination of design among all generations and across diverse sectors
With transversality as one of the main objectives of World Design Capital Valencia 2022, the city hosted various events open to audiences of all ages promoting the culture of design.
In June, the international festival Experience Valencia featured leading figures of design in three spaces: La Marina de Valencia, at the Veles e Vents, and La Rambleta. A programme that included a mix of digital and interactive design, graphic design, motion graphics, music, creativity, networking, product design professionals, and artists in an educational and entertaining format, was a resounding success. It also included the presentation of one of the most important design awards for students, the well-known iF Design Talent Awards.
World Design Street Festival, in September, featured leading design figures such as Jaime Hayon, Patricia Urquiola, Philippe Stark, Marco Sammicheli, Juan Luis Arsuaga, Luis Rojas Marcos, Juli Capella, Ana Lluch, Benedetta Tagliabue, Vicent Martínez, Juan Carlos Baumgartner, and many other personalities, also attracted international visitors. The event was a celebration in the streets, with the general public at the centre of a programme that energized the entire Valencian design ecosystem. The younger crowd also enjoyed Flama Fest in November – a fun and festive day with workshops and talks with the aim of placing design and creativity in the daily life of the young citizens of Valencia.
While great figures such as Juli Capella and Pepe Gimeno saw their work recognized in the form of engaging exhibitions, demonstrating that experience is a degree. As part of the exhibition, Why am I Like This, Capella compiled 120 objects that speak to us and explain their shape and daily functioning.
Meanwhile, the monographic exhibition on Pepe Gimeno at the Palau Joan de Valeriola was a further recognition of the outstanding career of one of the country’s first and most important ambassadors of design. Premio Nacional de Diseño 2020, his work halfway between art and design received recognition yet again in another exhibition that can be visited until 19 February 2023 at the Bancaja Foundation.
4. Increased presence of design in Valencia’s social and public agenda
World Design Capital Valencia 2022 has allowed design to become a matter of social interest and a topic of public discussion. The initiatives that have emerged under the umbrella of its official programme, including the first Consejo Local del Diseño in a national city council or the Fundació del Disseny, which will be in charge of Valencia’s WDC legacy, are the basis on which to continue building and educating society to achieve a deeper understanding of the importance of design and its impact on urban life.
5. Generation of design culture at the business and training levels
The work of design professionals has been supported in the Valencian community by a robust textile business. With more than a century of history, the companies in the sector that has traditionally been committed to urban, architectural, artistic, product, interior, and graphic design has allowed Valencia to find its place as a city with a global vocation.
This has also contributed to the training network of the Valencian community, which received a historic number of enrolments in 2022 by students in design degrees – more than any other region in Spain.
6. Promoting the institutional contracting of design
The institutional contracting model of the Valencian community has led to the professionalization of the sector and represents respect for a professional sector and its promotion by the institutions. As noted by Xavi Calvo, CEO of World Design Capital Valencia: “it is very pedagogical to compare the evolution of Valencia’s municipal posters over the last decade to observe the results after the change in the selection process of designers.” This change in the contracting procedure towards the professionalization of communications design campaigns has come about thanks to the Llamada a Proyecto de la Asociación de Diseñadores de la Comunidad Valenciana. This system has been successfully implemented in the Generalitat Valenciana and the City Council of Valencia, among many other institutions. The Llamada a Proyecto is convened by the Presidència de la Generalitat as part of a microsite dedicated to this purpose and disseminated by the collaborating professional associations, which echo these commissions for projects related to design illustration and advertising.
To that end, World Design Capital Valencia 2022 and the Asociación de Diseñadores de la Comunitat Valenciana (ADCV) have developed the Guide for the Management and Contracting of Design, based on the online platform contratardiseño.es. This is a pioneering initiative in Spain that is being launched with the aim of becoming a reference tool for all types of organizations, companies, institutions, and public administrations that need support and guidance when it comes to proper management and contracting of design services. The contracting guide is one of the strategic and structural projects World Design Capital Valencia 2022, fundamental for Valencian design and all its professionals, both in the present and into the future.
7. Dissemination of the historical, cultural, artistic, and artisanal heritage of Valencia through design
World Design Capital Valencia 2022 has been responsible for strengthening global recognition of the city’s rich heritage of tradition through different focuses of attention, whether through the Mapa del Disseny, a tool that allows you to go through each district of the city highlighting each window of design, or the NollaMap, which invites you to discover iconic locations of Valencian design and heritage. The ADN Cerámico project, meanwhile, has demonstrated Valencia’s ceramic tradition through the first mapping of ceramists throughout the region.
The graphic heritage has also been reinforced through TiposQueImportan, an initiative that pays tribute to the Valencian commercial sign. The exhibition can be visited until 26 January 2023 at La Mercería Gallery and is part of a project created in 2021 with the collaboration of the City Council of Valencia as a participatory online platform for exploration, documentation, and inspiration around the local culture of the commercial sign. It has also materialized in an audiovisual piece directed by Miguel Maestro and Nacho Rambla and launched with the support of World Design Capital Valencia 2022. The documentary premiered in June in the official programme of the Cinema Jove Festival, as part of the cycle “València, Capital of Design”.
Exhibitions such as “Diseñar el aire“, “València, porta al disseny” or “Frutas del Diseño” have in turn put the focus on tradition. From everyday objects such as the fan, which promotes the alliance between craftsmanship and design, to illustrations and graphics that often go unnoticed in our daily lives because of their ordinariness.
Valencia’s famed fire festivals attracted international attention to the heritage linked to both tradition and the avant-garde of design was widely recognized through the special FOC programme. Activities around the design, art, and tradition of the Fallas, an event that makes Valencia recognizable outside its borders and that has received a closer look through exhibitions, conferences, round tables, parties, and a lot of fallero spirit.
8. Creation of a global platform for the exchange of ideas, knowledge, and best practices on design policies
Design-oriented policies, although still in a rather undefined phase, have been incorporated into the political agenda of the city of Valencia, as can be seen in the insertion of the electoral programmes.
As the Econcult impact report presented on 20 December 2022 has shown, the local government has adopted a sophisticated and complete account of the role of design in urban policy and has declared a certain willingness to lead a European and Mediterranean network of cities that incorporate design into their urban strategies.
Since the announcement of the candidacy in 2019, the effects on the transformation of local policy on design have been remarkable, and “at this moment we can conclude that Valencia is, at least, at level 2 according to the levels described by Buchanan, in which design is considered from the communicative perspective and the perspective of urban design” commented Pau Rausell.
One of the Signature Events of World Design Capital Valencia, the World Design Policy Conference held in November, brought together the world’s leading figures in design policy. The outcome of the conference and its conclusions should serve as a stimulus to encourage design to play a relevant role in public policies, from the perspective of rigour and good judgment in its application. A result that can modify existing policies, facilitating a legacy in political management, benefiting the design community and mainly the citizenship.
