How to Design a Revolution: The Chilean Road to Design

"How to Design a Revolution: The Chilean road to Design" is a comprehensive exhibition on graphic and industrial design during the government of Salvador Allende in Chile (1970–1973), which will be on view from July 2 to November 16 at the DHub. As part of the exhibition, a public program of activities will also take place, aimed at highlighting the transformative potential of strategic planning and innovation as tools to promote social equity and democratic participation.

The Barcelona Metropolitan Strategic Plan, together with the Barcelona City Council, the Disseny Hub, and the team that once led Barcelona’s European Capital of Democracy 2023–2024, brings the exhibition "How to Design a Revolution: The Chilean road to Design" to Barcelona, which will be open to the public at the DHub from July 2 to November 16, 2025.

Within the framework of this exhibition, a public program of activities has also been developed, aiming to engage in a forward-looking dialogue with the exhibition and to celebrate the transformative potential of strategic planning and innovation as tools for social equity and the promotion of democratic participation. With an open and collective outlook, the program offers spaces for debate, reflection, and experimentation to rethink current challenges and imagine new shared horizons.

Here is the English translation of your text:

The exhibition is a comprehensive showcase of graphic and industrial design during the government of Salvador Allende in Chile (1970–1973). It offers a journey through a historic moment for the South American country, highlighting the fundamental role that design played during this period. Curated by Hugo Palmarola, Eden Medina, and Pedro Ignacio Alonso, the exhibition was previously shown in Santiago de Chile as part of the commemorative events marking the 50th anniversary of Augusto Pinochet’s military coup, and brings together nearly 250 pieces, both original and reproduced. These works pursued objectives such as democratizing access to reading and popular music, reducing technological dependency, and eradicating child malnutrition.

The exhibition is divided into seven chapters that seek to illustrate how the Unidad Popular (Popular Unity) program led by Salvador Allende was visually and materially projected, a program whose main challenge was to implement a democratic, socialist, and peaceful revolution—a vision that differed radically from the two poles of the Cold War: U.S. capitalism and Soviet socialism.

• How to manage an economy: The nationalization of companies led to the creation of a flexible and decentralized system to manage the economy through Project Cybersyn.

• How to call for collective action: Poster production played a key role in building an informative system that helped communicate and promote the principles of the revolutionary process.

• How to nourish childhood: A national feeding program included the design of a measuring spoon for distributing powdered milk as part of efforts to combat child malnutrition.

• How to promote popular music: The creation of a public record label and the manufacturing of affordable record players helped democratize access to local and Latin American music while strengthening cultural sovereignty.

• How to reduce technological dependency: Products such as the Antú television and the Yagan car were designed to reduce reliance on foreign technology and promote social welfare.

• How to build a reading society: The state-run publishing house Quimantú distributed over 11 million books, an initiative that helped reduce illiteracy and promote critical thinking, as well as educational and political inclusion.

• How to foster peaceful coexistence: The exhibition features pictograms created for the Pan American Games, scheduled to be held in Chile in 1975. These were designed to be interpretable across cultures and languages, reflecting the event’s international character. The Games were ultimately cancelled due to the military coup. These pictograms are being presented for the first time ever in this exhibition.

Here is the English translation:

Cybersyn, a Kind of Socialist Internet

One of the most remarkable pieces in the exhibition is the first comprehensive and functional reconstruction of the Cybersyn operations room (from the English Cybernetic Synergy) or Synco (from the Spanish Sistema de Información y Control), a system designed to manage Chile’s state-owned companies in a flexible and decentralized way. The reproduction, validated by the original designers, is a 72 m² hexagonal room that offers visitors a visual and immersive example of one of the greatest contributions to the history of computing. It enabled the rapid collection and systematization of large volumes of data to support political and economic decision-making.

The Cybersyn project anticipated debates that are central today, such as the interaction between technology, data management, and democracy. With its vision of a decentralized and public technological system, it serves as a lens through which to consider the role of artificial intelligence in modern societies, in a context where data is crucial for decision-making. The project demonstrates how ethical, decentralized, and transparent uses of technology can contribute to social well-being and how public infrastructures are fundamental to democratic strengthening.

Cybersyn’s proposal for real-time management and its participatory operations room are ideas that can inspire new mechanisms to strengthen democracy and ensure that technology serves collective interests. In this sense, the exhibition connects past, present, and future, offering tools to critically and creatively rethink contemporary challenges — a legacy left by the European Capital of Democracy.

Here is the English translation:

Public Program of Activities

In parallel with the exhibition, the Barcelona Metropolitan Strategic Plan, in collaboration with the Barcelona City Council, DHub, and the Canòdrom – Center for Digital and Democratic Innovation, has developed a public program of activities aimed at engaging in dialogue with the exhibition. With a forward-looking approach, this program invites debate, reflection, and experimentation to rethink current challenges and imagine new shared horizons, leveraging the transformative potential of strategic planning and innovation as tools for social equity and citizen participation. The following activities are part of this program:

• Opening lecture: How to Design a Revolution: The Chilean Way to Design. July 1, 6:00 p.m. at Disseny Hub Barcelona

• Workshop: What Should an Open Data Observation Room Look Like? July 8, 11:00 a.m. at Canòdrom – Center for Digital and Democratic Innovation

• Reading Club: Geopolitics and Technological Sovereignty. September 9, 6:00 p.m. at Canòdrom

• Conference Day: Culture and Revolutions. September 16, 5:00 p.m. at Canòdrom

• Lecture: Science for Public Policy: A Future Symbiosis in Complex Times. September 18, 6:00 p.m. at Canòdrom

• Lecture: What Happens When AI Makes Decisions? Algorithmic Governance and Misgovernance. October 2, 6:00 p.m. at Canòdrom

• Conference Day: Metropolitan Digital Twins. October 29, 10:00 a.m. at Canòdrom

• Course: Metropolis and Economic Development: Strategies for the 21st Century. November 13–14 at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB)