From 14 to 25 October, the 21st edition of BDW turns prototyping and experimentation into a political act. 140 activities across the city There is a word that Barcelona Design Week has chosen to place at the centre of this year’s edition: PRO-TEST. A concept that combines PROtotyping and TESTing with the critical and propositional dimension of protest. In a context shaped by the expansion of artificial intelligence, the climate emergency and the concentration of technological power, the festival positions design as a tool for questioning existing models and building alternatives. Not design as an answer, but as a question. Eleven days, 140 activities spanning exhibitions, installations, urban routes, debates, workshops and open-door events. Around 100 brands, institutions and sector agents. A programme that extends well beyond the official venue of the Disseny Hub Barcelona, reaching 16 associate venues and 65 spaces in companies and studios, with activities also in the municipalities of Sabadell, Terrassa and Esplugues de Llobregat. Underground BDW: creative processes laid bare One of the central moments of the edition is Underground BDW, in its third edition from 22 to 24 October at Parking Gallery by LCI Barcelona: 30 exhibitors from eight countries, prototypes, open processes and proposals exploring new ways of thinking and producing design. Among the projects, LAMAQUINA and Ceràmica Cumella show how robotic manufacturing and craft knowledge converge in the production of ceramics for the cross of the Sagrada Família. Designer Mathilde Pellé explores subtraction as a creative practice. Roca opens the development process of Meridian to reveal the tests, adjustments and decisions behind a product. In the Sónar+D space, Quantum Compass by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and Divine Device by Lola Liñán question our relationship with complex technologies and the trust we place in them. Underground_BDW26 The OFF programme and the big names Among the OFF Programme proposals, two encounters with figures of international standing. RS Barcelona hosts Luca Nichetto, while Teixidors welcomes British designer Bethan Laura Wood, known for her expressive use of colour and her reinterpretation of craft processes. Two complementary approaches to contemporary creativity: innovation in furniture and product design on one side, textile experimentation and the dialogue between craft and contemporaneity on the other. The programme also includes the exclusive presentation of Lázaro Rosa-Violán’s new collection for ECOcero, the open studios of Nobodinoz in the Gràcia neighbourhood, and Cosentino City Barcelona’s activities on architecture, materials and interior design. OFF Programme_BDW26 Design in public space and emerging talent Among the initiatives bringing design directly into the city, Persianes que fan barri involves 185 neighbourhood shops across Barcelona’s ten districts with artistic interventions on shop shutters, connecting urban art, public space and local economy. On 22 October, the Talks Next Gen Design take place, linked to the Young Designers for Next Generation Europe project, connecting Barcelona with design platforms in Skopje, Belgrade, Vienna and Amsterdam. BDW26 is part of the Barcelona 2026 UNESCO-UIA World Capital of Architecture programme.
