A new period begins at the Design Museum with Jose Luis de Vicente at the helm
Jose Luis de Vicente (Granada, 1973) has been selected to manage the Barcelona Design Museum. This was decided through the contest initiated in May 2022 for the management of the municipal facility replacing Pilar Vélez, who relinquishes her position due to retirement.
The new manager of the Design Museum will be incorporated into the post in February, and he poses the beginning of a period of connection with the cultural and artistic fabric of the city, within the framework of the new cultural centrality represented by Plaça de les Glòries.
De Vicente is a cultural researcher and exhibition curator specialising in digital culture, art and technology. In addition, he has broad experience in developing projects at the intersection between technology, art, design and social innovation.
All the projects presented were assessed in a selection process that was supported by an advisory commission composed of the critic and professor of art history, Miquel Molins; the museologist, Marta Montmany; the publisher, Ramon Prat (ACTAR); the cultural researcher, Jaron Rowan; the lighting and stage designer, Maria Güell and the architect and communicator Núria Moliner.
Jose Luis de Vicente’s project was valued for the definition of a strategic framework that stands out for its commitment to new formats and platforms that provide greater innovation and experimentation, and which is positioned very well in the current and international context, taking into account diverse groups, as well as neighbourhood entities. The project also stood out for being coherent with the present context, as well as being able to take on the challenges of the future clearly, working on the expansion of design beyond labels.
The commission in charge of the assessment agreed to the suitability of the project A it embodies the enthusiasm, emotion and desire of a new period for the Barcelona Design Museum, in which the facility must play a joint role with the cultural and artistic fabric of the city.