Design, technology, and revolution

The exhibition, curated by Hugo Palmarola, Eden Medina, and Pedro Ignacio Alonso, arrives in Barcelona thanks to the support of the Barcelona Metropolitan Strategic Plan (PEMB), the Barcelona City Council, and the DHub. Beyond the exhibition, at Canòdrom – Athenaeum of Digital and Democratic Innovation, you will find a bunch of activities designed to engage with this history and, above all, to imagine how technology can transform democracy and citizen participation today.

Discover Cybersyn, the room that wanted to change the world

One of the exhibition’s great treasures is the complete reconstruction of the Cybersyn operations room, a revolutionary and visionary project that marked a turning point nearly 50 years ago. During the government of Salvador Allende, a multidisciplinary team of engineers, scientists, and designers devised a real-time monitoring system connecting nationalized industries through a data network.

The goal was ambitious: to make economic decision-making a collective, transparent, and agile process, using technology to manage the economy from the streets, from the citizens, not just from offices. Cybersyn was a pioneer in the field of cybernetics applied to governance, a clear example of how data science could democratize power and bring it closer to the people.

The operations room, a hexagonal room with seven chairs connected to screens and data systems, was the brain of this project. Instead of conventional monitors, information was displayed through slide carousels and specially designed graphics to facilitate real-time decision-making. Each chair had buttons on the arms to change the data shown on the screens, creating a direct and collaborative interaction.

The system included a program called Cyberstride, which filtered and analyzed data sent by telex machines installed in nationalized factories across the country. This information, production indicators, efficiency, or alerts, arrived directly at the operations room, where it had to be quickly interpreted to make informed collective economic decisions. But transforming this complex data into useful information was no easy task.

One of the most remarkable aspects of the project was that a team made up mostly of women designers was responsible for turning all these numbers into clear and accessible visualizations. Under the coordination of the renowned German designer Gui Bonsiepe, these professionals, many young, creative, and trained in design avant-gardes, were fundamental in visually shaping a new way of doing economic politics: open, participatory, and understandable for everyone.

From July 2 to November 16, at Disseny Hub Barcelona you can immerse yourself in the faithful reconstruction of the Cybersyn operations room, a 72 m² hexagonal installation validated by the original project designers. Located at the heart of the exhibition space and visible from the outside through two doors, this room lets you relive how a participatory economy was conceived and managed over fifty years ago. You can sit there, see the screens working automatically, and breathe the spirit of innovation that made it an icon of design and social technology.

Access to the room will be in groups of 10 people, with hours on Thursdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.. During these times, you can see the screens operating automatically and sit in one of the original seats.

Additionally, there will be guided tours of the room with the possibility of interacting with the system:

• Thursday: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (in Catalan)

• Friday: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (in Spanish)

• Two Saturdays per month: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. (in English). Saturdays: July 12 and 26, September 6 and 27, October 4 and 25, November 8 and 15.

There will also be guided tours of the full exhibition two Saturdays per month at 11:00 a.m.:
September 20 and 27, October 4, 11 and 25, November 8 and 15.

A public program of activities to think, learn, and create

Beyond the exhibition, at Canòdrom we offer a public program of workshops, debates, and talks to deepen the relationship between technology, design, and democracy. Do you want to imagine a society where technology serves everyone? Do you want to debate how we can guarantee transparency and participation in a digital world?

These are the activities you can’t miss:

• July 1, 6 p.m.: Opening lecture: How to design a revolution, with Hugo Palmarola, Eden Medina, and Pedro Ignacio Alonso, curators of the exhibition. A journey through the transformative creativity of Allende’s Chile. To attend the opening lecture, please confirm your attendance by emailing: innovacio-democratica@bcn.cat
• July 3, 10, 17, 24, 31: Workshop: Games for the Revolution, a participatory activity to explore creative and speculative design methodologies based on a European project co-funded by Erasmus+.

• July 8, 11 a.m.: Workshop: What should an Open Data Observation Room be like?, with Màrius Boada, Pau Balcells, and Marta Pérez Verdugo. Let’s imagine together a citizen space to interrogate and understand the city through data.

• September 9, 6 p.m.: IND+I Club. Reading Club: Geopolitics and Technological Sovereignty, a session of the reading club promoted by Viladecans, with Liliana Arroyo and other experts, to rethink digital transformations from an inclusive perspective.

• September 16, 5 to 8:30 p.m.: Culture and Revolutions Day, with live podcasts, workshops, and talks inspired by the Chilean spirit and social innovation.

• September 18, 6 to 7:30 p.m.: Conference: Science for Public Policy, a symbiosis of the future in complex times to reinforce evidence-based decision-making and regain citizen trust.

• October 2, 6 p.m.: Talk: What happens when AI makes decisions? Algorithmic government and misgovernment, opening the debate on artificial intelligence, decision-making, and the need for democratic governance of technology.

• October 29, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.: Day: Metropolitan Digital Twins, a meeting to explore how to build shared urban scenarios through open data and collaborative digital models.

• July 3, 10, 17, 24, 31: Workshop: Games for the Revolution, a participatory activity to explore creative and speculative design methodologies based on a European project co-funded by Erasmus+.

• November 13 and 14, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Course: Metropolis and Economic Development, a training proposal to think about urban and social strategies for the 21st century.