Image by Jordi Queralt Suau
“Inspired in Barcelona: Materia Prima” is a new installation presented during Milan Design Week 2026, running 20–26 April 2026, inviting visitors to experience creativity through a distinctly Mediterranean lens. The project explores two shared cultural staples -bread and olive oil- as metaphors for the designer’s craft: ideation, iteration, and the search for balance.
Curated by architect Jordi Queralt Suau with the participation of designer Andreu Carulla, the installation translates these everyday ingredients into a sequence of immersive scenes that guide the visitor through the creative process. The journey begins with the contemplation of the “oil auroras” and their mechanism: a moving table that perpetually seeks equilibrium within a fluid system, mirroring the way ideas are tested, balanced, and refined.
The route continues with a series of photographic portraits by Txema Salvans, capturing Barcelona’s creative ecosystem and evoking the tension between intuition and precision that defines design practice. The final scene becomes participatory: a hands-on experience designed by Andreu Carulla where visitors can interact with olive oil, create their own oil auroras, and complete the route by tasting a bread specially crafted for dipping. This brings the metaphor back to the senses and shared ritual.
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.