From Llum BCN 2019 to the lights of the Museu

For the second year in a row, Llum BCN 2019 will start to illuminate Poblenou on the weekend of the 15th, 16th and 17th of February. Thousands of lighting devices will transform the streets of the old industrial quartier into a great outdoor experimental laboratory, using light as a means of creativity. Centuries ago, a festival like this was totally unthinkable, but little by little lighting has been evolving as well as merging with innovative techniques such as dynamic illumination, projection on a large scale and interactive environments, eventually allowing us to understand light as we do today.

At the Museu del Disseny, we are very aware that in future we will only be able to understand how we lived if we know the objects that we had by our side, some of them becoming part of our heritage today. As a consequence, every piece of the permanent exhibition From the World to the Museum. Product Design, Cultural Heritage is considered a representative of its time, a sample of the different material contributions and techniques suggested by its authors, and a sociocultural echo.  

The exhibition lights take us on an unprecedented tour through the history of illumination. From the aluminium standing light of GATCPAC (1932), to the first total reflection LED light in the world –the Lola lamp (2011)–, passing by the suspension light of José Antonio Coderch (1957) described by Picasso as “the most beautiful modern lamp in the world”. This weekend, take advantage of the festival and come by the Museu to discover where we keep the light.