Collection by Amanda Dameron
Barcelona, Day One
When the plane's wheels touched ground this morning at 7am, it was still dark in Barcelona. We, a motley crew of design-website editors, had just spent a long eight hours flying over the Atlantic with—horrors!—no wifi. Even though the sun was just rising as we sped away from the airport, we resisted the siren song of hotel beds and Internet clicking, and immediately embarked upon a rousing tour of Catalan architecture, art and design.
The exhibition was arranged in chronological order, with whole rooms dedicated to certain decades. An orange timeline ran the length of the show. Our group was lucky to be guided by Viviana Narotsky, president of the Industrial Design Assotiation-Promotion of Arts and Design (ADI-FAD) and co-curator of the show.
After lunch we marched a scant few steps to the residence of architect Benedetta Tagliabue, who along with her husband coaxed the building—which dates back hundreds of years—from a state of ruin into a magnificent and singular home. Her parrot serves as noisy watchman, surveying the entrance to the house. I caught this shot when he was in mid-lunge (I really thought he was going to peck my eyes out).
The very welcoming Benedetta Tagliabue, inside her double-height living room. The space is filled with books, objet d'arte, colorful and comfortable furniture, silk Fortuny lamps, and really, all manner of wonderful things. I hope to feature her residence in some length at a later date, so I'll only be including a few shots of her home.
After parting ways with Benedetta, we ventured into Barcelona's Gothic quarter to look for some wholesale fabrics and other finds. Along the way we passed this building, which had a delightful engraved-concrete facade that reminded me of this story. I didn't get a chance to find out any details on the building, but I plan to get more information tomorrow. Once I know more, I'll update this caption.
Next we headed to Fundación Alorda Derksen, an impressive and compact gallery dedicated to 21st century art. Owned by Manuel Alorda and his wife, Hanneke Derksen, the gallery is just above the family's outdoor furniture showroom, Kettal and is open to the public three days a week. Shown here is Damien Hirst's 2007 work, Oxiolinic Acid.
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