2024: summary, projects, highlights and evaluations

And again, the inevitable happens. We say goodbye to one year and, inherently, we generate space for everything that the next one will bring. We make a review, evaluate the highs, the lows and the averages, and learn from it all to continue advancing on a path that already totals, in the case of the Fundació del Disseny, two years of transversal work by and for design, in its broadest sense.

2024 has undoubtedly been a year of consolidating projects, connecting with other entities, placing Valencia on the international design map, and obtaining local and national recognition.

In the last twelve months we have worked continuously for the celebration of our major projects, those that bring together both the professional sector and the general public, so that the design, in its different aspects, reaches society as we promised when we laid the bases of the Foundation. In February, the Filmin film platform premiered the documentary “Valencia 22. City of design”, by director Andreu Signes. It compiles, shows and highlights what it meant for the city of Valencia to have been named World Design Capital. Testimonies interspersed with a sample of everything lived in the year of its celebration, 2022. Two months later, in April and coinciding with the 59th edition of the Fira del Llibre de València, the first volume of “Scenes of Valencian design” was presented, published by the Fundació del Disseny, written by Eugenio Viñas and Lidia Caro, and designed by Iban Ramón. Fourteen stories that start from an anecdote to narrate a global, thus explaining the historical journey and capturing the importance of Valencian design. The month of June brought, once again curated by Wences Sanz, the fifth edition of the “Paradís” festival, the day of inspiring talks on design that once again brought together an audience eager for inspiration to listen to national and international speakers from different creative disciplines. Another of the great milestones of this 2024, as far as projects are concerned, has been the celebration of the already consolidated “València Design Fest”, with an agenda that offers citizens a connection with art, architecture or craftsmanship, thanks in the latter case to the great work of Estudio Savage -decorated this year with the Award for the Dissemination of Craftsmanship- with the second edition of the great umbrella “Time and Matter”. A wide variety of activities, meetings and exhibitions that make September the great month of design in our city. Last but not least, of course, the celebration of “Future of Fashion”, curated for the second year by the journalist and communicator Patricia Moreno. Scheduled for October 30, the great impact of the dana in Valencia slowed down any cultural activity, including this congress of fashion and sustainability. After the task of cancellation, communication, full refund of tickets sold, as well as providing a safe return to their homes to those speakers and journalists who had already arrived in the city, the work in the following weeks was directed to celebrate the third edition of “Future of Fashion” as it was planned, or at least in the way that best suited a new date. A hybrid format, which allowed to connect live to the international speakers, as well as an audience present and online, was the way in which finally the congress happened in The Terminal Hub with a great acceptance by the general and specialized public. A closing that leaves a great taste in the mouth for a year in which we have fulfilled the established plan jumping, in addition, the possible potholes encountered.

In 2024 we also collaborated in the organization of the exhibition “Tot cor. Art, design and crafts speak of love”. This artistic, collaborative and solidarity project has as its main piece a ceramic heart, created by Pepa Reverter, and that different artists and designers have customized, thus creating a large exhibition of hearts that give life to a great social work. Likewise, the Fundació del Disseny de la CV has collaborated with Turiart in the creation of the tourist routes “València Art & Design Walks”, a proposal that allows the general public to know València from an avant-garde perspective, approaching spaces where design is present in its architecture, interior design or in the project itself that is carried out in the place visited.

This year has also been one of recognition for a task that goes beyond even the Foundation itself and takes us to the work of dissemination of design carried out in 2022 during the World Design Capital Valencia. The Laus, the graphic design awards of reference and today the most prestigious in our country, awarded from the ADG-FAD to the exhibition “Design and Health” a bronze for its exhibition graphics. The ADCV awards gala brought four joys: a gold for the website “Icons of Valencian design”, silver in the category of ephemeral spaces for the Ágora València, as well as for the exhibition “Design and health”. The latter was also a finalist in the category of environmental graphics. València World Design Capital 2022 was awarded with the mention in the ADI Culture awards, a recognition that highlighted the excellent dissemination of design from the city of València at international level throughout a whole year with hundreds of activities. “Design is good for health” by Ramón Úbeda, born from the great research work carried out for the exhibition ‘Design and health’, received the gold medal in the category of publications. The silver in this category went to “Neutopías” by Óscar Guayabero. The bronze of the ADI Cultura in the publications level went to “La gran D” by Anatxu Zabalbeascoa, from Podium Podcast and València World Design Capital 2022. For its part, the Ibero-American Design Biennial (Dimad) 2024 from Madrid awarded the prize for the best publication to the highly laureate “Design and health”, and the VI Mostra Internacional d’Audiovisuals d’Artesania de Barcelona selected the audiovisual “Designing the air”, a collaboration with the Chair of Crafts of the UPV by Ángel Blay and Vicent Martínez.

In addition to all of the above, the continuous work of collaboration with cultural, tourist or economic projection entities, as well as professionals both locally, nationally and internationally. Closer to home, this year CEI: the center for innovation, design and marketing studies, the European University of Valencia or the degree in Tourism at the University of Valencia, have received Xavi Calvo as director of the Fundació del Disseny de la Comunitat Valenciana, to hear how the persevering work – since even before the appointment of Valencia as World Design Capital – has driven the city from the field of design, not only as a professional sector but also as a discipline that permeates the tourist, creative or artistic field. Calvo also participated in a new edition of the CEU UCH University breakfasts, bringing the design perspective to a conversation on the challenges facing cities, and Vicent Martínez, president of the Foundation, gave an emotional lecture at the Ateneo de Castellón on “Valencian design: history and emotion”. The month of December also offered a precious opportunity for the dissemination of design with the editorial event “Graphic Route” vs “Scenes of Valencian design” at Bartleby bookstore together with Barlin Libros. A conversation in which it was possible to review, through the two publications, the history and depth of the city’s design.

This entity has also had the opportunity to participate through interviews on the Valencian public radio and television, À Punt, promoting Valencian design in the programs Cadena de Valor or Podríem fer-ho millor, as well as nationally in El País and Las Mañanas de Radio Nacional, and internationally for the DDCAST of the Deutscher Design Club, the most important German platform in the debate on the transformation of design.

Looking at the task of international outreach there is a milestone more than remarkable in this 2024: the designation of Valencia as part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. This first year, in which the Fundació del Disseny has been the advisory entity of the City Council of Valencia, has offered the opportunity to travel to Braga, to the summit of this network of creative cities; as well as Shanghai or Asahikawa, where our city has been welcomed with open arms and where the different forums have listened attentively to the speeches on how and why Valencia has managed to hold such a title.

The Fundació del Disseny has also traveled to Taiwan, with the exhibition “Spanish Landscapes” at the Taiwan Design Museum, curated by Odosdesign and with the support of ICEX. To Canton, thanks to the Chair of Innovation, Design and Interculturality of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, collaborating in the Canton Design Week (GZDW), the largest in Asia, participating in a stand dedicated to promoting Valencian design along with other organizations and companies of reference. Also to Frankfurt, which will be World Design Capital 2026, and to the World Design Network of Cities Meeting organized by World Design Capital San Diego-Tijuana 2024. Likewise, the headquarters of the Fundació del Disseny has received different personalities and entities that, from abroad, have fixed their gaze on our city and our work, and have come to learn more about everything that design contributes to the Valencian economic, business and cultural fabric.

Three hundred and sixty-six days of a leap year not to forget, summarized to highlight those milestones and achievements that have shone the most, have had greater diffusion or have obtained greater depth, but that are still the result of daily work, as we said at the beginning, by and for the design by the team and collaborators of the Fundació del Disseny de la Comunitat Valenciana.