Growing older, standing taller – and building trust one quality idea at a time
I am going to do my best to pick up where Andrew left off yesterday and bring you the key highlights from the past days at our Quality of Life Conference (QOL) in Barcelona. As he had to file at midday on Friday, much has happened since. I’m picking up the thread from a sprawling terrace in the Four Seasons Resort Mallorca at Formentor very late on Saturday afternoon. Here goes.
1.
We ain’t getting any younger
It’s always interesting to see how themes emerge off script, how thought streams that were not part of the overall plan for the conference take shape. After the session on walking sticks, there was an afternoon talk on longevity, a short update on The Embassies project in Hamburg (a new concept that blends community with good design and architecture for those in their silver years) and countless conversations offstage about the needs and opportunities to cater to the ageing segment of society. While this has certainly been a topic at other conferences, there seemed to be a greater sense of urgency around developing better quality housing, care concepts and products for those north of 70.
2.
Sharp staff
If you’re running a hospitality business and need a smarter looking crew both front and back of house, the duo behind Barcelona-based Bastida for Work will ensure there’s no confusion between who’s a guest and who’s a duty manager at your hotel. Just as the Catalans are doing amazing things in the kitchen, they’re also coming up with functional yet modern tailoring to ensure that businesses can express their brands far beyond good cuisine, graphics and interiors.
3.
Cape Town, here we come?
Maybe! The mayor of Cape Town did a very persuasive job of making a case for his city as a place to invest – a sure way to bolster visitor numbers. He wasn’t having any of that overtourism guff as South Africa’s “Mother City” gets about as many visitors in a year as Barcelona hosts in a busy month. As for the next city to host our QOL Conference, let’s see if 2026 is the year when we not only venture outside Europe but even jump south of the equator.
4.
Not a dry eye in the house
You might have caught our recent feature on the Catalan tradition of castells (human towers). To call the participating groups “clubs” undersells the spirit of trust, athleticism, bravery and tradition that goes into the choreography required to get 80 people to anchor themselves and erect a human structure 20 metres off the ground. To conclude our conference we welcomed a troupe into the theatre to build not one but two towers. As they set about rising from the floor, scaling atop one another, something powerful happened: 200 people witnessed what trust across multiple generations looks like as a five-year-old raced to the top (no nets or wires) to unfurl a banner. The crowd was moved to tears.
5.
Keep it cramped
After ten editions of these conferences we know how to do an afterparty – travel with a deejay (our very own Herr Pitsch), keep the dance floor compact and ensure that there’s an adjacent smoking lounge to keep everyone reasonably tight-knit.
Part two is now about to get under way and I’m heading off from these fine digs to meet up with Monocle’s Patrons, who are doing a two-day tour with Andrew at the helm. I’m sure that he’ll have much to report shortly.
