MONDIACULT 2025: Soft Design as Heritage Protection

For MONDIACULT 2025, UNESCO and Spain's Ministry of Culture commissioned a spatial and graphic installation at the Barcelona International Convention Centre (CCIB) that reimagines heritage protection through soft materials. Designed by Lluís Alexandre Casanovas Blanco and Paula Chalkho / Murray, the project uses large padded textiles and plant ecosystems to evoke civil protection strategies, such as sandbags used during WWII around St Paul's Cathedral in London or more recently in Mostar, Kyiv, and Aleppo. The intervention covers 3,000 m², with interior textiles spanning 10–14 meters and exterior elements hanging up to 9 meters, anchored by a non-invasive dual foundation system of heavy-duty casters and latex water tanks filled with groundwater. Plants like lentisco, esparto, tamarisco, wild olive, and date palm create micro-ecosystems. Materials are designed for reuse post-event, and water will be recovered for Barcelona. The graphic identity features a deformable typography that turns into tactile topography.