Spanish Landscapes: Timeline to Design Exhibition

Buit, Ensombra, Mangas, and Plisy on show at the Taipei Design Museum, Taiwan

From September 3 to November 17, 2024, the Taipei Design Museum (Taiwan) hosted the exhibition Spanish Landscapes: Timeline to Design, promoted by the Taiwan Design Research Institute with the support of ICEX . This exhibition reflects on the essential approach and concepts that characterise contemporary Spanish design, curated and designed by Odosdesign, a studio we’ve collaborated with for over two decades. The exhibition presents an overview of iconic designs organised along a timeline (from 1930 to the present), where our collections BUIT, ENSOMBRA, MANGAS and PLISY have been selected.

Spanning product and graphic design, architecture, fashion, and other types of creations, Spanish Landscapes: Timeline to Design seeks to showcase how contemporary Spanish design creates a vital link between culture and industry, blending human creativity with the functional and aesthetic needs of modern society. According to Odosdesign, Spanish design goes beyond mere utility, becoming a powerful medium to express cultural values, social narratives, and collective aspirations.

In this context, the designs chosen by Odosdesign to represent this approach—where industry, culture, form, function, technology, and humanity converge—are presented across six overlapping concepts. These categories outline the holistic and cross-disciplinary nature of contemporary Spanish design: Contemporary Classics, Everyday Icons, Mediterranean Soul, Disruptive Attitude, Urban Lifestyle, and Conscious Sustainability.

“Mediterranean Soul”

Under this concept, designs were selected to reflect the relaxed and elegant Mediterranean lifestyle; showcasing products and spaces that tell a story of tradition, craftsmanship, culture, and a love for simple and beautiful things. A key example is our ENSOMBRA parasol, a 2001 Odosdesign creation for GANDIABLASCO, whose opening and closing mechanism is inspired by the fan.

Also chosen under these criteria was our PLISY portable lamp, designed by Alejandra Gandía-Blasco Lloret in 2017 for DIABLA. This elegant lamp bridges the pleating technique used in fashion with the archetypal shape of old fabric lampshades. The selection was rounded off by BUIT, a unique armchair, pouf, and table design made of aluminum mesh, with the option to incorporate textile weaving, created by Mayice Studio in 2020 for GANDIABLASCO.

“Contemporary Classics”

Under this concept, Odosdesign selected works that represent discreet beauty and high-quality craftsmanship in designs destined to become timeless classics. Our MANGAS collection, designed by Patricia Urquiola for GAN, was included in this selection due to its innovative conception, unique formats, multiple construction techniques and yarn combinations, and its various applications and product types. When it was launched in 2006, it marked a revolution in the textile industry.

We are grateful to Odosdesign for valuing our designs and including them in an exhibition that so well captures the importance of culture as a crucial element in shaping the thought and industry behind contemporary Spanish design.