La Spezia City of Design
La Spezia, which has always been known as the “City of the Gulf of Poets,” has distinguished itself throughout its history as a crossroads for intellectuals and men of letters. The waters of its gulf have played a key role in shaping the city's identity, becoming a meeting point of cultures and a fertile place for ideas, creativity, and innovation.
La Spezia's connection to design is rooted in a tradition intertwined with the art of shipwrights and the activities of the Naval Base, as well as the furniture and interior design industry. This history has transformed the city into a globally significant district in the field of nautical design. It is now a design, manufacturing, training and research hub specializing in nautical, blue and sustainable design.
La Spezia is also a vibrant cultural centre, a city that cherishes its extraordinary architectural and artistic heritage, from historic squares to buildings that tell stories of past and future. Its cultural facilities, theatres, auditoriums and museums are spaces for meeting and reflection, where art merges with creativity.
IL MIGLIO BLU – LA SPEZIA NAUTICAL DISTRICT
Il Miglio Blu (the Blue Mile) is a project promoted by the City of La Spezia to support the development of boating and nautical design by creating a network of world-leading companies in the sector, blue economy businesses, professionals as well as training and research centres in the area.
LA SPEZIA AND DESIGN
Creativity and design are distinctive features of La Spezia, the essence of its identity and driving forces behind its rebirth. They have played a fundamental role in the city's transformation, and guide its sustainable development process.
Today, creativity and design are expressed through products of excellence in the nautical and interior design sectors. La Spezia is home to the world's leading brands for yacht & superyacht design and production, international design studios, showrooms, and specialised Refit & Repair centres.
La Spezia is an international centre for the underwater, a cradle of innovations and creations that have marked the history of the sector. It hosts the National Underwater Dimension Centre, a major reference point on the world scene.
Over the years, La Spezia has given birth to and welcomed many internationally renowned designers, and today it's attracting more and more creative people, designers and professionals from all over the world, fostering a continuous cultural and creative exchange.
The city is an educational centre of excellence specialising in nautical design, with a complete and varied educational offer covering all levels of education, extending to specialised and continuous training courses.
Moreover, it boasts the distinction of being the only European city to offer a complete educational programme in nautical design: from the high school Diploma to the Master's Degree.
The coexistence of research centres, University and corporate R&D departments as well as the synergies they create make La Spezia an international research hub for the blue economy, with a specialisation in blue design and sustainable nautical design.
Numerous events, exhibitions and festivals targeting professionals and the general public take place annually in the city, contributing to the dissemination of creativity and design, and to raising awareness of sustainability issues.
Design in La Spezia is not only innovation, but also inclusion, thanks to the numerous organisations and associations that make design a tool for integration, and to the businesses that make the most of creative talent to design innovative products that improve the quality of life of disabled people.