A part of the success of this phenomenon has been to apply the tenets of forecasting, coolhunting and “innovation analysis” to all corners of culture – go a step further and make a public event of it and you have something like ohBCN!, which paired up glass and gastronomy for a series of talks and events last month in aid of Barcelona Design Week. Barcelona has long been evolving into a formidably inventive culinary force and there is no denying the role of Ferran Adrià’s El Bulli in bringing a rapid, wider acknowledgement of this fact. But if Adrià and his brother Albert have quite deservedly become the poster boys for the city’s groundbreaking gastro-science tag, ohBCN! is built to paint us the fuller picture of the “principles of design thinking” and to sketch out “the future of Mediterranean creativity.”
The roundtable discussions held at Poble Nou art and design stomping ground Palo Alto (also home to artist Javier Mariscal’s studio) united devotees of the high-concept. President of Future Concept Lab Francesco Morace held court on consumer behavior, charting the rise of the experience which is both “unique and social.” Rafael Lamata, author of La Actitud Creativa talked creative lifestyle solutions and Albert Adrià, while championing the emotional potentials of tableware, brought it all back home to tapas. Just in time for chef Iker Erauzkin to serve up his mushroom perfume mouth-spray (Eau de Ceps), and a magical test-tube Gin ‘n’ Tonic, among other fantastic creations. Last, of course, dessert, with third-generation celebrity pastry chef Christian Escribà, who shared the secrets of fashioning his Candy-Glam Rings.
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