Barcelona: a new design and fashion center

The Design Hub (Disseny Hub) is the name of the new center that Barcelona will be dedicating to design and fashion. An integral part of an urban restructuring project for Plaça de les Glòries, it will open its doors in 2010.

The activities that will mold the center of creativity in Barcelona include laboratories, museums – the Textile and Decorative Arts museums will be relocated there – a foundation and a training center for the discovery and encouragement of young talents.

In advance of what will be the characteristics of Disseny Hub, some exhibitions are already taking place, such as “El Cos Vestit”, which will continue until May at the current location of the Textile Museum in Pedralbes.

A roundup of the history of clothing from 1550 to 2000, it makes a fascinating parallel between the morphology of the human body, socio-cultural changes and the development of textile technology.

For example, it shows how, before plastic surgery was invented, the female body has been molded over the years by fabric: from the constriction of tight corsets and crinolines to the transparency, softness and smaller quantities of today’s fabrics.