Elisava, 65 years designing the future
At Elisava we celebrate 65 years of history, knowledge, and transformation. A path built from creativity, design, engineering, and innovation, which looks to the past to recognize the legacy, but mainly to project towards the future.
Founded in 1961, Elisava is recognized as the first school of design in Spain. For more than six decades, the school has turned into a meeting point between creativity, research, technology, and industry, training thousands of professionals that nowadays hold key positions in creative, cultural, and productive sectors around the world.
This commemoration is a declaration of intentions: celebrating what we are today and what we want to become as a university.
The 65th anniversary is a transversal project that involves all the Elisava community and all its areas:
- Bachelors, Masters, and Postgraduates (Open Day, Grad Show, talks…)
- Elisava Madrid (several actions as part of the Madrid Design Festival)
- Elisava Business & Entrepreneurship
- Elisava Research (celebration of the 40th anniversary of ‘Temes de Disseny’)
- Elisava Alumni
- AHA Radio
- Elisava Igualtat (‘8 de…’ a series of conversations that will take place between two women, each 8th of each month, except for 8 March, to give them a voice all year round)
The celebration will be constructed collaboratively, activating diverse views and connecting disciplines, generations, and perspectives.
During all of 2026—from January to December—a set of actions, events, devices, and communications will happen to celebrate the ephemeris. A continuum of actions that will keep alive the conversation and bond throughout the year.
Each action will have its own graphic identification, conceived as a series of numbered lithographs (1/65, 45/65…), that construct a collective visual archive of the anniversary.
The anniversary is articulated through a diverse and dynamic programme:
- 10 projects
- 10 people
- 10 moments
- 10 activities
- 10 events
- 5 talks
- 5 collaborations
- 2 exhibitions
- 1 dinner
- 1 open day
- 1 market
Actions that connect past, present, and future, and that highlight Elisava’s talent, ideas, and impact. In the coming weeks, we will reveal the details of each of these actions.
The Elisava community plays a leading role before, during, and after the celebration. Students, Elisava alumni, faculty, researchers, and collaborators actively participate in constructing the narrative of the 65th anniversary, making this commemoration a lively, open, and shared process.
Specifically, they will be able to enjoy a special collectible graphic edition to mark the 65th anniversary, which will be distributed throughout the year in different spaces of Elisava. This publication will bring together, as a compilation and summary, all the activities planned for 2026, as well as the most important milestones that have marked the history of the school.