What is Spanish design?
While many of us have an idea of what is the Scandinavian look, or what elements go into French country design, few are able to describe exactly what is Spanish design.
There are many design blogs devoted to Scandinavian or French design, and countless ones focused on travel, food and lifestyle in Spain, but I have found very few English-language blogs focused on interior design in Spain.
Spain for Design covers interior design, artisan traditions and lifestyle in Spain with the aim of making them accessible to a wider audience and begin a dialogue about a part of the world often overlooked in design circles.
2023 Made in Spain Holiday Gift Guide
Purposely pared back, this year’s holiday gift guide showcases Spain’s rich and varied ceramic, textile, glassmaking, and woodworking artisanal traditions. Plaart Located in Madrid, Plaart studio makes unique handcrafted contemporary ceramics. Founder Isabel San Martín is a graduate in fine arts and received specialized training in ceramic arts from the School of Art Francisco Alcántara and the Moncloa School of…
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Andreína Raventós Architecture: connecting to nature in new ways
“The art of living with pureness is a central idea in my designs represented in different ways, sometimes working with organic lines, raw textures, balance of volumes or simply working with the light.” Andreína Raventós. Andreína Raventós of architecture and design studio Andreína Raventós Architecture has a keen understanding of how a restrained palette, texture, and space…
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MuDD Architects: Marrying Cutting-Edge Technology and Raw Materials
MuDD Architects is an architectural and interior design studio with offices in Paris and Barcelona. Co-founded by French architect and interior designer Stephanie Chaltiel in Singapore in 2012, she began her career in Mexico and French Guyana, after which she worked for Bernard Tschumi Architects in New York, OMA, and Zaha Hadid Architects. With projects internationally, the firm…
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5 Iconic Furniture Brands from Spain You Should Know: Expormim.
Since its founding in 1960, the Valencia-based family-owned Expormim has firmly committed to artisanship and tradition. Now in its third generation, artisans transmit their knowledge from generation to generation. Serving the residential and contract market, the company’s pieces are on the cutting edge of design. Collaborations with leading architects, furniture, and industrial designers, such as Oscar Tusquets…
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El Equipo Creativo Reimagines Barcelona’s Hotel Plaza as an Ode to the Montjuic Mountain
The Barcelona-based studio, El Equipo Creativo designed a new lobby, and bar and redesigned the Simultáneo restaurant in Hotel Plaza, located in Barcelona’s Plaza de España. The design brief was to create a gastronomic and cultural space for hotel and other guests. Located at the base of the majestic Montjuic Mountain, the city’s largest urban park,…
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Online Course on Spanish Domestic Silverware of the 16th and 17th Centuries
The Association of the Friends of the National Museum of Decorative Arts (La Asociación de Amigos del Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas) has organized a six-session online course, La Platería Doméstica Española de los Siglos XVI y XVII (Spanish Domestic Silverware of the 16th and 17th Centuries). Participants will learn about the characteristics of Spanish domestic…
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Casa Decor 2021: 7 Designs to Inspire Your Workspace at Home
The pandemic has pushed millions to work from home, which will likely continue well after it ends. For me, this has been one of the few positive aspects of it. There is no longer the need to rise and travel during dark morning hours of cold winter months, no transport costs, and the absence of…
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Profile: Mayice Studio: Illuminating Artisanal Traditions with Technology
I recently saw an interview with renowned French decorator Jacques García who, speaking about his maximalist design tendencies, surmised that minimalism is easy if one has nothing in one’s head, but difficult to achieve if it is full. Far from being the former, the minimalist designs of Madrid-based studio Mayice Studio is a complex interplay…
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Profile: Masquespacio: Singular Designs
In 2010, Ana Milena Hernández Palacios, originally from Columbia, and Belgian Christophe Penasse, who had backgrounds in interior design and marketing respectively, founded Masquespacio, a creative consultancy in interior and industrial design based in Valencia. They work exclusively in hospitality and commercial design and have completed projects in Spain, Norway, France, the USA, Portugal, and…
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Essential Books about Artisan Traditions, Design and Lifestyle in Spain
The links below may have affiliate links. Click here to read my affiliate policy. Please note this website is a participant in the Indigo Affiliate Program which allows it to earn commissions from Indigo if you make a purchase on indigo.ca after linking through this website. Artisans The books listed here provide an excellent overview of workshops…
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Café in Asturias, Spain Channels a Victorian Parlour
Coffees, cocktails, and cakes are specialties of Per Se Café located in the old town of Oviedo. The decor, with its earthy colour palette, patterned upholstery, and highly textural fixed elements, harks back to an old-world parlour. A curated selection of vintage and Victorian furniture pieces, posters, mirrors, and fairy lighting, mix with interior architectural elements, including…
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Asturias: Memories of a Natural Paradise
“Asturias, paraíso natural” (“Asturias, Natural Paradise”) is the official slogan of Turismo Asturias, the tourism office of the Principality of Asturias. Parts of this northern region of Spain are on the Northern Route of the Way of Saint James, popularly known as the Camino de Santiago. It has a breathtaking landscape, where the mountain and sea…
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