Here Are the World’s Most Exciting Design Destinations—and Why You Have to Visit
Designers at the center of five emerging creative scenes tell us why their city should be on your radar right now—and, hopefully soon, your itinerary.
Designers at the center of five emerging creative scenes tell us why their city should be on your radar right now—and, hopefully soon, your itinerary.
Each person we interviewed pointed us to furniture, lighting, and other objects for your home that represent what’s going on in design where they live.
Quito, Ecuador
Daniel Moreno Flores and Marie Combette
"Quito is a city with a lot of constantly transforming energy, and many of the ideas that young design teams are generating are aimed toward seeking the common good," says architect Marie Combette.
Illustration by Pamela Silva
Outside of its UNESCO-listed historic center, the Ecuadorian capital has become a magnet for such international "starchitects" as Jean Nouvel, Bjarke Ingels, and Carlos Zapata. But for Quito architects Daniel Moreno Flores and Marie Combette, the projects that represent the city’s emerging design ethos come from a different cohort.
"Quito’s young designers are motivated to make significant changes for the city by emphasizing local resources, social concerns, tradition, and artisan capabilities," Flores says. "As global cities become more homogenized, it’s an act of cultural conservation to understand the place where we live and take advantage of regional resources."
Flores and Combette’s Quito-based firm, La Cabina de la Curiosidad, designs unconventional spaces in and around the city. Their projects prioritize reused materials, such as shipping containers, as well as locally sourced mediums.
"There is an ancestral intelligence in knowing how to occupy the materials from our territory, such as fibers, cottons, wood, or recyclables," Combette says. She cites eucalyptus wood—which grows abundantly in Ecuador—as one traditional resource embraced by younger designers.
For Flores and Combette, a chapel turned brewery near a busy bus junction and traditional market encapsulates Quito’s lively scene. "Young people get together at Bandido Brewing, and a lot of similar places are popping up around the city," Flores says.
Illustration by Pamela Silva
The duo point to La Floresta, La Tola, and the historic center as "Quito neighborhoods with a lot of creative energy and strong Indigenous roots," calling out galleries such as +ARTE and No Lugar.
"There’s a healthy spirit of companionship between the local architects, designers, and other creatives," explains Flores, whose peers include Ecuadorian architects Aquiles Jarrin and Felipe Escudero, as well as firms like Diez+Muller.
"There’s a willingness to be part of a network that shares knowledge, generates debate, and sustains community based on cultural conservation," Combette says. "We can have our own contemporary design language that’s in dialogue with tradition."
"Quito is a city with a lot of constantly transforming energy, and many of the ideas that young design teams are generating are aimed toward seeking the common good."
—Marie Combette, La Cabina de la Curiosidad
Sally Table by Objekt1
Quito company Objekt1 produces straightforward furnishings. Despite their simplicity, they carry a strong sense of locality and Ecuadorian tradition, especially in their form and color. The Sally table is produced using a single sheet of metal and comes in several vibrant hues.
Photo by Jamie Chung, courtesy of Objekt1
See the full story on Dwell.com: Here Are the World’s Most Exciting Design Destinations—and Why You Have to Visit
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