Disseny Hub Barcelona (DHUB) is now a reality. On 2 December, the mayor of Barcelona, Jordi Hereu, accompanied by his Councillor for Culture, Jordi Martí, the chief curator of the project, Ramon Prat, and the director of the DHUB museums, Marta Montmany, fired the starting shot for the new centre, set to become the city’s design hub.

Jordi Hereu emphasized that DHUB is a strategic project for the city because it addresses the world of design, “one of the clearest expressions of Barcelona”.

Indeed, the mission of Disseny Hub Barcelona is both to link the various design proposals that spring up in the city and to act as a forum for reflection and debate in the design world.

In the words of the centre’s chief curator, Ramon Prat, DHUB will act as an operating system running a network of different facilities, including the Foment de les Arts Decoratives (FAD) and the Col·legi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya (COAC).

The Councillor for Culture, Jordi Martí, said that design needs “a reference centre” in the city that would help in the economic promotion of a realm which in Barcelona has great potential.

“We aim to be the design capital”, added the mayor, Jordi Hereu, when summing up the centre’s future objectives.

More than a Museum

The Disseny Hub Barcelona draws on the endowments of three museums, each of which preserves its own identity, coordinated by the director, Marta Montmany – the Museu Tèxtil i de la Indumentària, the Museu de les Arts Decoratives and the Gabinet de les Arts Gràfiques.

DHUB is slated to move to a new, emblematic building in the plaça de les Glòries in 2011. Meanwhile, it is based at two premises – the Palau Reial de Pedralbes, housing the permanent collections, and the Palau Marquès de Llió, for temporary activities.

But Disseny Hub Barcelona seeks to become something more than an exhibition area. DHUB acts as the hub of a network of design curators, creatives and consumers who share key information relating to the sector.