Spaces To Grow & Play

The necessity of our house was born out of desperation: to escape the loud, hot and vivid city center of Barcelona and the real estate speculation, in search of serenity, calm, fresh air and nature. Our house is close enough to the city to commute every day, but far enough to escape the madding crowd on the weekend.

It is a three level construction embedded in the hillside, which creates natural terraces and direct access to the ground in every space – a fluid border between the outside and inside worlds. The mild Barcelona climate allows for use of the space throughout the seasons, even when winter’s chill cools less fortunate parts of the world. With the ongoing change of seasons, sunlight and tree shadows continuously pouring through the big windows into the space, the house itself feel like it is breathing –a living organism.

I read once a book in which the author described Picasso’s Villa Californie as a place with a holiday feeling — a place where you always have a long summer in front of you with plenty of time, where you live barefoot, where you are sun-warmed and saltwaterbathed.

In this sunbaked reverie, there is wonder and exploration; nature and friends are an invitation to play. Every environment is like a blank sheet to draw on. That is the fantasy of the house we wanted, and that is what we got.

As a designer, I am fascinated about the subtlety of differences within a same family of objects and the diversity of expressions, sometimes seen through very small gestures. I simply can’t resist to look at the diversity around me: spoons, bowls, seeds, pebbles, strange wood objects, masks, birds, plants all hold me captive with interest. Just as our son is exploring his new world of starships, words, volcanoes and the forest behind the house. These small worlds that open our sense of wonder — and mirror the richness of the big world just beyond.

A Designer's Home

Barcelona, Spain

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