By Aitana Cabedo i Pérez (UVEG)
DESIGNSCAPES and Econcult of the University of Valencia, in collaboration with Valencia World Design Capital 2022, helped organize a recent experimental workshop to rethink La Marina de València, titled Miradas cruzadas en torno al Tinglado 2 (“Cross-referenced views on the Tinglado 2”).
The main objective of this workshop, which was held Nov. 25th-28th, was to show the relevance of design-enabled innovation and to disseminate the need to educate both experts and society itself in design. Five design experts and artists in various fields participated in the event, offering their knowledge to more than 15 students and young professionals from different schools of design and architecture from various parts of the Valencian Community who worked around the concepts of tradition, experimentation and design.
The little use that this space offers to the local population, due to the lack of design, is presented as the main challenge to be solved by the architectural and urban studies in charge of developing the project: “Grupo Aranea” and “El Fabricante de Esferas”. Throughout the session, those responsible for both companies explained the factors that have contributed to the current situation.
Firstly, they observed a general lack of design awareness, as there is no evidence of elements that favour the use of space by individuals: a lack of shade and rest areas, a high presence of concrete. Secondly, it is a space designed on too high a scale, thus losing the human dimension. Finally, potential users often have an exclusive and superficial perception that distances them from the use of their facilities.
Alejandro Benavent, industrial design engineer, director and art designer of DXI magazine, explained that this project seeks to solve these problems through a process of humanization to involve society, through the development of planning and public participation which tries to show the strategic role of the new design in different ways.
The artist Olga Diego, specialized in sculptural processes, performances and audiovisuals, focused her presentation on the analysis of the space in which we find ourselves, which needs the elements that make up the space to be mobile, scalable, sustainable and to have its own identity that encourages the development of a locally rooted identity. In addition, through the generation of participatory and creative processes, a natural approach to public space is needed through play, creating an open environment for all and providing a new function to this area.
“Solving problems through a process of humanization to involve society.”
Finally, the members of “El Taller de Manolo García”, master experts in the work of artistic carpentry and especially in the technique of the pole, together with LUCE, designer and graffiti artist, currently recognized as one of the artists who has left a significant mark on the local urban ecosystem, presented a series of models of some of the proposals and projects that can be designed in this space, focusing on areas of rest, with sustainable materials such as wood.
In conclusion, in the final day, the work generated was reviewed from the perspective of citizens and businesses of Valencian design, serving, as well as an approach to urban solutions generated with the involvement of the local socio-economic fabric, with the aim of achieving better assimilation, improvement and expansion of innovation enabled by design.
Photos: Aitana Cabedo i Pérez
