7 reading minutes
Barcelona. A 172,5-meter tower. A phrase in the sky.
“Love first, then technique.”
Synchronized, hundreds of drones projected letters, and the letters, a message. A message that expresses the inner world of the great architect, Antoni Gaudí. A message that became stone, light, life, in the Sagrada Familia.
“Love first, then technique.”
What makes a communication campaign, a marketing activation, or a design project valuable? What gives value to the work of marketers, designers, and communicators? In the age of AI, what is their most genuine contribution?
Echocardiogram
The city runs along the horizontal line of Barcelona. It runs continuously toward the horizon. Suddenly, as if in an echocardiogram, the Basilica bursts onto the vertical axis, making the heart skip a beat, as if giving life. It moves, disturbs the static line of daily life to open it to the transcendent, to heaven. And to that other Heaven. Its tallest tower cuts through the air until it reaches timelessness, eternity. Permanence.
Looking at the Holy Family, Professor once wrote Tristan Rodriguez Loredo, amazed by the building: “The works born of a person’s talent and passion endure over time precisely because they carry within themselves the yearning for transcendence: not only of the closest circle, but also in time and space with other people so that they can be moved again by what the author poured there.”
The author and the work. The work and the author.
In the teacher's words Damian Fernandez Pedemonte, the communicator “qHe is implicated in his work"This does not happen when you completely delegate your research, writing, or design tasks to AI."
We could say that what is essential, what touches the innermost part of the other, is not technique; it is, perhaps, a heart that moves—shares its pulse—so that another may... with Move... and live.
Beep… Beep… Beep…
“Like the artist, the communicator produces something that is beautiful, good, and true to the extent that it reflects the personal search for inner enrichment,” the Doctor of Letters will say.
One gives. Another receives.
And it is precisely —Tristan comments— the recognition of the feat of another that dazzles: “Admiration in these cases can also go beyond the understanding of a scientific feat to generally surrender to virtues that are as human as they are moving.”
We, the passersby of all centuries, stop, raise our heads and see with squinted eyes that infinity that opens up in the routine, that horizontal axis that is cut with the blade of beauty to make way for the vertical axis.
The Time of Beauty
Gaudí, with his masterful command of technique, integrated organic forms, nature, and light into a structure that is now considered the tallest church in the world. A true beauty.
Similarly, the question of the purpose of a communicator, a designer, a marketer emerges between the lines. Is it their ability to attract with beauty, a beauty that transcends and leads to profound questions?
Zoom in.
Professor Manuel De Elia explains the status questionis Philosophical of our time: “One generation ago we were driven by Truth. Half a generation later, by Good. Now is the time for Beauty.
And a double click.
"Truth without Beauty (does not exist) would be blind. Goodness without Beauty (does not exist) would be paralyzed. With it, Truth and Goodness invite us to dance together, knowing where it leads us."
First love, then AI
Times of AI. Word authorship, blurred. Time for learning.
Quoting the professor Carlos Álvarez Teijeiro“Love comes first, then AI, because, as the Elven king reveals to Frodo in The Lord of the Rings regarding the secret of making his cloaks full of so many magical properties, 'in everything we do we put the love of all that we love', in EVERYTHING, communication, design or marketing. And that is magic.”
Perhaps it's time to find a way to express one's inner self; to leave one's own mark, to transform work into art. Art for others, that fills it with meaning.
Because the risk of completely entrusting the choice of our words and silences to an algorithm is just a few clicks away. We would express our loves a little less, that inner self that seeks to emerge and connect with others (a nod to the contemporary Uruguayan singer Jorge Drexler: “Is there anyone AI?”) if we were to suppress our own thoughts that come out in the form of language.
Our genuine contribution
Perhaps it's time to find our professional purpose, the quid irreplaceable that transcends technique.
The technique? First, let's define it. In the words of the professor and Dr. Gabriela Fabbro“It’s a set of tools, methods, or skills necessary to perform a task well, but it’s not enough on its own.” And he continues: “There will always be someone else who knows how to handle it better than you. But only we will know which technique to ask for.” to tell our stories in the best way possible".
Love then appears as a humanizing factor in professional practice. “Love provides the motivation, ethical guidance, and sensitivity necessary so that technical knowledge is not reduced to mere mechanical execution.” It is not only the the packagingbut the genesis, the starting point.
Love and technique. Technique and love. A bond that Dr. Fabbro summarizes as follows: “Love does not replace technique, but precedes it, grounds it, and gives it a truly human purpose.”
A heart that stirs. Another that is moved.
Our mission
A human and professional way of thinking —applied knowledge— of the human being is not improvised, it is not obtained in kiosks or on Mercado Libre.
The Faculty is the ideal environment for professionals to learn to develop technical skills to bring ideas to fruition, yes.
But even more importantly, it is the ideal time to awaken, to become capable of moving oneself to move others. To change the course of life… and of society.
Like Gaudí did 100 years ago.
