Speak of Spain, and a thousand splintered kaleidoscopic images immediately come to mind. Like some of Gaudi’s perennial classics that fascinate, inspire and shock all at the same time, the appeal that Spain’s design scene brings to the world is multifaceted and unique in every dimension.

An Illustrious History

One of Spain’s enduring contributions to world architecture lies in the Modernism movement. And of all the stunning work to come out of Spain, perhaps the most internationally renowned would be those of Anton Gaudi, Spain’s leading Modernist. Apart from his vast repertoire of architectural masterpieces, his unique furniture designs have endured till today, resulting in an enduring influence on both the Spanish and international design scenes. The sheer timelessless and uniqueness of Gaudi’s creations conceptions-embracing spaces and structures, lavish use of exquisite architectural and decorative details to complete edifices, and furnishings that seem to interact with the entire structure remains unsurpassed today. Other great architects including Frank Lloyd Wright have developed their work on this tradition, adding elements of their own. Apart from Gaudi, Spain has also given the world the magnificent works of Domenech i Montaner, Puig I Cadafalch and Josep Maria Jujol, who were the maestros behind the beautifully intricate decorative artwork and designs that complemented architectural construction.

The tradition of design flourished in many objects and furnishings during the life span of Gaudi, even amidst a flurry of organic motifs and decorative details coupled with a scarcity of skilled craftsmanship during the period. Function together with form was wholly emphasized in many caprices which appeared decorative but actually corresponded to hidden objectives of purpose, structure and use. The Great Hall of the Barcelona School of Architecture, executed by Gaudi, continues to be one of the most distinctive spaces around today. His “Calvet chair” remains in production, but for furniture design legends look no further than Francesco de Paula Vidal, Joan Busquets, Gaspar Homar and of course Santiago Marco, who enabled Spain to be represented by a delegation at the International Exposition of Decorative Arts held in Paris in 1925.

Creative Hub

The Barcelona Center for Design (BCD), established in 1974, called a huge inflatable tent located on the Avinguda Diagonal headquarters, and it also served as a center for numerous exhibits, talks and short courses. Its stated aim was “to promote, and provide information on, the status and problems of industrial design and technological innovation.” Its initiatives are determined by three guiding factors – in the words of journalist Marius Caol, who did an extensive study on the BCD’s history, “First…the challenge of competition in the international market, to which the progressive liberalization of foreign trade had exposed local industry. Then, considering the limited investment…in scientific reseach, design offered greater prospects of immediate developed countries, its products were highly competitive, thanks to imagination…in the field of industrial design.”

Design Boom

The “Barcelona Design Boom” in the 1980s heralded an important revival in the Spanish scene, with significant events occurring every year which were well-publicized by both local and global media. “Everywhere a new generation of street benches, lamps, fountains, ponds, information points, bus stops, bollards, bins and kiosks encouraged people to get out there and walk, sit, drink and talk,” wrote Viviana Narotzky, Course Tutor on the RCA’s Hsitory of Design NA in her essay “The Footnote, The Chair and The City. “And the built environment, in its progressive transformation, pulled along with it the people who lived there. During the 80s, she noted, “design floated over the city as a mystical incantation exhaled by Barcelona’s cultural breath…leaving its unmistakeable trace as much in the furnishings as in the conversations.”

When the boom of the early ‘80s finally subsided, it gave rise to a period of steady growth and integration of design into the Spanish society in the latter half of the 1990s. New efforts arose in making change and consolidation within the design scene. Business enterprises, starting to realise the value of design, reviewed their strategies for growth; designers restructured professional studies in their area and began to form group practices, institutions snapped up positions and design started getting “sold”. Norberto Chaves and Oriol Pibernat was started up within the Berenguer Group, and provided advisory services to bridge the problematic relationship between designers, enterprises and institutions.

Demand for Spanish designers surged with businesses worldwide, and Spanish design exhibits were displayed abroad globally. Magazines were started dedicating entire issues to the burgeoning design scene. Outstanding designers that emerged duing this period included Josep Llusca, Jaume Tressera, Pete Sans, Josep Maria Trias and Alfredo Arribas. Arribas, in particular, was responsible for the unusual character of many bars in Barcelona, for which he designed striking interiors and equipment. The 1990s was also notable for being the period in which several high-profile events were held in Spain, including the World's Fair in Seville, the Olympic Games in Barcelona and Madrid being designated the Cultural Capital of Europe in 1992.

A Legacy in Architecture

The massive influx of money from EU funding, tourism and a burgeoning economy strengthened and stabilised Spain's economic base, providing favorable conditions for the flourishing of Spanish architecture. A new breed of architects emerged from this period, amongst whom were Enric Miralles, Carme Pinos and architect/ engineer Santiago Calatrava. In recognition of Barcelona's patronage of architecture, the Royal Institute of British Architects awarded the prestigious Royal Gold Medal to Barcelona in 1999, the first time in its history the award was made to a city. Bilbao also came into its own, attracting the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation to construct a new gallery which opened in 1997. Designed by Frank Gehry in a deconstructivist manner, the revolutionary Guggenheim Museum Bilbao singlehandedly raised Bilbao's profile on the world stage.

The German pavilion, which was designed by Mies van de Rohe, was dismantled and then reconstructed again in 1986 by Cristian Cirici, Ignasi de Sola Morales, and Fernando Ramos. Perhaps the most distinctive complement of the pavilion would be the chair that Mies van der Rohe designed for the occasion. The “Barcelona chair” was unveiled to international acclaim after it was commercially manufactured in the United States by Knoll. Despite its apparent simplicity in the distinctive “X” design, the chair is remarkably complex in structure, with pieces having to be meticulously cut, glued and polished by hand, never machine. Production is time-consuming and costly, in contradiction to Mies’ own design principles but he had never intended for the piece to be mass produced. However, this particular Barcelona chair remains as a testament to his legacy, making its indelible mark in the furniture design Hall of Fame.

Fashion Revolution

Spanish fashion has taken the entire world by storm, being inhabited by some of the most attractive and stylish people who are fashion-savvy, and carry themselves with poise and élan. As a result, several leading fashion designers have made Spain their base. Some of the leading Spanish fashion designers include Amaya Arzuaga, Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, Fernando Sanchez, Cristobal Balenciaga, Paco Rabanne, Custo Dalmau, Mariano Fortuny, Elena Benarroch and Manolo Blahnik, among others.

What’s interesting to note, however, is that the Spanish Health Ministry has mandated that all Spanish clotheswear brands ranging from familiar names like Zara, Mango, Inditex, Cortefiel and El Corte Ingles maintain uniformity when it comes to defining women’s clothing sizes. This came about after furore over widely varying size resulting in a rise in extreme depression in figure-conscious women, crash dieting which lead to health disorders like anorexia and bulimia, prompted health officials to undertake this radical measure.

In 2006, the international fashion scene received a long-needed jolt from Spain’s top fashion show, the Fashion Week held in Madrid. The event organizers, known as the Pasarela Cibeles, turned away a slew of models on grounds that they are too skinny, which was unprecedented in an industry where body image was all-important and criticized for encouraging eating disorders among young people, especially women.

A mathematical formula was used to calculate the models’ body mass index, and 30 percent of the women were deemed too skinny and unsuitable for the shows as the Association of Fashion Designers of Spain wanted to project “an image of beauty and health”. This was partly a reaction to the previous year’s show, which drew protests from medical associations and women’s advocacy groups because some of the models were positively bone-thin. This time round, the Madrid regional government decided to intervene and pressure organizers to hire fuller-figured women as role models for young girls obsessed with body figure and are prone to eating disorders.


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TRAVEL ALBUM: DESIGN COUNTRY publishes the essential photography subjects of a city. As they say, architecture landmarks denote the progressing development of a city. Design in each and every city speaks in different languages and dances to different cultures. A lot of cities are growing in the design realm but no one would know about this development but the travelers and the locals themselves. Only. The exciting quirks and electrifying eccentricity of Everyday Product, Design Schools, Designers, Resources, Hotels/Buildings, Design Studios/Personalities, Local Galleries, Museums, etc, are found in both secret and obvious places of the city.

We miss out on these simple things during travel or simply during our busy lifestyle in our own city. So the next time you travel, think of TRAVEL ALBUM: DESIGN COUNTRY.

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