The international project can be seen in the main LLADRÓ boutiques in Las Vegas, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Macau, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, India, Russia, Poland, Ukraine and the UK. The proposal, developed in a workshop as part of a design course at ELISAVA, will be on display in Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia in Spain.

The windows of the international boutiques of the company LLADRÓ in the US, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, India, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, UK, and Spain will display the design devised by two students, Aurora Soriano and Ilaria Visca, resulting from a workshop run for this company as part of the Trends subject in the 4th year of the design degree course at ELISAVA, tutored by the school’s architect and lecturer, Pere Ortega.

In the shop window area, this year young creators at ELISAVA have collaborated with LLADRÓ to produce the visual communication of the first 2011 display. The project chosen together with ELISAVA for the design of the first window displays of the 2011 season synthesizes LLADRÓ’s philosophy, combining beauty and functionality via simple shapes, in response to the aesthetic and ethical requirements society and business now demand. The delicate and translucent texture of their porcelains is simplified in silhouettes which recall the company’s figurines, which, in turn, enhance the items on display.

The modular structure of the silhouettes has a single basis: cardboard, an everyday, accessible ecological material, fashioned with state-of-the-art technology. Cardboard, which conveys warmth to the porcelains on display, is a simple means of providing two modular options, which afford different views of the works, and also adapt functionally to the structure of the windows in various boutiques. Both prototypes have three large pieces, five small pieces and two bases.

The project reflects the interaction potential between universities and companies to develop real projects, which promote students’ learning and work experience, and which give companies the possibility of obtaining specific responses to their requirements within the dynamic, innovative and creative context of a university setting. The workshop format is a methodology ELISAVA has used for 50 years, and which aims to bring the business and academic worlds together from a professional perspective in which both parties obtain great benefits.

Founded in 1953, LLADRÓ is a firm of artistic creation and artisan production, whose main activity is the conception and manufacture of high-quality porcelain figurines. Jaime Hayon, the artistic adviser of the Valencian porcelain company, Bodo Sperlein, the creative team Committee and CuldeSac are some of the names who have produced collections for LLADRÓ.

ELISAVA School of Design and Engineering of Barcelona is a pioneer in design studies in Spain, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2011.