Barcelona

A Seductive living city
Barcelona is a major, ever-growing space for exchange with a welcoming, dynamic, creative atmosphere. A plural,diverse, unique and passionate city open to all forms of innovation and all cultures. There’s not one Barcelona; there are many. A city to live to the full and share, with its eyes set firmly on the future after a groundbreaking process of change: from a 19th century industrial powerhouse to a multicultural 21st-century city of knowledge.
Barcelona is very probably one of the most active cities in Europe, thanks to its ability to create major events and opportune meetings for both the players from its past and the latest trends and social, cultural and artistic phenomena. After putting on one of the most impressive Olympic Games ever, Barcelona has confirmed itself as the ideal context for major international events.
Thousands of conferences, exhibitions, installations, shows and parties offer the best conditions for designers from all areas to express and try out ideas, trends and projects. The power behind all these activities lies in the creativity and enthusiasm of its inhabitants and the thousands of new residents who arrive every year and choose it as the ideal city to live.
In the XXI Century, the new challenge of Barcelona is to become a reference for any topic related with the Strategic Design, the Design Management and the Design Thinking.
The IED Barcelona centre is located in Gràcia, a neighbourhood with a strong personality of its own and a long industrial tradition. After seven years it has outgrown its original 2200m2 building - a former chocolate factory –and acquired the former Macson textile factory building some 50m from the current centre, where it plans to set up the IED Design District.
Once the expansion to the new space is finished, the school will have 10000m2 of useable space. With this new extension, IED Barcelona will be able to fully consolidate its position as a state-of-the-art school in the world of design.It will also renew and strengthen its commitment to Barcelona as a benchmark city in the world of new trends and design.
Every year IED Barcelona welcomes 1200 students from over 40 countries and offers them the opportunity to study in an international environment that fosters cultural exchange.