Laboral City of Culture // Reception Shop
The both ambitious and spectacular project undertaken by Barbosa Space Projects at the huge cultural complex of La Laboral, City of Culture, has been the development of the reception/shop, where visitors and users start and finish their visits. Not only the needs resulting from its use were considered, but also other determining conceptual factors finding a common concept for the entire cultural complex inside the walls of the great arquitectural work by Luis Moya. The element chosen as determining and key for the work has been the Knowledge, the challenge then was joining all activities and centres present in La Laboral, City of Culture, and providing them of a common sense. As result, an space which not only respond to functional needs but stands by itself as a unique space, worthy of paying a visit. Materials as stainless steel, corian and fiberglass assume the prominence in this space of spectacular dimensions, whose plasticity is increased by the wise use of graphs and chromatic contrasts.
Genesis
Stablishing the analogy that likens La Laboral to Culture and both to knowledge, we can find the conceptual and symbolic engine which first originated this space. LABORAL = CULTURE = KNOWLEDGE This knowledge is considered from the most evolutionary human’s perspective: humans who are born pure, bare, and are gradually adquiring information and experiences, arranging them and obtaining knowledge as the final result.
As in any activity of creative nature, a specif knowledge, the unexpressed, plays a role. A knowledge which cannot be measured and can be hardly explained on its execution. The development of the tour can be observed here, a travel whose origins are in the creator studio that manages this unexpressed knowledge giving it the form of an arhitectural device, if the simile is permitted here. This device allow us to get ready to the reception of new information and new experiences that afterwards will be translated into knowledge and intellectual wealthiness.
The formal allusions of the space are purely organicist based on evolutive concepts with clear references in appereance and meaning to the organ that manages thought: brain. The symbolic and functional element which dominates the reception alludes metaforically to an abstract entity which represents and stands for the pure individual, for the genesis of knowledge and life, a kind of incubator which prepares, arranges and clarifies the reception of the cultural experiences that the City of Culture offers to every visitor.
Some codes of culture that each visitor must decode and assimilate by himself for his own benefict and for that of the whole society. The mess up symbols of information don’t get sense until they are afterwards arranged and it’s then that cultural profitability happens all of a sudden. Therefore, the visitors centre arranges and articulates, generates and projects and in this case prepares and precedes the guest´s experience. It´s another organ within the system shaping this complex and complete cultural device of La Laboral, City of Culture.
Riscal Chill & Cocktail
RISCAL comes up from the intervention on a characteristic old business of Oviedo called Modas Baltueña, located on Cabo Noval Street. The intervention is carried out totally, only respecting the interesting wrought-iron work made by Lorenzana. Aware of the potential of this resource and its artistic value, Barbosa Space Projects does not only preserve it but offers a new view emphasizing the classicism of forms and its well-rounded volumes, contributing then to highlight the strict rationality of the rest of the site.
The sumptuary characteristics of the materials forming the cocktail lounge: leathers, Carrara marble, steel and the nearly thousand Swarovski crystals do not leave the slightest doubt: the space is ostentation of luxury and pleasure. It is a box destined to receive other even more precious values: exclusive customers and a refined service. Cocktails are elaborated by selecting the best products by the best professionals in the field. In short, a whole, a group which defines and arises why it has been created. A total and absolute sensory experience, incomparable and wrapped in quilted blanket, exclusive upholstery, contemporary materials and comfort-oriented solutions covered by a pristine light.
Begoña Beauty Salon
Cleanliness and tidiness in the distribution of spaces are fundamental elements for enjoying a beauty treatment in all its phases. Taking this premise into account, light and tidiness are prominent in a bright and clear space where volumes draw delicate parabolas, straight lines contrasting curve lines. The area of cabins gets strong personality by means of pastel colours and the use of stunning graphics, apart from the rational distribution only comparable to a clinic equipment. Furniture and its distribution stand for the same premises of clarity and tidiness, and contribute with slight chromatic touches, harmonious, futuristic and evocative.
Torre Laboral
The suggested intervention for the “Clock room” in the tower of La Laboral expects to fulfill some functional and aesthetic needs of a place receiving thousands of visitors every year which does not still have the right look neither for the setting nor for its own importance.
To beautify this place of passage keeping meanwhile its importance and integration into the whole, the suggested solution offers a low structural impact, respecting totally the original disribution and, not only renewing the room-walls including some incidental elements, but creating a cosy, atractive and warming atmosphere. The appereance of this room - originally created to house complex and expensive clockworks - will be enhanced . The quilted upholstery covers the room with a golden sunlight, where light plays the most important role as builder of pleasent feelings.
After some consideration, this has been the solution chosen by the studio based on the diverse concepts inspired by La Laboral reality. In line with both the Palace-style arquitecture present in the original complex and the new functions of La Laboral, a metaphore is stablished between the cultural richness and high standards of the activities there undertaken.
An important concept taken into account was its palace sumptuousness - common in the style neoherreriano although the author avoids neoclasicism – present in the building by Luis Moya and common in a period when clocks were a luxury and therefore got their own rooms inside palaces. It is not difficult to find some reference to the applied art of 18th C and graphic representations of solar rays, characteristic of the above mentioned rooms and on the other hand symbol of the sun, source of knowledge, sovereignty, culture and used along history to show the passing of time. It is therefore obvious the influence of the past on the creation of the solution here presented.
The upholstery of the walls comes from the formal sketch of a clock whose time phases have been elongated, stablishing a powerful simile with the king of stars and getting even cosmological values. It is easy to imagine the center of this cosmos dominated by the clockwork and a whole constellation of small elements arranged around those “rays” and inside a fabric grid which gives both warmth through its colours and life through its iridescent qualities.
All in all, this project tries to provide the room with a radiant beauty bearing in mind its practicality, respecting its structure and turning the visit into an unforgettable experience. Improving and developing its aesthetics by considering the past as well as the future. Our aim is an impact by means of a warm, unexpected and unforgettable enviroment where light is the main protagonist.
Asturian Home
Northern homes are different. The same as landscape or climate, home decoration in the Cantabrian coast possess its own characteristics. In this house in Asturias, the inside imagined by the Barbosa brothers is bursting with irony and bravery in a game that stands for the new baroque in the surroundings of Oviedo. At the death throes of minimalism, gold leaf and wallpaper are back, as well as the recreation of styles and tendencies and above all, irony. This new baroque is served with humour and no objections to the forms and ornamental uses of the past but differing from traditional baroque as it does not have vertigo to empty spaces. The interiors of this casona own an openness and fluency which turn space into protagonist. Its basic architecture reveals exquisite continuity and restraint of equipment and building materials and the re-use and re-interpretation of the original language by means of a wise and calculated use of first class materials and elements with strong functional and expressive load.
Tacchi. Web.
Tacchi shoes shop is a two-floor store where light and space have been treated particularly to emphasize the presence of the products and give them all necessary prominence. This way, the comercial activity is favoured by the clear and open view of every displayed product, as the whole space works as a rationall tidy shop window. The whole shop owns brightness and purity of lines based on the simply rationality and on the need of the functional elements do not standing over the products. Comunication with the outside is established as the content can be clearly seen, doing then without the traditional shop window in a rich dialogue with the passer-by. In this case, the same as in other projects of the studio, the decorative value is supplied by the evocative values of the materials themselves and their most inherent qualities as colour, texture and their own nature.
Ziving
The project of Ziving clinic in Leon represents a breaking concept from the conceptual point of view and a whole structural and formal revision of a classic dental clinic. The project was faced as a comprehensive design based on the spirit of Ziving franchises, where plant distribution was subordinated to functions and workflows common in a dental clinic.
The space has been provided with different and enriching connotations. On one hand a familiar tone was given to the clinic as being orthodontics one of its specialities, it demands numerous visits in a long-term period, favouring a close relation between clients and clinic.
On the other hand the space has obtained a playful sense; the waiting room has been designed specially for children, with play stations and internet areas.
Chest Art
Chest Art sofa is a revision of classic Chester sofa, upholstered now in gold and with Swarovski crystals, has a more sumptuous, playful and evocative sense, offering a new and revolutionary sense to this universal piece. Chest Art can be interpreted in several ways, but what adds value to its merit is that most of these possible interpretations differ much from the ones out of the classic and sober traditional piece.
Coco
Inspired in other times, it offers a renewed view rich in tones derived from its exquisite covering. Through its fancy aesthetics, it gets an unequivocal contemporary nature. The upholstery excels both because its tactile richness and the sometimes over dimensioned and simplified motifs.
Leonardo
Leonardo.Its tidy and well-rounded structure proposes the rationalization of shapes from a human point of view. There is a latent classicism in its treatment and the sobriety and elegance of its black and white covering turns into a visual game about to conquer the space, quoting perspective and optical laws. It represents (as could not be otherwise) the harmonious connection among rational elements within a classic furniture category.
Abdón & Lucas Stand
Barbosa studio was imprinted on the pavilions of the Furniture Fair of Valencia 2006. Specifically they designed the stand by Abdón & Lucas, one of the main manufacturers of upholstered furniture in Spain, and a firm the studio has collaborated with in the redesign of pieces. Under an eclectic tone where classic and modern is mixed, space atmosphere has been created by some photographs of classic Roman and Greek pieces made with permission from the National Arqueological Museum. These photographs have been treated graphically mixing them with contemporary graffiti traces. Altogether represents an elegant transgressor exercise which becomes the representation of the very first outline of a later style spread internationally. Messages as “The New Clasic” or “Culture” are repeated along this project, contributing to its intellectual richness.
The Losa's Train Platform.
The business is located in Asturian Princess Avenue, also known as “la Losa†because it was constructed over the city’s train station. In this occasion the Barbosa brothers design the space taking as reference a hypothetical train station full of magic and colour which evokes all emotional, cultural and demographic dimensions living in stations. The site is structured in two zones clearly defined; bar opposite to dining-room, both separated by some structures designed as train coaches called “busigongos†by the responsible of the project. Turned these into the central axis of the project, their application influenced the singular aesthetics of the inside from uncommon solutions. Getting on a psychedelic train to start a gastronomic trip as a privileged passenger is the fantastic trip that Barbosa studio has developed in “la Losaâ€, Oviedo. A site with a large number of people where “The imagination is a train leading you to surprising landscapesâ€
Gute Biere
The business is located in a popular shopping centre in Oviedo city. This location was a key aspect when defining the conceptual atmosphere of the site as both the installation design and the corporative image must put the pub on a par with competitors in the same shopping centre. The beer as element is the resource found all over the installation.
The innovative characteristic of this project is comprehensive, not only in the design aspects materialized in the development of the work but also carrying out a discontextualization exercise at interface level. The result is a new concept of a pub where new ludic forms of interaction and consumption are offered to customers.
Voga
Voga is an exclusive store in gijon which contributes to the fashion scene with the most trendy and exclusive shoes and accessories. It means, once again, an exercise of comprehensive design where elegance, luxury and imagination complement the nature of the products exhibited and everything is integrated into an atractive and tempting whole. The structural elements and furniture are rational and wisely distributed. This distribution is completely confident of the sobriety, elegance and luxury of black colour, underlined as usual by that light and reflections of jewels, common for the projects of this kind and whose only intention is to establish a dialogue with the exhibited products, enriching them and reinforcing the comercial intention.
Tacchi Piu
Is presented as a contemporary space with space-age influences of the sixties. This was sought merger of floors and ceilings using a metallic fuselage was overlaid with plates of stainless steel silver sanding effect.
The result conveys a special glow to the whole and stressed above all the product on display. The local rectangular maximizes its width thanks to the organization of the exhibition area and a corresponding illumination.
Gender is integrated into the exposed side walls in a few holes in a polycarbonate built in pale pink finish and all bathed in a fluorescent light that softens it.
Fairground Grado
The emblematic nature of the market of Grado has been taken into account when facing this project. Its original function has been respected and an attempt has been made trying to go further through new senses and uses of the building. The aim of this approach is making the building to go beyond the generic field and become a versatile place, an ideal place for the celebration of several different events, including recreational activities. The original structure has been respected, coating in white blue and black the vertical ornaments and cover. The two first colours refer to the council flag and the third one to the insect called “mosconâ€, the name given to the people from the village. The oval shaped graphics developed all along the complex make direct allusion to the graphic of the fairground logo and to its original processes. It refers to the possibility of overlapping new concepts of life to the new reality and the new uses of the fairground. It also contributes as a strong identity element for the village and involves a dialogue with the user and the citizen aimed to underline and improve the residential sense of the surroundings. New surroundings that lead to a higher use and enjoyment of this architecture with the resulting social benefits. It also promotes the corporative image of the village and of the fairground itself as it goes beyond the own limits of the building.
The Flower Sculpture of Grado
The sculpture proposed by Barbosa Space Projects for the square General Ponte pays homage to shopkeepers and people of Grado by supporting and emphasizing their activity and becomes an urban landmark in the Villa as it improves the residential use of the site by means of a recognizable and exportable image. Developing the piece in such an emblematic site, being the square the urban and cultural epicentre of the Villa, the aim is not only to introduce an ornamental element with a clear and representative function, but to become the iconic reference of the council. The work magnifies and underlines the monumental nature of the square in an exercise of comprehensive design full of symbolic images about the “moscón†village and its economic and financial future possibilities. A symbol which collects and gathers all inhabitants and visitors of la Villa, making possible the cultural identity element.
Cocoon
Cocoon represents a cosmic explosion opposite to uniformity of big fashion chains in our cities. The studio banks on social effervescence aspiring to get to the beyond. The performance has been carried out in a historic building from early 20thC. Entrance to the store is under a three stone portico which attracts the passers-by attention through the enigmatic and mysterious internal atmosphere coming from the stairs. A huge mirror designed by the studio strengths the predominant dramatic and evocative sense while the place looks deeper. Over the stairs leading to the upper-floor, our attention is caught by a bunch of balloons hanging from the ceiling as kind of cosmic pieces. Delimited by a stainless steel bar with organic forms, the lounge is furnished with stools alike. Its futuristic look evokes the feeling of getting into transporting capsules able to get further through imagination and through the fashion propositions the store offers.
El quinto de la tarde. Web
In el Quinto de la tarde, Barbosa studio creates a neutral space which does not stand for or against bullfighting. A comfortable place for those who do not precisely love bullfighting. At the same time it is an extremely intense space where it is made the most of all cultural and aesthetical strengths of the tradition. In a nutshell, a contemporary reinterpretation that make possible to travel across time and space, evoking new feelings. The chosen premises were an old sidreria, a cider pub, in the old quarter of Oviedo city, which after remodelling presents three zones clearly defined: the clear entrance, the bar area and the dining room. Everything decorated with graphic murals that offer a documentary kind of tour along the different stages of the bullfighting fiesta.