Barcelona Design Week 2023 · 18th edition

Design for Human Future

At the midpoint of the UN’s 2030 Agenda, the 2023 Barcelona Design Week put forward a bold proposition: a hypothetical SDG Nº18 — *Design for Human Future* — framing design not as an end in itself, but as the cross-cutting catalyst needed to make the other 17 Global Goals a reality. Curated by Alessandro Manetti, the edition brought together over 100 activities exploring the intersection of design, ethics, and sustainability. Highlights included an interactive installation by Domestic Data Streamers on Passeig de Gràcia — 17 flags connecting each SDG to a question about design’s role in human life — a Human/AI Design Challenge at CASA SEAT, and the presentation of Manifesto Nº18 as the edition’s symbolic close. The year also marked BDW’s continued leadership of the global World Design Weeks network.