Presentation

Spanish Design, and its various specialties, has in these ultimate decades experienced a notable development. Today, it is experiencing a special moment of expansion and now forms an indissoluble part of Spanish contemporary culture.

For this reason, the General Director of Cultural and Scientific Relations from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation continues to count on the collaboration of other Spanish institutions and civil social entities, including in its programming of numerous activities designed to promote and spread abroad the rich and creative work of designers from the various regions of Spain, as well as developing exchange projects and international cultural cooperation.

At this time and with great satisfaction we would like to present the exhibition Living Spain, it has been organized with the valuable collaboration of the State Society for the Development of Design and Innovation DDI. The project includes the participation of 24 designers who will represent Spain in the 2006 edition of Bienal International of Design of Saint-Etienne (France) and will participate in its 2007 tour itinerary through various capitals of the European Union.

The General Director of Cultural and Scientific Relations would like to express its gratitude to all the people, companies and institutions that have contributed to the realization of this project.

Madrid, octubre de 2006

Alfons Martinell Sempere
General Director of Cultural and Scientific Relations
Spanish Agency of International Cooperation
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation

Spanish Design and quality of life

Living Spain is a selection of furniture, illumination pieces along with accessories of contemporary design that hope to express how we live and relate to our surroundings; how these spanish designers have interpreted scenes from daily life and how our staff has obliged them in realizing this lifestyle.

The formal diversity and styles of these products reflect the image of a culturally rich country. Permit us to articulate our design; the perception of certain intangible characteristics that reflect the sentiments evoked by the passing of different cultures within a richly artistic and architectural heritage.

In our spatial surroundings one can observe the influences of art, the styles from other cultures, and one can perceive of messages from the past and the future… With eclectic projection, of continuous mutations and diffused limits between the rational, the dream state, and the recreational.

Another characteristic is the typologies of very distinct products that are compatible within interior as well as exterior spaces, an aspect that results in an intense relation with the sun, the beach and the excellent climate that characterizes, in large, the different regions of Spain through objects thought to express a feeling of intense living and the enjoyment of nature.

The creativity expressed by fresh and ingenuous spanish designers, reflects sensible and intelligent objects that contain energy and a strong symbolic charge that invites us to enjoy their company and feel like an extension of our bodies.

An important aspect to emphasize is that all of our products have been designed by young established professionals and produced by spanish companies whose brands have insured prestige for european consumers.

The domestic habitat in Spain is marked by quality, not only in materials and in the finished products themselves, which they no doubt have, but also in the projects, thought to provoke and establish potential relations, but overall to better the quality of life for everyone.


Finally, I would like to extend my appreciation to the General Director of Cultural and Scientific Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation who made this exhibition possible, the State Society DDI, the spanish companies and participating designers, the team of collaborators and especially to Aina Calvo, previous General Sub Director of Cooperation and Promotion of Cultural Activities Abroad, for believing in this project and promoting spanish design.

Marcelo Leslabay
Exhibition Curator.