“Inspired in Barcelona: Luce” lights up the Disseny Hub
Until 8 February 2026, the Disseny Hub Barcelona hosts “Inspired in Barcelona: Luce”, an exhibition that places light at the heart of the narrative — transforming it into the main character and guiding thread of a city whose everyday language is design.
After its debut at Milan Design Week, the exhibition returns home in a specially reinterpreted edition for Barcelona Design Week 2025.
Curated by architect and designer Stefano Colli, with scenography by Carles Novell, Luce invites visitors to explore light not merely as a function, but as a cultural expression, an emotion, a cityscape and a catalyst for ideas.
Self-published design: a direct, free and artisanal approach
The exhibition features over sixty self-published lamps — unique or limited-edition pieces created outside traditional industrial circuits, either commissioned or directly conceived for end users. This approach, increasingly present in today’s design landscape, reflects a new production ethos: closer, more conscious, where technology and craftsmanship coexist to offer solutions with identity.
Among the standout pieces is BARCELONA, a luminaire designed by Antoni Arola, recognised by many locals as one of the iconic lighting elements from the city’s festive street decorations — now reimagined in a museographic context as an emotional symbol of urban light.
An immersive landscape: light, matter and scenography
The visitor experience has been carefully crafted so that the space becomes a narrative in itself. Thanks to the collaboration with Simon — a leading lighting technology brand — the exhibition incorporates a lighting system designed by Michela Mezzavilla (MMAS Lighting), which transforms how the space is perceived.
The light shifts in intensity and temperature throughout the journey, enhancing the exhibition’s aesthetic and narrative cohesion. The result is an immersive, sensory environment where every object shines with intention.
Barcelona as a Capital of Lighting Design
“Inspired in Barcelona: Luce” does more than showcase objects — it celebrates a uniquely urban approach to design. In doing so, Barcelona affirms its role as a European reference point for lighting design, with this edition directly engaging with Llum BCN (6–8 February 2026), one of the continent’s leading light art festivals.
The exhibition highlights design’s power to transform space through light, crafting new visual languages rich in meaning.
An internationally minded initiative
Organised by the Barcelona Creativity & Design Foundation (BCDF), with the support of Disseny Hub Barcelona – Ajuntament de Barcelona, and in collaboration with Simon, the exhibition forms part of the Inspired in Barcelona® platform — aimed at projecting the city’s creative talent onto the global stage.
Its journey from Milan to Barcelona is a reflection of the fluid dialogue between local and global, between craftsmanship and technology, between tradition and cutting edge.
A design story lived through the senses
“Inspired in Barcelona: Luce” is an invitation to rediscover the role of light in our everyday lives — to appreciate its ability to transform surroundings, to awaken emotion, and to tell stories.
(*) Images courtesy of Disseny Hub.
