The city of Valencia is already officially a candidate for the 2022 World Design Capital

The bid is articulated around the slogan “The Mediterranean design of Valencia. Design for change, design for the senses”

The city of Valencia is now officially one of the candidate cities that are opting to become World Design Capital for the year 2022. The Associació Valencia Capital del Disseny has presented to the World Design Organization, based in Quebec (Canada), the report on merits that candidates are required to submit.

The members of the Associació Valencia Capital del Disseny have carried out rigorous research led by two strategic directors, Xavi Calvo and Pau Rausell, which has resulted in a document for internal use of over 500 pages, reflecting the past and present of design, as well as new proposals linked to the city ofValencia and the Valencian Community. A document that includes in turn the proposal for the annual programme of events to be held in the city if Valencia is selected.

Together with the report, the bid also included the presentation of what will be its graphic image, designed by Ibán Ramón, a renowned Valencian graphic designer with an extensive, award-winning track record.

“The image for capital status anticipates future uses. The letters VWDC have been interpretedon the basis of simple geometric shapes, on a squared grid that allows an infinite variety of compositions. In fact, the abstract nature of the identity, since it is not read like an illustration or a text, facilitates its future use together with a wide variety of images and headings. Furthermore, its colour evokes the Mediterranean: the sand, the sea, the sun. The typographic styles used in the dossier are sufficiently formal without renouncing a contemporary and fresh feel,” comments Ibán Ramón. “The modular design of the identity opens the way to an infinity of compositions, enabling an ample development; without a specific meaning, but recognisable,” adds the designer.

The bid is articulated around the slogan “The Mediterranean design of Valencia. Design for change, design for the senses”, appealing to a “way of looking” (a filter) with certain geographic but also aesthetic, ethical, philosophical and political implications.

“We want to underline the luminosity of our world, its temperate and balanced nature, the well-worked and equivocal simplicity of what is established, synthesised and catalysed by the passing of time, tradition, cooperation by many, and the natural selection of a job well done. But at the same time Mediterranean design allows reading, use and contemporary enjoyment, it asserts its capacity for transgression and serves as a projection towards the future. Design, therefore, for the senses, but also for change,” explains Pau Rausell, strategic codirector of the project.

Valencia's bid is supported by numerous institutions, organisations and public and private bodies, Valencian, national and international. It has also received the support of the Council of Valencia, three Government Ministries and of the Presidency of the regional government, the Generalitat Valenciana. This backing represents unprecedented support for Valencian design, confirms the soundness of its past, the thrust of its present and the excellent and promising projects for the professionand the design professionals of the Valencian Community

In addition to the institutions, the companies promoting this initiative maintain their support for design, furthering an initiative that aspires to improve the quality of life of the people of Valencia.

“Thanks to the economic support of Actiu, Andreu World, Capdell, Equipo DRT, GandiaBlasco, AIDIMME, Istobal, La Imprenta, Point, Suavinex, Grupo Torrecid, Trèbol, Vondom and Cervezas Turia we have been able to develop this report which, as well as looking at design from a temporal point of view, reflects the cultural, tourism and social options of the Valencian Community, showing a region rich in proposals, exhibition spaces and initiatives that promote creativity and design from north to south,” explains Xavi Calvo.

“We wanted to show the commencement of design from an educational and organisational point of view, highlighting the creative and institutional impulse that, from the nineteen-eighties onwards, fostered the talent and professional careers of designers and reinforced the design-company link, which we know today to be so profitable for companies,” explains Pau Rausell.

The report document reflects the present outlook of Valencian design industries and professional designers of both national and international relevance and in the different design disciplines: graphic design and communication, industrial, product and interior design, design of experiences-events, jewellery, architecture, fashion design, landscaping, urban planning, sustainable design, design education, service design, etc.

The report also includes the cultural infrastructures linked to design, as well as the full offer of events, conferences and cultural weeks of Valencia and the Valencian Community. The document develops aspects such as the logistics, security and public health conditions that enable the city to host an event of these dimensions and with international projection.

In this report the city of Valencia, its neighbourhoods and streets, as well as other municipalities and enclaves of the Community, show their strengths in the backing of design. Extensive material that transmits why Valencia and the Valencian Community are currently an international design benchmark.

Institutions and organisations that have supported this bid with institutional declarations:

Presidency of the Generalitat Valenciana; all the municipal groups of the Council of Valencia; Department of Economy; Institut Valencià de Competitividad Empresarial (IVACE); Ministry of Culture and Sport; Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism; Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities; Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (UPV), Universidad CEU-Cardenal Herrera; Escola d’Art i Superior de Disseny de València; Barreira Arte+Diseño; Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografía; Asociación de Diseñadores de la Comunitat Valenciana (ADCV); Colegio de Diseñadores de Interior de la Comunitat Valenciana (CDICV); Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de la Comunitat Valenciana (CTAV); ComunitAD; Red Española de Asociaciones de Diseño (READ); Fundació València Clima i Energia; Turismo Valencia Convention Bureau; ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones; Cámara de Comercio de Valencia; Feria Valencia; Cátedra Unesco de Políticas de Género en Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación; Consorci de Museus de la Comunitat Valenciana; Confederación Empresarial de la Comunitat Valenciana (CEV); Asociación Nacional de Industriales y Exportadores de Muebles de España (ANIEME); AIDIMME Instituto Tecnológico; Red de Institutos Tecnológicos de la Comunitat Valenciana (Redit); Asociación Española de Fabricantes de Azulejos y Pavimentos Cerámicos (ASCER); Asociación Española de Directivos (AED) and Club de Empresas Responsables y Sostenibles.

The Valencia World Design Capital 2022 bid is promoted by the Associació València Capital Mundial del Disseny, a private association, and it is backed by the Council of Valencia, the Generalitat Valenciana, Feria Valencia and La Marina de València and is supported by the Association of Designers of the Valencian Community and the Professional Association of Interior Designers of the Valencian Community.

The executive committee is formed by Marisa Gallén, Luis Calabuig, María Navarro, Amparo Balbastre, Rafa Armero, Kike Correcher, Jorge Fombellida, Vicente Gallega, Vicent Martínez, Vicente Pons, Soledat Berbegal, Amparo Bertomeu, Clara del Portillo, Xavi Calvo and Pau Rosell.

PROJECT DEADLINE

June 2019: Bid evaluation and shortlisting.
July 2019: City visits by WDO representatives.
September 2019: Final evaluation by the WDC Selection Committee.
October 2019: Announcement of the city selected as WDC 2022.
2020 - 2021: Programme planning and attendance at WDC 2020.
2022: Implementation of the year-long programme of events

Source: Associació València Capital Mundial del Disseny
Visit the Associació València Capital Mundial del Disseny website