Two Rosalías

Architecture and interior design for a loft in the industrial area of Poble Nou, Barcelona

In June 2018, I completed a Masters in Interior Design at the Spanish school ELISLAVA in Barcelona. This “Dos Rosalias” project served as the final project of the first part of the course after a painstaking but extraordinarily worthwhile four months, where I was fortunate to work alongside two incredible designers who I now call friends: Mexican industrial designer Cecilia Vargas; and Bolivian architect Ximena Aguirre – go check out their work!

We worked collaboratively throughout the entire project, specially in the initial stages which covered research, concept and space distribution. However we each then took greater responsibility for specific areas of the project: Cecilia was responsible for custom furniture, industrial design and all aspects of the 3D work; Ximena took responsibility for all architectural elements, including the precise definition of every plan and elevation; my involvement focused then to the interior styling and the selection of textiles and furniture, as well as the concept, storytelling and graphic design aspects, including the design and construction of the final executive report. You can find the full document (in Spanish) below:

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Introduction

THE AREA

We’re in El Poblenou, a neighborhood that was once the largest industrial area in Catalonia, annexed to the city of Barcelona at the end of the 19th century. In recent years it has undergone a great reconversion largely thanks to the creation of 22 @, Barcelona’s tech district

THE BUILDING

An industrial warehouse located between number 84 of Ávila street and the Iglesias passage. It has a single floor of about 195m2 and a gabled micro-cement roof over a structure formed by four wooden trusses

THE CLIENT

One of the current artists of greater international relevance, Rosalía lives with her current partner, with whom she plans to adopt two children. Open to new design proposals, they want "a home without conventions, suggestive, functional", where they can feel “like within a forest”

THE PROGRAM

Concept

There were many things that caught our attention when entering the world of "La Rosalía", starting with the importance of her origins marked by the industrial character of her native Sant Esteve de Sesrovires and its lush vegetation. Also, the big presence of family in her life, reflected by her mother, sister, manager and stylist. We particularly loved her own vision of the spiritual, in which she"understood as that which transcends you, with an emotion”. Although it was difficult to find specific times where she has talked about her home, she is clear as to the fundamental spaces in her life: “the studio and the stage”.

Our research process was specially marked by what the discovery of flamenco meant for her:

“It's July 2006, and the five doors of a tuned Seat Ibiza swing open. A display of subwoofers redoubles the bass to a pounding tune. Cocky, the young man next door blasts a trap theme through the golden speakers of his Peugeot 206 with a white leather steering wheel. The routine happens again and again, and the Canals i Nubiola park in a town near Barcelona turns into a ritual of fluorine splashes and thunderous noise. But in the last car, a 13-year-old Rosalia is bewitched by another sound: it's Camarón de la Isla, the famous flamenco singer. Something explodes in her brain. "I have never heard such a visceral and animal voice. It was the purest expression I had ever heard”

— Mario Ximénez for VOGUE Spain, September 2018

We gradually began to understand that there is a clear coexistence of “two Rosalías”: the public Rosalía is extravagant, striking and ground-breaking, showing up to the Latin Grammys with a gold tooth; the private Rosalía, however, is close, familiar and natural, someone who up close seems to be just a simple 26-year-old girl from the outskirts of Barcelona. This is not a sign of inconsistency or hypocrisy, merely different facets of a rich and complex woman whose versatility is reflected in her music, where she is able to move entire football stadiums with “Con Altura” and then get thousands of people to stay quiet to sing “Catalina” a cappella.

That powerful duality, combined with the characteristics and essential materials of the physical space we were working on, inspired our concept:

Two Rosalías

A building within a building. Two entrances, two floors, two areas.

A versatile, modern and unexpected space, respecting the industrial origin of the environment

A series of volumes that grow amid lush vegetation

A serene place that awakens emotions as soon as you walk through the door, with a sculptural touch

A public area with double heights to enjoy with friends, throw parties ...

A private area, more collected, where to spend more intimate and family moments

Both connected by a studio where you can compose, record and even offer small concerts

Distribution

When we began to apply our concept and references to the floor plan, the first thing that caught our attention was the façade that faces the Passatge de Iglesias, which cuts the space at a marked angle. From there an exploration arose on what happened when we brought that angled cut inside the building.

There was a kind of inversion of the plane within the current structure, very much in line with our concept of duality, of opposing elements that coexist. It also allowed us to apply the premise of giving a leading role to vegetation, generating two separate gardens on each side.

To give even more weight to the vegetation and accentuate the duality of the public area (with access from the main street) and the private area (with a more discreet access from the passatge) we created a third garden in the middle of the space. However, the volume seemed to be asking for more breathing room, more light, more independence from the current enclosure.

This is how we arrived at the final proposal: a volume totally detached from the enclosure, surrounded on all sides by lush vegetation. A building within another, two entrances and two areas, one more public and the other more private, joined by a common space dedicated to music.