Barcelona welcomes the best design of the year in the FADexpo

From 27 June to 22 September the FAD (Fomento de las Artes y del Diseño) will be hosting the exhibition “FADexpo. The best design of the year”, a show that brings together the shortlisted and winning works at the FAD Awards in the various disciplines of design: industrial design, graphic design and visual communication, architecture and interior design, fashion, art and arts & crafts. Framed within the Barcelona Design Festival, this makes for indispensable viewing for understanding what is happening in the world of design today.

The Convent dels Àngels in Barcelona, a gothic, 15th century building and seat of the FAD, will exhibit throughout the summer the latest currents in design and architecture in “FADExpo. The best design of the year”, the major interdisciplinary show that brings together the shortlisted and winning works of the various awards organised by the associations of the FAD, some of which have nearly or more than 50 years of history, such as the Laus Awards for Visual Communication, the Delta Awards for industrial design and the FAD Architecture & Interior Design Awards. On view will also be the shortlisted works of the ArtFAD Awards for art and handicraft, the FAD Sebastià Gasch for Paratheatrical Arts Awards, the City to City Barcelona FAD Award to the best urban initiatives worldwide, the ADC*E Awards for graphic design and creativity in advertising in Europe, and the MODAFAD Awards for up-andcoming designers.

The exhibition, which last year was very enthusiastically received by scores of visitors, aims to pool efforts to bring design to new sections of the public and give a global vision of what is happening in the different creative sectors of our country.

The show includes 577 works from the different disciplines of design. Almost 3000 design and architecture professionals submitted projects to the various prizes, therefore constituting a highly representative exhibition of the design being made in our country today.

“FADexpo. The best design of the year” is divided into five areas:

Industrial design

The 57 works shortlisted for the Delta Awards to industrial design form the bulk of this category. The ADI-FAD association has been giving these awards for 51 years. Their objective is to draw attention to those products that stand out because of their innovative nature, or their capacity to renew concepts, the social response they generate, their environmental suitability or for their design and manufacturing quality. The awards serve as a trampoline for national companies to break into the global market and as a key reference for foreign companies commercialising their products in our country. Also part of this section are the 10 shortlisted works of the Medalla ADI Awards to the best final projects by undergraduate or postgraduate students of industrial design.

Graphic design and visual communication

This section includes works from the Laus Awards and the ADCE Awards. The former, which are organised by the ADG-FAD, have a long history, with 48 editions behind them. The exhibition shows 337 works presented to these awards in the categories of Graphic design, Web and digital media, Creativity in advertising, Audiovisuals, Public administrations, Companies and Students. For its part, the ADCE Awards will present the 35 winning works. Self-described as the best of the best of European design and advertising, these awards represent the winners of the different prizes to design and advertising of the 22 European countries that are members of the Art Directors Club of Europe (ADCE).

Architecture, interior design and city

The selected, shortlisted and winning works of the FAD Awards to Architecture and Interior Design, organised by ARQUIN-FAD, are the main axis of this section. In this case, the 91 works exhibited can be seen in images and models. This is the 54th edition of these awards, the most renowned and long-standing in Spain and a genuine indicator of peninsular architecture which even today maintains the spirit of its beginnings: to foster avant-garde currents and nurture the principal virtues of architecture and interior design as demanded by our socio-cultural reality. Additionally, there will also be a display of the finalist works of the City to City Barcelona FAD Award, which is given to those urban initiatives, public or private, that have most contributed to improving the life of citizens across the world. On this occasion, the City to City awards went to the improvement project for the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.

Art and handicraft

The Association of Artists and Artisans of the FAD (A-FAD) holds the ArtFAD awards to contemporary art and handicraft. The exhibition shows the 22 works of the sixth edition of these international awards, the aim of which is to stimulate research, creation and excellence in the field of traditional crafts.

Fashion

The FADexpo also has a space for fashion. From 27 June to 9 July the winners of the last edition of this platform for emerging designers, MODAFAD, show a selection of their designs, which will conclude with the 33rd edition of the MODAFAD catwalk, which will exhibit the best final projects by students of the main fashion schools, and the awarding of the MODAFAD prizes to best designer and best creativity. The winners and finalists of the catwalk will exhibit their designs in the FADexpo until its closure on the 22nd September.

Lastly, the FADexpo will also include a screening of the winners of the 37th edition of the FAD Sebastià Gasch Awards for the paratheatrical arts, which recognise the most outstanding performances of the season as well as all those who contribute alternative and innovative ideas to the world of the spectacle.

The FADfest

From 26 June to 12 July, Barcelona has a date with the design world in all its manifestations. For fifteen days, the FADfest will present a series of activities revolving around design and creativity: a major exhibition, awards, a congress, a film cycle, debates, conferences, festive activities and social networking. The city will turn into the capital of design with a calendar of international activities driven by a clear desire to bring design closer to the community.

Organised by the FAD (Fomento de las Artes y del Diseño), the FADfest recognises the work of professionals and businesses and shows the best projects of the year in industrial design, graphic design and visual communication, architecture and interior design, fashion, art and handicrafts. Part of the Barcelona Design Festival, the FADfest is an across-the board event, open to all and backed by institutions and businesses.

Inside the Barcelona Design Festival

The FADfest is the starting shot of a much broader event, the Barcelona Design Festival, which closes in October with the Barcelona Design Week, organized by the BCD. The Barcelona Design Festival's programme, coordinated by the BCD and the FAD, and in which numerous Barcelona-based institutions related to design will take part, offers a comprehensive line-up of events of great strategic interest for the city. Articulated through almost 100 activities, it aspires to help place Barcelona at the forefront of the international design panorama.

Barcelona Design Festival 2012 FAD+BCD programme (Spanish, Catalán and English)

What is the FAD?

The Fomento de las Artes y del Diseño (FAD) is a private, non-profit association founded in 1903. Its objective is to foment design and architecture in the cultural, social and economic spheres of the country. The FAD is the union of five associations linked to the various disciplines of design: ADI-FAD (Association of Industrial Design), ADG-FAD (Association of Graphic Designers and Art Directors), ARQUIN-FAD (Interdisciplinary Association of Spatial Design), A-FAD (Association of Artists and Artisans), MODA-FAD (Association of Image and Fashion). The FAD also houses in its main building the Art Directors Club of Europe, the European association of clubs and associations of art directors.

Visit the FAD website

Visit the FADfest website