"Inspired in Barcelona: Luce" arrives at Milan Design Week
Inspired in Barcelona: Luce is an exhibition curated by Stefano Colli, architect, designer and collector of design objects in which more than 100 lighting objects will highlight the boundless potential of light as an expression of Barcelona’s creative identity. It will take place at the Santa Maria del Carmine Church (Sala Scalabrini), in the vibrant area of Brera in Milan, from 8 to 13 April, bringing together classics, avant-garde and emerging Catalan design in the lighting sector, through Colli’s expert eye.
The installation is organised by the Barcelona Creativity & Design Foundation and supported by Barcelona City Council’s Department of Culture and Creative Industries through Disseny Hub Barcelona (DHub) and the Government of Catalonia through ACCIÓ – Catalonia Trade & Investment.
The installation creates a black box that displays more than 100 lighting objects organised into three groups. The first honours the ‘classics’, luminaires that have marked history and inspired generations of designers. This section presents products that have been reissued or, in some cases, are no longer on sale. The second group brings together projects that have become products through collaborations between designers and companies that have embraced design as a strategic and valuable asset for their brand. Finally, the third group highlights emerging design, ranging from self-published and custom-made objects to collectible design and artistic pieces.
As Colli says: “Light, as a symbol of identity and creativity, serves as a barometer of the present, a showcase that reflects the products and designs that define the excellence of the industry in Catalonia. With the selection of these pieces, I wanted to narrate and pay tribute both to the pioneers of design and to the protagonists of the current scene”.
Drawing on his experience as a designer and fully embracing his role as a collector, Stefano Colli’s selection brings together pieces from pioneering brands such as Metalarte or Tramo alongside contemporary brands such as Santa & Cole, Marset, BD Barcelona or Vibia, and from designers such as Miguel Milá, André Ricard, Josep Lluscà, Antoni Arola, Javier Mariscal, Jordi Canudas, Maurici Ginés and Jaume Ramírez, and from studios such as Goula/Figuera and Nahtrang. Emerging talents can be discovered within the black box of the Scalabrini room, where names that already resonate on the international design scene such as Júlia Esqué and Max Enrich will be presented together with recently graduated designers from more than five design schools in Barcelona.
From Via del Carmine, a large illuminated sign with the word ‘Barcelona’ welcomes visitors to the exhibition. This piece, created by Antoni Arola for the Christmas illumination of Barcelona, is reused here as an element that gives identity to the exhibition, as well as “Abraçades #RAVALKM0”, an installation of luminous silhouettes of the inhabitants of the Raval neighbourhood, designed by Curro Claret and Maria Güell. Both works find a new function and meaning in this exhibition, brought to light at a different time of the year. “These elements evoke the city and its inhabitants, as well as universal emotions such as friendship, affection and embraces, which are valid in any season”, says Colli.
In Inspired in Barcelona: Luce, creatives and designers present themselves as storytellers and visionaries. Through the over 100 objects in the exhibition, we witness the tensions, questions and reinterpretations that arise from one generation to the next in the lighting sector, as well as how companies transform their ideas into products,
taking the message of Barcelona to the world. Together, they consolidate the city as the creative capital of the Mediterranean and a European benchmark in design.
