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FEDER
06/05/2020

Marisa Santamaría: Design at the Heart of Society’s Transformation

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Marisa Santamaría, researcher and promoter of design trends and RED-AEDE Director. RED-AEDE’s design brands exhibition at ARCO 2020 in Madrid, Spain

Marisa Santamaría, researcher and promoter of design trends and RED-AEDE Director. RED-AEDE’s design brands exhibition at ARCO 2020 in Madrid, Spain

Marisa Santamaría explains that Design with a capital ‘D’ is "one of the essential hubs fostering transformation in our society." At a time when society is finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel regarding the coronavirus crisis, the researcher and design promoter is seeing innovation in digital transformation and future solutions from designers that will improve people’s lives—and the environment—using a more conscientious and humane approach.

Santamaría has been the Director of the Association of Spanish Design Companies (RED-AEDE) since 2019, and she has been promoting the importance of design and its connection to society and the individual for years. We talked to her about the role of Design and about her projects. 

Interiors from Spain: Marisa, to us you are currently one of the great voices in Spanish Design. Since September 2019, as Director you have rebranded the Association of Spanish Design Companies. How would you define yourself professionally?

Marisa Santamaría: Thank you so much for your kind words, they are very encouraging.

At this stage in my career, after having spent fifteen years working in design education and academia, companies, and institutions all over the world, I am now dedicating my time to researching and promoting contemporary design on a global scale.

I’m collaborating with several companies researching social and/or cultural aspects of the evolution of design and innovation, concerning new materials, high craft and high tech, colors, functions or new uses and the design of spaces. These companies include Simon, Cosentino, Interihotel, Kvik, Rimadesio, SieMatic, and Jung.

I also write about design and architecture in several magazines, such as ICON Design, ELLE Decor, AD, Diseño Interior, and Traveler.

Interiors from Spain: We would also like to congratulate you on the success of the live discussions you’ve had with prominent figures in Spanish Design—"Redenvivo"—published on Instagram and dealing with the challenges of post-COVID-19 society. How did this project come about? Do you intend to continue with it when the crisis is over?

Marisa Santamaría: Thank you very much, in fact it was a question of putting a digital twist on the initiatives we were implementing in the new strategic plan to promote RED-AEDE 2020, which I presented at the Feria Hábitat de Valencia in September 2019. “RED de encuentros” (NETWORK of events), “RED de formación” (NETWORK of training), “RED de Talentos” (NETWORK of talent).

After the very positive international impact of the initiative launched at ARCO Madrid in February—all the furniture in the VIP room was done by RED together with Teresa Sapey's design—at such a difficult time, from a humane perspective, it was important to give voice to the thoughts and concerns of design professionals and companies in all fields.

Given the enormous audience and amount of interest, it will continue at the same time as the events in physical spaces, highlighting other themes that are always relevant and that help us to get to know the industrial fabric of Spanish design better.

The focus of all the initiatives revolves around the business implications of design in Spain, the need to be better known and recognized.
 
Interiors from Spain: These events based on the "Keys to the Post-COVID-19 Future” have generated an explosive brainstorming of ideas from designers, brands and design professionals on how to overcome this major crisis we’re facing. What ideas and proposals have surprised you?


Marisa Santamaría: We have tried to make sure that this becomes more than just a discussion, more than just words—the three most important points and concepts of each session are published on all social media as practical advice from prominent figures in design.

Amongst all the interviewees, the most powerful ideas for the post-COVID-19 era have to do with determination and attitude from a humane perspective; proactivity, flexibility, common sense and creativity are consistently emphasized, and above all, action before calculated strategy. In general, there is a weariness of debates, discussions and conferences; concrete examples are needed as well as an experienced, tested, and proven vision that goes beyond the different ideas and opinions that are constantly emerging.

Interiors from Spain: Can Design as an instrument of change be one of the important tools for rebuilding Spain? What solutions can it provide?

Marisa Santamaría: The designer naturally seeks strategic solutions to functional problems, with the aim of improving people’s lives and the environment. For example, the contribution of the maker community and design companies in immediately turning around their production processes and looking for solutions for protection during the COVID-19 pandemic has been extraordinary.

It’s been demonstrated in recent years that Design Thinking is a powerful tool for the advancement of companies and institutions that are staying up to date with an innovative approach. Today the designer is a professional who can head change and improvement in different corporate areas, in a city or in a country. 

This has been demonstrated in projects all over the world. Today design offers an opportunity for more balanced growth in line with a more humane vision for the future.

Interiors from Spain: And in your opinion, what aspects does the design industry need to strengthen in order to overcome this crisis and be more competitive when the eagerly awaited normality arrives?

Marisa Santamaría: The design industry is very little known in Spain—designers and designs are better known. Since 2008, Spanish manufacturers have been able to export a high-quality product, with an advanced design tied to innovation, sustainability, craftsmanship, and technology, and always confidently and efficiently. They transport 50% to 95% of their products. However, I believe that messages and communication from different perspectives should be encouraged and reinforced, with a narrative that builds a stronger identity.

Interiors from Spain: RED-AEDE as an association representing the design sector in Spain. What is your plan of action for the future?  How are you collaborating with other design initiatives in Spain? And internationally?


Marisa Santamaría:
In September 2019, with my integration as director of RED and with a new board of directors presided over by Pablo Corral, we launched a strategic project based on the connection and cohesion between companies, collaborative work and consistent communication, based on proactive promotion and specialized training for professionals in the sector, with the defined vision of focusing the concept of RED on the industrial base of its members, their international strengths and sending a common message of identity for Spanish design, for the Spanish brand, inside and outside our borders.

COVID-19 arrived and we don’t yet know what direct consequences it’ll have, but it has accelerated the digital transformation and a different global positioning, supposedly one that’s more aware and humane. 

It’s clear that in the immediate future we’ll continue with the same intentions and constructive initiatives, which we’ll adapt to the means and opportunities that arise. Members apply a lot of flexibility, adaptability, improvisation and creativity in their own companies and we’ll apply the same in RED at every stage of the different evolutionary processes.

Interiors from Spain: Lessons for the future: Have we learned anything?

Marisa Santamaría: We have clearly taken into account that we need to be more socially aware, be prepared for change, education as an integral part of our regular business practices. We must be prepared to alternate between physical and digital life, our interaction with nature needs to improve, as well as the quality of domestic life and life in general.

Interiors from Spain: Would you like to share with us other projects you’re working on? Or that you’re proudest of?

Marisa Santamaría: At RED we are about to launch “RED de Talentos” (“NETWORK of Talent”). Spanish design companies are committed to discovering, promoting and integrating new design talent, to the fullest extent, into their companies and research and development projects. This support and follow-up comes with establishing active collaborations with the best design schools—in Spain in the first stage—and in the world in the next. The entire project will be formally launched at the next Feria Hábitat de Valencia.

Among many other challenges, I have two books in progress that will come out in 2021. The first, El Viaje del objeto, (“The Journey of the Object”) written in collaboration with Bruno Ruiz-Nicoli, is dedicated to the interaction of high craftsmanship, concerned with each designer’s definition of new design in the 21st century. They are stories of journeys, from each chosen professional’s inspiration to their design process. It is comprised of articles from the series with the same title that we have been publishing every month for two years in Condé Nast Traveler.

The second is a personal vision of the creative radicalism of design that sets contemporary challenges in motion: Radical Roots and New Creative Roads.


 

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