HTC Barcelona Design Experience
We’ve been to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week but managed to escape the crowds of suits at the FIRA conference hall. Instead, we invited seven journalists from Europe’s leading design titles for two days of design-related activities including networking opportunities with HTC Design senior executives and experiencing the newest design hot spots of Barcelona.
Armed with their HTC One Red devices, journalists from Phoenix, Icon, Novum, Buro247.ru, Design Made in Germany, Arquitectura & Diseño Magazine and Monocle travelled to entre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona for HTC’s press conference on Monday where Cher Wang, HTC’s chairwoman, put design firmly on the agenda. This was followed by a group briefing and dinner at Nuba, one of Barcelona’s most stylishly designed restaurants with HTC Design executives led by Scott Croyle, Senior Vice President, Design.
On Tuesday, the media experienced some unique design locations in Barcelona and met the influencers behind Barcelona’s design scene. One stop was an exclusive preview of Barcelona’s new design museum, Museu del Disseny de Barcelona, scheduled to open in December 2014 where 70,000 objects will be on show. There was also a demonstration of Keecker, an Android-powered robot that projects images on any surface due to retail by the end of the year, in the great hall.
Other stops looked at 3D printing. At The Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC), a rare live demonstration of Kuka robot showed how 3D printing could be applied to sustainable architecture. At Makers of Barcelona, founder Cecilia Tham talked about 3D printing and laser etching as part of creative, collaborative spaces. Both are involved in Fab10 in July when Barcelona hosts fabrication labs from around the world for the 10th anniversary.
We also had our fill of luxury design by visiting BD Barcelona with their latest collection that launched this week. Our favourite furniture being a Dali-inspired taxidermist side table – all captured and shared on the HTC One Red.
With a packed design agenda in 2014, it’s easy to see why Barcelona is a design city to contend with!
