Reusing materials and building with sustainable criteria should no longer be news, but rather a practice incorporated into the day-to-day construction, from the conception of a project to its execution or the end of its useful life. And yet, that is not yet the case. That is why the new terrace that has been born in the garden of the Roca Barcelona Gallery space is good news. The firm has presented the Nutura installation designed by Benedetta Tagliabue – EMBT Architects for the Milan Salone del Mobile 2023, which was recovered after the end of the Italian exhibition and now arrives in the Catalan capital within the framework of the 18th edition of the Barcelona Design Week.
The architect has given a second life to her wooden pavilion and its sinuous forms now coexist with the technological glass prism created by architects Borja, Carlos and Lucía Ferrater (OAB-Office of Architecture in Barcelona).
Tagliabue explained in the presentation that "we must be aware of not throwing away materials that are usable and reusing them in a second life." Nutura is a space that is designed as a terrace and can be enjoyed inside and out. After its presentation in Milan, the architect has reinterpreted it to adapt it to the surface and scale of the new space. "It is a place of peace and rest, built with natural elements and that is being discovered little by little. The idea is to lead to a space that looks at the Mediterranean world, related to the architecture of Coderch," she says.
The undulating walls are integrated into the existing bamboo garden of Roca Gallery and the lattices formed by the wooden slats create different levels of transparency that result in a play of light, shadows and textures, an overall feeling of well-being. The architect reveals that she found inspiration for her space in the very prosaic (and technically complex) ergonomic shapes that circulate water through the toilets.
Roca's new Nu and Tura bathroom collections, designed by award-winning Spanish designers Inma Bermúdez and Andreu Carulla, respectively, are reinterpreted with allegorical drawings engraved on the ceramic floor, in tones that recall the blue of the sea and the ocher of the sand. These ceramic pieces make up letters that we will not reveal and that seek the playful involvement of visitors. They have been produced by the renowned ceramist Toni Cumella helped by the robotic wisdom of the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC).
This terrace pavilion is expected to be open to the public for a year... "who knows if longer, it depends on how the material ages," explains Xavier Torras, Roca's Communication Director. "I invite all Barcelonans to calmly discover a work that we have tried to transmit peace and rest," shared Benedetta Tagliabue. Those who wish to make a free visit can request an appointment through the Roca Barcelona Gallery platforms.
In addition, you can take advantage of a visit to the terrace to discover the metaverse created by digital artists Julia Ippolito and Joe Mortell (with artistic direction by Isern Serra and Aasheen Mittal) that projects the gigantic screen inside the Carlos Ferrater OAB building and the exhibition on the creative process of Andreu Carulla, which is also a tribute to great Catalan architects of the 20th century such as Sert, Bonet or Coderch.
Oh and what can be read on the floor of this pavilion? The QR codes present on this unique terrace reveal all its secrets, you just have to bring your cell phone closer.
