Design + Health exhibition highlights importance of design in health sector

Promotion: exhibited as part of World Design Capital Valencia 2022, the Design + Health exhibition showcases the influence of design on advancements in science and medicine.

Presented at the Valencian Museum of Enlightenment and Modernity (MuVIM) in Spain, the exhibition aims to illustrate how design has been used in the health sector to improve people’s wellbeing.

The exhibition takes place from 11 November 2022 to 16 April 2023, during Valencia‘s tenure as the World Design Capital 2022.

The Design + Health exhibition combines research from various design industries, including architecture, interiors, industrial design, graphic communication and fashion.

Organised into 25 themes, the display outlines the progression of science and medicine by reviewing past disciplines, analysing current practices and illustrating future possibilities.

“Design in itself cannot cure anything, but neither could a vaccine if we did not have a syringe to inject it with,” said exhibition curator Ramón Úbeda.

“Designing is part of the solution, it is not an added value but rather intrinsic to the development of any innovation for the social good.”

The exhibition contains over 500 examples of design for health, including creations from renowned designers and architects such as Charles and Ray Eames, Barber Osgerby, Philippe Starck, Yves Béhar, Nendo, Piero Lissoni, Matali Crasset, Benjamin Hubert, Raw Color and Tokujin Yoshioka.

On display for the first time in Spain is the Emergency Bike, an electric bicycle design currently being tested in Paris.

The bike was created by creative agency Wunderman Thompson to allow doctors to cut through road traffic and reach medical emergencies faster.

One of the aims of the display was to promote design for the health sector, which is often overlooked compared to designs that are more prominently featured in magazines, such as furniture and lighting.

“This is probably one of the most ambitious exhibitions in the entire programme of Valencia World Design Capital 2022,” said Xavi Calvo, general director of the year-long programme.

“The open, witty and didactic nature of this exhibition will bring society as a whole closer to such familiar and vital issues as health and the search for wellbeing,” Calvo continued.

The exhibition concludes with the screening of the documentary The Hospital of the Future, which was created by Dutch architecture studio OMA.

Design + Health exhibition takes place at the Valencian Museum of Enlightenment and Modernity, Valencia, Spain from 11 November 2022 to 16 April 2023 as part of World Design Capital Valencia 2022. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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This article was written by Dezeen for World Design Capital Valencia 2022 as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.