(Foto ®officina38)
Valencia is now officially the World Design Capital 2022. On 12 October in Hyderabad (India), Luisa Bocchietto, the outgoing President of the World Design Organization (WDO), officially handed over the baton to the Valencia commission that travelled to the body’s General Assembly.
The delegation included Vicente Pons, Point Sales Manager and member of the committee that won the city capital status. “This journey has been really interesting for Valencia as a candidate city and also for Point, in commercial terms. Hyderabad was a meeting point for the main international actors who promote design as a critical tool in social and business transformation. There have been really interesting networking sessions with first class architects, interior designers, and designers who have all praised the choice of Valencia as World Design Capital 2022”, Vicente explains.
Valencia mayor, Joan Ribó, was accompanied on behalf of the Valencian Community by Vicente Pons, the chair of the Valencia Design Capital association, Marisa Gallén, the project’s strategic directors, Xavi Calvo and Pau Rausell, representatives of Andreu World, and the businessman Carlos Ferrando from Closca, who gave a speech to the assembly.
“Personally, it was really exciting to see that this project has now come to fruition and be aware that we now have to get down to work to create an international event that will generate interest. The feedback from those in attendance at the Valencia presentation was very positive. They were amazed by our city and our project. We thought we weren’t one of the front runners but they made us feel that we were one of the best candidates they’d seen so far. They told us that our project had given the WDO greater visibility than ever before. And they showed us that we were able to do a really good job and be a first rate international focal point”, says Vicente.
(Foto ®officina38)
In the words of Mayor Joan Ribó to the World Design Organization, being the world design capital 2022 “is a great challenge and a huge opportunity” for Valencia. “This nomination will drive the creative industry in Valencia and Spain, will boost competitiveness, and will showcase our whole economy and products to the entire world. Moreover, it will put forward new ways of improving people’s lives through design”, the mayor said in his speech to the WDO.
For Vicente, this journey was crucial in strengthening the commitment to the city with this project and building trust with the WDO, with whom they will work closely over the coming years.
(Foto ®officina38)
“The mayor’s speech was really impressive. Hearing an institutional figure like him making such committed statements in favour of design and highlighting our talent and companies is something we’ll never forget”, Vicente affirms.
So, with this trip Valencia has started its journey to become a global leader in 2022. Valencia’s bid, under the slogan “The Mediterranean design of Valencia. Design for change, design for the senses” proposes a viewpoint with a geographical but also aesthetic, philosophical, and political impact.