Madrid is a long way from the sea, which is partly what makes new bathhouse Riela’s founding image so persuasive. Its name comes from the old Spanish rielar: the shimmer of moonlight on water; light broken across a surface, something seen indirectly.

Riela Bathhouse, Madrid

Designed by Barcelona-based architecture firm Oficina Satélite, Riela takes that idea and brings it into the city. Inspired by Roman thermae, Japanese onsen and Russian banya, the space has been conceived as a modern setting for an old ritual: a 75-minute, self-guided circuit through heat, steam, water and cold. Guests move between a Finnish sauna, a hammam, a mineral hot pool, cold plunges, and a heated granite stone.

The venue avoids the usual language of urban wellness, with its beige softness and scented neutrality. Instead, Riela feels darker, more mineral and cinematic. Backlit glass bricks cast a greenish glow through the corridors, giving the rooms the quality of something submerged. Rough walls hold the light rather than reflect it. Granite from Madrid quarries gives the pools and benches a certain local weight, while wood is reserved for the sauna, where it brings warmth and recovery.

Oficina Satélite sought to achieve the sensation of stepping out of water on a summer day in Menorca, when the body is slowed and the skin is alert, soaking in light from several directions at once. That idea is visible through Riela's glass-block corridors glowing like diluted moonlight; pools sunk into rough, shadowed rooms; granite benches held against walls of pale green opacity.

‘Riela is a place where people and emotions coexist. As in Turkish baths or Russian banyas, there is social exchange: the space is open, free, non-intrusive. But that exchange happens in an environment of low light, where you don’t feel exposed; you feel held,’ say Marc Castaño and Laia Rafel, founders of Oficina Satélite.

Guests can book individual session passes or opt for a monthly membership. The hot-cold circuit is designed to stimulate circulation, support recovery and help regulate the nervous system, with regular use linked to better sleep, improved mood and greater resilience to stress. Expansion plans for Riela are already underway, with a second, much larger Madrid location on the horizon before the concept ventures into Barcelona, Paris and London.

Riela is located at Calle de Apodaca, 20, Centro, 28004 Madrid, Spain

In an extravagant flurry of petals, flowing grasses and florist’s twine, Madrid Blooms 2026 swept into the Spanish capital last week (28-30 January) at the Palacio de Santa Bárbara. Now in its third year, the international floral design congress gathers top floral designers and artists from around the globe to share – and show off – their talents with attendees, who paid up to €3,190 for a three-day ticket. The audience included professionals, suppliers and enthusiasts alike.

We live in an era in which floral artists, long orbiting the world of celebrity, have become stars in their own right, commanding vast social media followings. At Madrid Blooms, the line-up included Bryce Heyworth of September Studio, a designer and digital creator with more than 1.6 million followers who has worked with Kourtney Kardashian and brands including Lexus, The North Face and Armani; Mikey Putnam of Rosandich, the floral designer behind Gwyneth Paltrow’s wedding; and Lilo Klinkenberg of Studio Lilo, whose sculptural compositions have appeared in projects for Jil Sander and Cartier.

According to Grand View Research, the global cut flower market is thriving, valued at $39bn in 2024 and expected to surpass $51bn by 2030. We sat down with festival founder and director Sylvia Bustamante Gubbins – a journalist-turned-flower educator, and the owner of Madrid Flower School – to find out why floristry is a world we should be paying closer attention to.

Wallpaper*: How did Madrid Blooms start?

Sylvia Bustamante Gubbins: The conference is a crazy idea I had in mind for years, which came to fruition after I bumped into the director of Madrid Design Festival. Pili Fuentes, from Flower House Mexico, was also there at the beginning.

With only four months to go, I sent out seven invitations to important floral designers, thinking that some would say no. To my surprise, they all said they would come, and since then, seven designers have been included in the official programme.

In 2025, the conference was held at the Casa de México. Working surrounded by first-class crafts was pure inspiration. This year we moved to the Palacio Santa Bárbara: a space full of light and more square footage in the centre of Madrid. And once again, we sold out.

W*: Can you tell us about the programme?

SBG: On the first day, lectures and live demonstrations by the designers; on the second day, two three-hour workshops; and on the third day, students work on a large-scale floral installation, which can be visited by the public the following day. Each participant can take classes with three designers. My goal is for each person to learn as much as possible, and even better if it is outside their comfort zone.

The designers vary from year to year and come from a list of recommendations and discussions with the Madrid Flower School team, which organises the event. This process is the longest and most difficult. The selected designers must have an original creative language, a different approach, and be good teachers. One of them has to be local, Spanish or foreign, but with a career in Spain.

Then comes the task of obtaining all the botanical material they need – we have even been asked for artichoke leaves. In winter, the variety of flowers is limited, and our relationship with flower growers and wholesalers in America and Europe has been key.

W*: What's new for 2026?

SBG: We have a record number of sponsors, we have added a mini-fair, and, as usual, we have a star sustainable product. Another addition we are introducing this year is a professional networking breakfast for our sponsors and local and international figures in the floral design industry, to encourage long-term relationships to form at our congress.

It's a demanding scenario because the attendees are also designers with a business up and running. They are looking for inspiration, but also new techniques and specific information. With 17 nationalities in the previous two editions, we have jumped to 28 this year and four continents, America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. People are coming from Eastern Europe and a large contingent from Brazil. Last year, we had students from Alaska to South Africa, including Ghana.

W*: At what point does floral design move beyond decoration and become an art form?

SBG: I think [floral] artists have always existed, but now we see them. Floral design is an ephemeral art that has expanded exponentially for two reasons: social media, especially Instagram, and technological development – today you can take a good photo with your phone and enhance it with an app. I can find out what a florist is doing in her workshop in Bangkok and then see what's happening in another workshop in Brooklyn.

W*: What shifts have you observed in botanical design over the past decade?

SBG: It's funny, but ten years ago I was living in New York and starting my journey with flowers. As a journalist, I was amazed at how geography and culture influenced designs. Russians loved extra-large bouquets. Australia had a fascination with exotic flowers. Spain was obsessed with longevity and opted for dried flowers. The United States was experiencing its most romantic era with Garden Style. New York and London, as always, were islands where anything was allowed.

Today, however, geographical boundaries no longer exist because the world is connected. Think of the craze for pampas grass a few years ago.

It has always been difficult to find your niche and stay true to your style. It is tempting to copy what already works, but if you don't move on from that stage quickly, it is a sad sight to see on social media. You have to master the rules and then forget them. Only then can you create something superb and exciting. Scale and shape don't matter, as long as they respond to what you want to communicate.

When floral designers create an arrangement with the intention of communicating meaning through their materials, they invite us to feel something and to reflect on what we are seeing, like we would with any other artistic medium. Flowers become a raw material through which floral artists develop and explore their own visual language, bringing their own creative proposal to their work is what makes it an art form, and we’re seeing this movement in works in museums, events and the world of advertising.

W*: Sustainability is often cited, but what does responsible practice actually look like at the luxury end of floristry today?

SBG: We are experiencing the best phase, as the industry has finally accepted that a growing number of florists and customers no longer wish to contribute to pollution. If you think about it, it is completely illogical that we, who extract the most beautiful things from nature, return a piece of plastic that will remain for the next hundred years.

Individuals are investing time and money in creating biodegradable solutions such as Oshun Pouch, Phoam Labs (both plant-based floral foam alternatives), and OLMS Bamboo Floral (a company making compostable water tubes and bamboo floral sticks). And large companies are also moving in that direction. The real luxury is having a clean planet.

W*: What themes, materials or botanical directions at this year’s edition best signal where the future of floral design is heading?

SBG: Contemporary design is the language now, and I see that it still has a long way to go. It is a thoughtful design, with a solid foundation in the principles of Ikebana. Everything is intentional: the choice and quantity of materials, the juxtaposition of botanical elements, the clean and clear forms.

Flowers such as carnations, which were once looked down upon, now take on importance because of their texture. A small and delicate Ixia Spotlight takes centre stage because it no longer fills gaps in arrangements. Today, we marvel at the majestic form of Lilium longiflorum, when before we could only imagine them on a coffin. Now, the floral volumes climb the surfaces of museums, and go beyond weddings and events.

This year, the novelty comes from the Ecuadorian tropics. [Ecuadorian supplier] Magic Flowers sends us 85 types of exotic flowers and leaves, such as musas, raulianas, and hibiscus.

W*: Finally, what do you think is driving the renewed appetite for cut flowers today?

SBG: I think making a bouquet is something almost instinctive for human beings. We long for nature, we long for its scents, colours, and textures. That's why every time we pass by a flower shop, it's so hard not to leave with a bouquet. Even more so in cities with little green space. For me, New York is the best example. Look for a flower shop on a map of Manhattan and you'll soon see a red spot covering the island.

I think the opening of professional schools and conferences such as Madrid Blooms has a lot to do with this desire to learn floral design. In the case of Madrid Flower School, I believe that displaying arrangements under artistic direction changes our perception of what is possible with flowers.

And finally, how much fun it is to discover new varieties. The first time I saw a Lilium martagon, I was mesmerised; I was convinced it was a new variety. A week later, I discovered that flower in an 18th-century lithograph. Gerberas were not among my favourite flowers until spider gerberas appeared. And now there are micro ones, smaller than mini ones! This is a delightful and fascinating world.

Meliá Collection debuts on the Iberian Peninsula with Casa de las Artes (meaning ‘house of the arts’ in Spanish): a Madrid hotel that doesn’t take its surroundings or history for granted. Drawing on the boutique sensibility that defines this Meliá division, yet executed with the confidence of a venerable hospitality group, the property positions culture at its core. The standout? An ambitious programme of live music, cinema, dance, literary events and culinary experiences that celebrates the seven fine arts – and makes guests, quite simply, feel en casa.

Wallpaper* checks in at Casa de Las Artes, Madrid

What’s on your doorstep?

Casa de las Artes enjoys dual access, with a main entrance on Atocha Street and a secondary entrance on the parallel Moratín Street, which also offers a shortcut to the Museo del Prado. It is a privileged location, situated within the Spanish capital’s so-called ‘Art Triangle’. As such, both the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum and the Reina Sofía Museum are within walking distance.

The hotel also sits within the Barrio de las Letras, next to the Cervantes Society building, where the first edition of Don Quixote de la Mancha and other masterpieces of Spain’s Golden Age were printed. Few places in the world can claim such a literary heritage. A personal favourite is neighbouring Santa Isabel Street, home to the art-deco Cine Doré and a lively glut of tabernas, bakeries, cafés and bookshops.

Who is behind the design?

ASAH Studio, led by father-and-daughter duo Álvaro and Adriana Sans, spearheaded the transformation of the property. Casa de las Artes spans four heritage-protected buildings, anchored by a palatial main block designed by Ricardo García Guereta and José María Otamendi and built in 1913. The building originally housed the headquarters of the General Association of Employees and Workers of the Railways of Spain, a meaningful institution in Madrid’s social and industrial history.

‘The design process began with extensive research into the area’s architecture, museum collections, and the artists who have shaped the neighbourhood’s identity, ensuring that every material choice was rooted in context rather than purely decorative,’ explains Adriana Sans. The palatial public interiors lean into terracotta tones that set off the original mouldings and coffered ceilings. A museum-adjacent warmth runs through the hotel, punctuated by green and red velvet upholstery in the common areas.

Furnishings from brands such as Andreu World, Sancal, Pedrali, Kettal and Santa & Cole (among others) were selected for their timelessness and their affinity with the building’s architectural language. ASAH Studio also customised many pieces – and designed others specifically for the hotel – using walnut, Marquina marble, brass and dramatic velvet across public spaces and rooms.

To strengthen the hotel’s connection to the place, the team paid particular attention to the art programme. In the reception area, original Don Quixote lithographs by Salvador Dalí (from the 1957 Joseph Foret edition) are displayed. Sculpture is integrated throughout, too. ‘One of the most emblematic examples is the collection of miniature meninas [infant girls] by Spanish sculptor Miguel Guía, displayed at reception,’ notes Sans.

The room to book

Guest rooms are more pared back than the public areas: compact but luminous, with views of Atocha (city view), Calle de Moratín (street view) or the internal courtyard. There are 137 keys in total; while the entry categories are efficient in size, the suites make longer stays genuinely comfortable. Book the Artist Junior Suite with Terrace for warm evenings outdoors and the sharpest detailing.

Across the rooms, walnut and black-and-white Marquina marble form the core palette: warming and enveloping. Bathrooms are visually integrated into the sleeping space but can be screened off with velvet curtains. As a tribute to Miguel de Cervantes and the Cervantine tradition of the neighbourhood, each room includes a Don Quixote engraving by Gustave Doré from the 1869 edition. Rooms come with Carner Barcelona toiletries, plus tea and coffee amenities.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

One of Casa de las Artes’ standout spaces is the former theatre, now reimagined as a restaurant, bar and multi-purpose venue on the first floor. ‘Its transformation perfectly encapsulates the project’s philosophy: respecting the memory of the place while giving it contemporary life,’ says Sans. The all-day hub is called Maché (a nod to papier-mâché), and the atmosphere leans theatrical, like a modern swing salon. Among the most distinctive features are the stained-glass windows by the Maumejean Brothers workshop.

Plush velvet banquettes, marble floors and gilded accents play against cascading ceiling lamps. A long, wood-clad bar serves cocktails inspired by the seven arts – from a smoky Music riff to a more bitter, elegant Dance variation. Above the old stage machinery, an adjoining patio sits beneath a glass roof like a greenhouse, hosting live music and occasional sessions. The food is Mediterranean-leaning Spanish classics with a sharper edge: think cod brandade fritters with romesco, or glazed beef-cheek meatballs with Robuchon-style mash.

Where to switch off

Wellness buffs will head straight to the indoor pool, sauna and steam room, or the gym (with dance studio). Elsewhere, a handsome library and cultural centre deepen the hotel’s creative brief: architect and painter Ángel Vázquez was commissioned to produce 16 portraits of Spanish-language writers connected to Madrid, many tied to Barrio de las Letras. Guests can borrow from an extensive collection of volumes, and there’s also a small cinema (named after Pilar Miró) with daily screenings available on request.

The verdict

As Adriana Sans puts it, ‘Casa de las Artes is not a hotel that merely displays art, but a space where art is practised, shared, and celebrated’ through live music, cinema, dance, literary events and food-led programming. It’s a well-balanced property where the common spaces genuinely come alive in the evenings. Service feels human and attentive. It’s not ultra-luxe in the white-glove sense, but it is luxurious in how thoughtfully it builds a cultural world around the guest experience.

Casa de Las Artes, a member of Meliá Collection, is located at C. de Atocha, 83, Centro, 28012 Madrid, Spain

This is the latest instalment of The Inside Story, Wallpaper’s series spotlighting intriguing, innovative and industry-leading interior design.

One of the most captivating spaces we’ve featured for The Inside Story was the Madrid studio of designer Marta de la Rica. Naturally, expectations were high for her home – also in the Spanish capital – and we were not disappointed.

The first thing to note about de la Rica’s home is the unusually narrow plot it occupies. Flanked by party walls, the house had no choice but to grow upward rather than outward. ‘The verticality of the building shaped the home’s circulation and the way it functions,’ says the designer. A central staircase links the floors, with a double-height living room serving as the centre point. Here, the verticality becomes an asset, creating an unexpectedly generous sense of space.

De la Rica’s studio feels meticulously curated, as one might expect of a professional space. Her personal space, by contrast, is a looser, softer counterpart – existing within the same creative universe, but less rigidly composed. The aesthetic is one of ‘ordered eclecticism’, where ‘old and new coexist in multiple layers’, says the designer, embracing the natural contrasts that emerge when a space evolves organically rather than following a plan.

‘My intention from the beginning was to create a gentle flow, one that matched the rhythm of our family life,’ continues de la Rica, who has three daughters. ‘The home had to truly support the way we live – a place with flow, warmth and purpose, where every space invites you to stay.’ The ‘perfectly imperfect’ space is filled with moments of ‘gathering, work, play and calm’.

‘Colour is my language, and choosing the palette was one of the most intuitive parts of the project,’ says de la Rica, who opted for terracottas, pinks, yellows and soft greens, uniting to create an atmosphere that feels innately optimistic. Material choices ‘followed the same instinctive path’, favouring tactile, sometimes imperfect, elements of linen, timber, handmade tiles, marble, bronze and embroidered fabrics, many developed in collaboration with artisans in Spain and France. These materials, and the contrasts between them, were selected for their depth: ‘Harmony was essential, but so was character,’ the designer adds.

De la Rica’s home is filled with objects collected over the years from brocantes, artisans and antique markets. These items that ‘carry memories and humour, [creating] an atmosphere of lived-in elegance.’ The designer’s ‘personal maxim’ of ‘making the ordinary extraordinary’ is deeply felt, with ‘every corner [feeling] considered, welcoming and quietly special’.

One of de la Rica’s favourite pieces is a tapestry on the wall: ‘I first saw it in Biarritz as a child, in an antique shop I used to visit with my father. The owner wouldn’t sell it because it decorated her shop. Twenty years later, by complete chance, I came across it again in Nice – the same owner, now about to retire, agreed to part with it.’

This encounter captures the power of memory and intuition in shaping a truly personal space. The vertical form of de la Rica’s home may have been restrictive, but the result is a home that feels expansive, inviting and imbued with personality.

A defining trait of the Reina Sofia Museum is its beguiling conflux of architectural styles. A key pillar of Madrid’s art mile, it occupies the bones of an 18th-century hospital designed by José de Hermosilla and Francisco Sabatini, formative figures in the city’s neoclassical fabric. The museum’s opening in 1990 followed an extensive renovation shaped by several practices, with its later expansion – and most recognisable form – realised through the contextual vision of Jean Nouvel.

The new cinema at Reina Sofia Museum

The modern and contemporary art museum’s architectural legacy continues to evolve, its next chapter marked by the transformation of a former auditorium, built in 1987 by Jaume Bach with Gabriel Mora, into an enclave devoted to audiovisual arts.

Bach now revisits the project alongside Anna and Eugeni Bach, dreaming up a new cinema and auditorium that nod to the aesthetic sensibilities of cinematic worlds ranging from Luis Buñuel to David Lynch, and from Pedro Almodóvar to Aki Kaurismäki. It also acknowledges the legacy of the neighbouring Cine Doré and Stockholm’s Bio Skandia.

Situated within the Sabatini building, Bach sought to preserve the venue’s singular character. The generous vaulted entrance hall retains a preserved serliana that conceals a triangular projection hub framed by velvet curtains. The old hospital windows have been closed with wooden panels, their carved raindrop motifs offering a tactile contrast to the overarching red palette.

The screening room transitions into deeper blue tones to prevent reflections. Here, the 133-seat area has been reconfigured to increase the slope and improve sightlines to the screen, while the emblematic suspended triangle has been reimagined as a large acoustic screen concealing the central speakers.

‘The blue of the sky and the red of the carpet recall classical theatres, establishing a link between the function of the space and the tradition of cinema, especially since it is located in a neoclassical building,’ says Bach.

The new cinema will host the museum’s film and new-media programme throughout the year. It is also available for private hire, tailored for events ranging from meetings, courses and conferences to screenings, presentations and press gatherings.

Reina Sofia Museum is located at Santa Isabel, 52. 28012 Madrid, Spain.

Madrid has always thrived on artistic tension: between heritage and rebellion, classicism and the avant-garde. The Prado, Reina Sofía, and Thyssen-Bornemisza museums still anchor the city’s ‘golden triangle of art’, yet past these marble halls filled with European treasures lies another Madrid, one shaped by the insurgent galleries and collectors that are placing the Spanish capital on the global contemporary stage.

The 2025 edition of ARCO Madrid gathered 214 galleries from 36 countries, turning the city into the art world’s spring focal point. But beyond the contemporary art fair’s temporary pulse, a constellation of cultural projects is now repositioning Madrid more permanently. The capital has become a hotbed of artistic proposals, with an increasing number of international collectors choosing to settle here.

At the centre of this momentum is the arts project Solo. Established a decade ago by entrepreneurs-turned-collectors Ana Gervás and David Cantolla, it has steadily become one of Spain’s most innovative cultural initiatives. ‘From the start, we’ve tried to remain on the experimental side of what it means to build an arts project: not too extreme, but also never taking ourselves too seriously,’ say Gervás and Cantolla.

The pair unveiled their first public space in 2018 on Plaza de la Independencia. It offers a mix of permanent and rotating exhibitions, and more than 1,200 works, but access is by appointment only, so a visit feels closer to a private viewing than a museum outing. ‘It was a turning point that allowed us to present ourselves to the public for the first time,’ they add. Further north, Solo Castanedo in Cantabria expands their reach with a rural outpost devoted to research and production.

Solo’s support for artists has evolved organically, too, from acquisitions and residencies to exhibitions and grants. The annual Solo AI Award, now in its third edition, funds projects at the intersection of art and machine learning, while the Artistic Support Program provides tailored career guidance, production support and international exposure.

In 2018, Solo made headlines with Memories of Passersby I, by Mario Klingemann, the first AI artwork to go under the hammer at Sotheby’s London: a pair of endlessly morphing portraits, generated live by neural networks. Beyond digital experiment, last year Solo Independencia turned to Juan Barjola, a key figure in 20th-century Spanish painting. His stark, expressionist canvases of twisted and distorted figures offered a grounding counterpoint. The exhibition was, for the founders, a deeply personal milestone.

Now comes their most ambitious chapter, Solo CSV, which resists definition, operating without a fixed programme and designed to reveal itself gradually. That might sound contradictory; after all, a gallery is, more traditionally, a space for public display. Yet for Gervás and Cantolla to reveal too much, too soon, risks reducing the place to a passing novelty. ‘More than a strategy, it is a philosophy that allows things to grow and find their own form,’ they explain. ‘What we want is to build, step by step, what this space can mean and how it can take shape. You might come across a work of art revealed only at a single hour, on a single day each year.’

Tucked into Madrid’s Moncloa-Aravaca district, Solo CSV carries the weight of history. Nearby once stood the Quinta del Sordo, where Francisco de Goya produced his haunting Black Paintings – works that would echo through the birth of modern art. The 4,500 sq m complex itself is a former printing press, once home to Semana magazine. After four decades lying derelict, the site was reimagined by Estudio Herreros.

Navigating Solo CSV is intentionally disorienting. ‘We aimed for every space to be simultaneously the interior of one and the exterior of another. And while each seems directly connected, that isn’t always the case,’ says Juan Herreros, founder and partner of the Spanish architecture studio, whose most representative project is arguably the Munch Museum in Oslo. At Solo CSV, a skeletal structure of reinforced concrete, all finished in white plaster, provides the framework, while additions were realised in dry construction, assembled on site by skilled carpenters and metalworkers.

‘It’s a kind of labyrinth where we can’t promise which part you will get to discover, but we will do our best to make sure you get lost,’ note Gervás and Cantolla. Visitors enter through steel doors still bearing their foundry marks, now punctured with Solo’s circular logo. Inside, a plaza opens onto a retro café and Bowman Hal, a gallery hosting shows in partnership with worldwide institutions. On display until 15 November are works by Aaron Johnson organised with the gallery Almine Rech. This will be followed by a Siro Cugusi exhibition and the launch of Movimiento 37, a network promoting exchange between galleries and artists.

From here, areas remain a secret, although Gervás and Cantolla reveal some of what’s to come. ‘There are some bright areas for reading comics, an art lab, and spaces for visual arts, films or video game sessions.’

Traversing Solo CSV feels dreamlike, its paths slipping from memory as if refusing to be pinned to a layout. What anchors the experience is the collection itself, a riotous choreography of sculpture, painting and digital works that shifts between the surreal and the confrontational. Canadian sculptor David Altmejd’s crystalline figures dialogue with Japanese artist Osamu Mori’s almost totemic wooden sculptures. On the walls are Neo Rauch’s surrealist tableaux and Gary Simmons’ chalkboard erasures. One of the most notable digital interventions is Dutch collective Smack’s hyper-slick animation Speculum, which reinterprets Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights for the 21st century.

Gervás and Cantolla are keen to keep thinking outside the box. ‘Our mission? To support contemporary art, to explore and to stay awake, resisting the temptation to become a recognised model for as long as we can.’ Solo CSV may be introverted by design, but it embodies the Spanish capital’s outward surge: a city finding its contemporary voice with equal parts confidence and curiosity. ‘Madrid has changed enormously in recent years, and its momentum is remarkable,’ the pair say. ‘We feel fortunate to live through this time and to play a part in it.’

Solo CSV is located at Cta. de San Vicente, 36, Moncloa - Aravaca, 28008 Madrid, Spain.

This article appears in the November 2025 Art Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print on newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

For the newsstand cover of Wallpaper’s November 2025 Art Issue, we picked an artwork from the collection of the Fondation Cartier, which, as Amy Serafin reports, recently opened on a new site next to the Musée du Louvre in Paris. The large-scale model, by the Congolese artist Bodys Isek Kingelez, reimagines Kinshasa as an urban utopia, a spectacular diorama that reminds us that the city is a space for fantasy and invention. On our limited-edition subscriber cover, we offer a glimpse of Studio Job’s monumental House of Delft. At 2,000 sq m, this is not only the Netherlands’ largest artwork, but also the largest commission of studio founder Job Smeets’ career, and it will soon occupy no fewer than three galleries in a Frits van Dongen-designed building in the Dutch city.

Besides representing metropolises in microcosm, both artworks offer up alternative visions of the world that our arts & culture editor Hannah Silver was keen to explore in other contexts, engaging in a series of in-studio sessions with artists with upcoming shows. These range from the family dynamics captured in the figurative works of Chantal Joffe and the uncompromising immersive video art of Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley to the otherworldly tales of Brooklyn-based Colombian artist María Berrío – part myth, part memory – that are delicately rendered in watercolour on Japanese paper.

Elsewhere, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and visual artist Stanley Donwood discuss the archive of their 30-year creative partnership, some of which is now on view at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum. We meet Bengi Ünsal, the new director of London’s ICA, who is returning the space to its multidisciplinary roots, and pay tribute to Madrid’s burgeoning contemporary art scene, exploring the launch of the city’s Solo CSV gallery.

Finally, we turn the gaze on ourselves as Hugo Macdonald unravels the mysterious power of mirrors to absorb and empower our thirst for self-reflection; a chance to disappear into a world of our own – one glance at a time.

Bill Prince
Editor-in-Chief

The November 2025 Art Issue of Wallpaper* is available in print on newsstands from, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News + from 9 October. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

In Galería Elba Benítez in Madrid, a large scale three-dimensional installation is suspended from the ceiling with suggestions of a silhouette of an otherworldly space ship. Adjacent, is a circular piece mounted upon a white wall in a swirling flurry of colour. The stretched hues seem to be hypnotic and draws the viewer in.

These are the works of Swedish artist, Miriam Bäckström in her latest exhibition ‘Extensions’. Best known for her photography, she has also worked extensively with theatre, film, performance, text and, most recently, textiles, such as her installation ‘Others Will Know’ in Buffalo AKG museum in New York. Her modus operandi involves a unification of fabrics and imagery to create a result that balances visuals and space.

'Extensions' by Miriam Bäckström

The process of making her image-objects includes three stages. The first involves photographing small pieces of textiles or metals extremely close. The second step is to translate the images into detailed instructions for automated jacquard looms. These are then weaved into silk tapestries. Finally, she stretches the textiles over geometric shapes. The result offers shimmering works, revelling in colourful detail and visual texture.

The exhibition includes Advanced Cone I (2019) and Tetrahedron (2024) which are larger scale pieces, while Bicone Double Mirrored I (2023) is smaller. These works are complimented with new pieces including the series Concentric (2024-25).

The exhibition title, Extensions, invites multiple interpretations. It could allude to hair – human or synthetic – woven into our own, or to the idea of expansion: a new space, a prolonged exhibition, or the act of stretching something beyond its original form.

However, Bäckström reflects upon a more abstract interpretation, that extending something refuses to acknowledge that something has finished, as she says, ‘This feels like giving ourselves license. Whenever we take things further, they become extensions. It just means that we have progressed from our first thought without abandoning it. This operation is becoming more and more important. Constantly entertained and distracted by our phones, we seem to be losing the ability to extend our thoughts into abstraction.’

'Extensions' by Miriam Bäckström is on display at Galería Elba Benítez until 8 November 2025

Capturing the essence of La Movida Madrileña – a countercultural movement that emerged during Spain’s transition to democracy in 1975 – is as challenging as defining the buoyant creative scene shaping Madrid today. Both resist simple categorisation, united by an unyielding forward-looking spirit. The best way to experience the city’s modern-day zeitgeist is by exploring its next-generation galleries, bold hospitality ventures and disruptive cultural hubs. While the city is justly celebrated for its Beaux-Arts architecture, centuries-old art collections, and vibrant tapas culture, Madrid continues to reinvent itself. Here are 15 things to do to tap into the city’s newfound energy, just in time for those arriving for ARCO Madrid 2026 (taking place 4-8 March).

What to see and do in Madrid, Spain

Where to stay

Four Seasons Hotel Madrid

Four Seasons Hotel Madrid is located next to Puerta del Sol, the city’s geographic and symbolic centre. The 200-room palace opened as part of the elaborate Centro Canalejas project, which involved the transformation of seven historic buildings by Estudio Lamela. Over 3,700 original architectural elements were retained and woven into the new structure. A heavyweight roster, including BAMO, Martin Brudnizki, and AvroKO, rendered the interiors with panache, striking the perfect note between laid-back glamour and glitz. The food and beverage offering is equally layered: Dani García’s flagship restaurant, the sharper, Asian-leaning Isa, and El Patio, a lobby bar built around a sweeping, sculptural staircase. Below it all, a four-level spa – the largest in Madrid – emerges as a retreat within a retreat.

Four Seasons Hotel Madrid is located at C. de Sevilla, 3, Centro, 28014 Madrid, Spain

The Madrid Edition

The Madrid Edition marked a new chapter in the capital’s luxury hospitality scene – more outré and colourful, yet no less detail-driven. Its 200 rooms and suites, some with terraces, showcase the Edition brand’s unmistakable bold, contemporary style. Also present are vibrant food and beverage offerings, which include Oroya, the rooftop restaurant helmed by chef Diego Muñoz. Dramatic contrasts of light and shadow, raw textures, and refined finishes define the property’s visual language. Spearheading the design: founder Ian Schrager, minimalist maestro John Pawson, and Paris-based designer François Champsaur, whose combined genius brings fresh energy to the old heart of Madrid.

The Madrid Edition is located at Pl. de Celenque, 2, 28013 Madrid, Spain.

Where to eat and drink

Club 27 Bar

Nestled in the heart of the Palace Hotel, Club 27 is both an atmospheric haven and a slice of Madrid history. The bar is named after the Spanish movement Generación del 27, characterised by avant-garde forms of art and poetry. Original wood panelling – preserved under heritage protection – wraps the space, while illustrated walls chart a century of notable guests and late-night episodes. Hemingway drank here. So did García Lorca, Dalí and Buñuel. Order the dry martini if you’re a purist, or the La Violetera – a nod to Madrid’s violet sweets – for something more local.

Club 27 Bar is located at The Palace Madrid, Pl. de las Cortes, 7, Centro, 28014 Madrid, Spain

Fu.Ba

A portmanteau of ‘Future Bakery’, Fu.Ba caused quite a stir when it first opened its doors in Chamberí in 2025, attracting a mass of aesthetes drawn in by its minimal interiors and soothing organic forms. Designed by Barcelona-based studio Isern Serra (also behind Jaç Hi-Fi Café), this neighbourhood bakery has the gravitas of a sculptural installation: lime-washed walls, softened edges, and a monolithic steel table cutting through raw quarry stone. Chef Fabián León proposes classic bakery favourites reworked for a health-conscious audience, without compromising taste; a triple treat of no gluten, no additives and no refined sugars.

Fu.Ba is located at Calle de Sta Engracia, 112, Chamberí, 28003 Madrid, Spain

Gilda Haus

Madrid-based Codoo studio may have taken inspiration from Gianfranco Frattini, Nanda Vigo and other 1970s Italian design pioneers, but its interior for this Madrid cocktail bar is perhaps most distinctive for the metallic, high-gloss shade of pearl orange that floods its floor, walls and ceiling. Complemented by mirrored surfaces and touches of electric blue, the space is vivid, voluminous and seductive, its decoration celebrating functional urban design, from the office-style tube lighting to the stainless steel furniture, while carpeted floors and velvet curtains add a warmer touch. AR

Gilda Haus is located at C. de San Mateo, 6, 28004 Madrid, Spain.

Mo de Movimiento

Bringing a flavour of environmental consciousness to Madrid’s dining scene, the Lucas Muñoz-designed Mo de Movimiento focuses on adaptive reuse and sustainable energy. The upcycled interiors include lighting pieces recovered from junkyards and seating forged from rubble and wood reclaimed during the site’s renovation. A low-consumption temperature system uses water-filled terracotta pots to cool the air, while energy from the kitchen is reused for underfloor heating during colder months. AR

Mo de Movimiento is located at C. de Espronceda, 34, 28003 Madrid, Spain.

Restaurante Ferretería

As its name suggests, Restaurante Ferretería occupies the bones of a former hardware store – long-time neighbours might remember running errands here once upon a time. Local studio A-Cero redesigned the venue with the utmost respect for its past, repurposing most of the old inventory and antiques, including cabinets, counters, a cash drawer and memorabilia (old recipes, Spanish peseta banknotes, and photographs). While the upstairs area is perfect for a midday vermú, a formal dining room sits in the basement under former coal vaults. The result is a kooky, cocooning haunt where traditional cooking has global inflexions. Don’t miss the cecina de león (cured beef) croquette with a ‘snow’ of parmesan, or the confited suckling pig, served with chestnut purée and braised pineapple.

Restaurante Ferretería is located at C. de Atocha, 57, Centro, 28012 Madrid, Spain

SDD2

Experimental sharing plates are served in this startling environment that mixes the energy of a science lab and a slaughterhouse, with its white polythene counters, freezer-style lighting and multicoloured industrial boxes in the ceiling. Besides raw tuna jerky, aubergine with eel or cockles with seaweed, cuts of veal and Iberian pork go well with the display of meat hooks and butcher’s knives. The owners also recently opened Sala Cero – a severe, stainless steel dining space designed with Madrid-based studios Yyplusplus and Caliper. AR

SDD2 is located at CC. de la Virgen de los Peligros, 8, 28013 Madrid, Spain.

What to do

Albarrán Bourdais

Housed in a former Loewe atelier dating back to the 1920s, Albarrán Bourdais maximises the use of its high-ceilinged, multi-level, 600 sq m space to present cutting-edge contemporary exhibitions, with artists often invited to create site-specific installations or immersive experiences. Superflex, Héctor Zamora and Pedro Cabrita Reis have been exhibited over recent months, while a new solo show by Polish artist Angelika Markul – known for her large-scale installations that range from sculpture to video – is open until July 2025. AR

Albarrán Bourdais is located at C. del Barquillo &, C. de San Marcos, 28004 Madrid, Spain.

Cine Doré

Cine Doré is likely one of the most striking neighbourhood cinemas in the world, with residents of Atocha-Antón Martín fortunate to enjoy easy access. This Art Nouveau venue, which served as a set in Pedro Almodóvar’s Hable Con Ella (2002), was originally built in the early 20th century as a ‘socio-cultural’ hall. In 1922, Spanish architect Críspulo Moro Cabeza transformed it into a cinema. After a 26-year hiatus, it reopened in 1989 as the home for Filmoteca Española, the national film archive – since when it has played host to a variety of Spanish and international films in their original versions. Its original brick-orange façade, meanwhile, tells the story of resistance and renaissance of 20th-century Spain.

Cine Doré is located at C. de Sta. Isabel, 3, 28012 Madrid, Spain.

La Capsule spa at Brach Madrid

Found within the bustling arteries of Gran Vía, a moment of calm awaits at Brach Madrid hotel, the Evok Collection's second outpost after Paris. La Capsule spa is a soothing sanctuary that boasts a 20m indoor pool and cutting-edge treatments that marry holistic practices with advanced technologies, including a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, infrared sauna and LED photobiomodulation therapy. The 400 sq m space is a vision of gold and pure white by Philippe Starck.

La Capsule spa is located inside Brach Madrid, Gran Vía, 20, 28013 Madrid, Spain.

Solo Independencia

Expanding on the capital’s golden art mile (the Prado, Reina Sofia and Thyssen-Bornemisza museums), Solo Independencia takes a bold leap into contemporary art. Conceived as an ‘international art project’ by Spanish entrepreneurs Ana Gervás and David Cantolla, Solo is devoted to ‘fostering, supporting, and sharing today’s artwork.’ Its collection spans figurative painting, kinetic sculpture, sound art, new media, and AI creations, forming an otherworldly universe showcasing over 270 artists, including established names such as Ai Weiwei, Takashi Murakami, and Kaws, alongside rising talents like Filip Ćustić, Ana Barriga and Smack. The gallery’s futuristic yet versatile design is the vision of architect Juan Herreros. Also not to miss is Solo’s labyrinthine new art space (Solo CSV) in Cta. de San Vicente, where there’s more than meets the eye in every corner.

Solo Independecia is located at Pl. de la Independencia, 5, 28001 Madrid, Spain

The Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute

On Madrid’s outskirts, the Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute is one of the country’s most significant works of contemporary architecture. Completed in the late 1960s by Fernando Higueras and Antonio Miró, the circular concrete structure is edged with jagged forms that give it its nickname, ‘The Crown of Thorns’. Protected as a cultural landmark, it houses Spain’s conservation and research facilities. Weekly guided visits offer the general public access inside.

The Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute is located at C. de Pintor el Greco, 4, 28040 Madrid, Spain

Where to shop

Galería Canalejas

Moments away from the emblematic Madrid de los Austrias (the city’s old quarter), Galería Canalejas rises within the same grand edifice as the Four Seasons Madrid, where we also recommend booking a stay if you are after unparalleled luxury. Once known as the Palacio de la Equitativa, the new shopping centre was brought to life by the Spanish firm Estudio Lamela, while the sophisticated interiors were created by Parisian studio Carbondale. Over 8,000 square meters of National Heritage façades and more than 16,000 historical artefacts, including art deco stained glass, intricate railings, marble accents, and ornate friezes, were preserved during the development. At its heart, a charming café pays tribute to the traditional kiosks of 19th and 20th-century Madrid. Meanwhile, three elegant floors showcase an array of upscale fashion, beauty and jewellery boutiques, including Hermès, Jil Sander, and Rolex.

Galería Canalejas is located at Pl. de Canalejas, 1, 28014 Madrid, Spain

Wow Concept Serrano

A department store but not as you know it – this multi-brand retail project aims to merge physical and digital experiences for a new generation of shoppers, with desirable, independent fashion and tech labels housed in a visually striking environment. Barcelona-based External Reference designed the original Wow on Gran Vía, while a second, seven-storey outlet in the swish Serrano neighbourhood is the work of Madrid’s Culdesac, who created sculptural shapes, ambient lighting, fluid spaces and modular furniture that allows for versatile displays.

Wow Concept Serrano is located at C. de Serrano, 52, 28001 Madrid, Spain

Growing up in Madrid’s Atocha neighbourhood, my first glimpse into the rarefied world of luxury came via The Palace Hotel. It wasn’t the grand façade – a heady mix of modernism and Belle Époque flair – that first captured my attention; at that young age, that was beyond my understanding. What stuck with me were the porters draped in long capes, guiding gilded luggage trolleys.

With over a century of history, it’s no surprise the Palace has stories to spare. Guests have included Pablo Picasso, Mata Hari, Federico García Lorca, Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí. Now part of Marriott’s Luxury Collection, the hotel recently completed a four-year restoration by Lázaro Rosa-Violán Studio, a renovation that aims to revive the property's glamour without relying on pastiche.

Wallpaper*checks in at The Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Madrid

What's on your doorstep?

There could hardly be a more privileged Madrid address than The Palace Hotel’s. Located in Madrid’s Centro neighbourhood, the building sits adjacent to the Landscape of Light – better known as the Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro – granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 2021. Just steps away lies the Golden Triangle of Art, offering effortless access to the Museo del Prado, the Reina Sofía and the Thyssen-Bornemisza. With such surroundings, it’s no wonder the hotel has long been entwined with Madrid’s social and cultural life. Since opening its doors in 1912, it has played host to royalty, intellectuals, artists and the city’s most influential figures.

Who is behind the design?

The original building was designed in 1910 by Catalan architect Eduardo Ferrès y Puig and, at the time, was the largest hotel in Europe. It was the first hotel in Spain (and only the second in the world) to offer a bathroom in every guest room. It was also the first in the country to have a telephone in each room.

More than a century later, Lázaro Rosa-Violán Studio’s brief included the arduous restoration of the façade, lifting layer after layer of paint until the original pigment began to show through. Guest rooms and common areas were fully renovated, preserving original elements and materials while adapting the spaces to modern travellers.

‘The revamped Palace Madrid is designed to be a stimulating space for a new generation of intellectuals and travellers who seek a place to call home – where stories, culture, and conversations flourish,’ shares Lázaro Rosa-Violán.

In that spirit, the hotel pays tribute to its rich artistic legacy and location through subtle details and motifs, such as intricate patterns inspired by the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid. The material palette favours timeless finishes – rich woods, elegant metals and tactile textiles – while incorporating modern textures to create depth and contrast. The studio also curated the hotel’s art selection, with some pieces drawn from Rosa-Violán’s private collection and others created by his graphic design team.

The room to book

The hotel offers 470 elegantly appointed guestrooms and suites, with views overlooking either Plaza de las Cortes – home to the Palace of the Congress of Deputies – or Plaza Cánovas del Castillo, where the Fountain of Neptune stands. Room categories include Deluxe, Premium, and Palace guestrooms, while suites range from the Palace, Cervantes, Corte, and Neptuno to the crowning Royal Suite. A firm fond of working with natural materials, Lázaro Rosa-Violán Studio employed high-end finishes, such as marble, brushed brass and textured glass. The original bathroom marble – an elegant Navona – was repaired, re-polished and preserved.

The Royal Suite, spanning 1,700 sq. ft. includes a grand dining room, a library with a bar, and a fully-equipped chef’s kitchen. Sculpted marble and rich millwork lend a sense of old-world refinement, while bespoke fixtures, vibrant accents, and contemporary chandeliers bring a modern, palatial feel. Its expansive one-bedroom configuration features a signature headboard, seen throughout the hotel’s suites: a tapestry designed by Lázaro’s own atelier of graphic artists, depicting local landscapes and classical scenes – among them the lush greenery of Casa de Campo.

Staying for dinner?

As Rosa-Violán himself puts it, ‘La Cúpula Restaurant & Bar is undoubtedly the crown jewel of The Palace Hotel – a space we sought to restore to its former glamour, evoking the opulence of the Roaring Twenties.’

Set beneath an imposing stained-glass dome, the menu reimagines Spanish favourites and crowd-pleases under the direction of executive chef Nuno Matos. Among the highlights are inventive takes on the favourites of former guests – such as Pablo Picasso’s twist on the Waldorf salad and Julio Camba’s beloved steak tartare.

In-house guests are invited to join the weekly Epicurean Moment, a Thursday ritual celebrating the diversity of vermouth, each style paired with traditional tapas for a journey through Spanish flavours.

As part of the renovation, the monumental dome – originally designed in 1912 by Eduardo Ferrés y Puig – was painstakingly restored. Comprising 1,456 individual pieces, the dome was entirely dismantled, catalogued, and restored to its original hues. The space has been further elevated with a composition of furnishings that blend classical and Art Deco styles, upholstered in rich, luxurious fabrics.

Where to switch off

Tucked away in the heart of the hotel, the bar Club 27 is where history and hedonism collide. With its original wood panelling protected by the Heritage Commission, the bar channels old-world charm with a twist of lime. Designers mined the hotel’s century-old register books and bar archives to breathe new life into its storied past. This is the spot that earned Hemingway’s praise for its dry martini and drew regulars like García Lorca, Dalí, and Buñuel – now immortalised in a wall sketch. Lining the walls are 54 custom illustrations, each capturing a defining moment from the hotel’s glittering 100-year history. Order La Violetera cocktail for a tribute to Madrid’s traditional violet candies.

The verdict

Grand dame status in today’s hospitality landscape is no easy feat, especially as a new generation of travellers chase edgier, more offbeat destinations. Still, the recent revamp by Lázaro Rosa-Violán offers a respectful nod to history without being stuck in it. There’s a clear effort to preserve the soul of the building while introducing playful, unexpected details. Though Madrid’s luxury scene is shifting, the Palace remains a cornerstone, offering a rich glimpse into the city’s past, and hinting at an exciting new chapter yet to be written.

The Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel is located at Pl. de las Cortes, 7, Centro, 28014 Madrid, Spain.

‘As with many of our projects, inspiration comes from the location itself. In this case, the edge of the golf course in La Moraleja offers a serene, open landscape that invites us to work from a horizontal and continuous perspective,’ says Fran Silvestre, founder of the Valencia-based architectural practice of the same name. He is reflecting upon his most recent residential build, a Madrid villa, titled simply '18', one of the three homes that make up a bigger scheme named 'The Triology'.

Inside a Madrid villa by Fran Silvestre Architects

‘We wanted to create a complex of three homes that felt like a coherent sequence, yet at the same time had their own identity,’ Silvestre says. ‘We were particularly interested in ensuring that each house interacted with its immediate surroundings, but also with the other two, as if they were part of a single, precisely carved piece.’

Villa 18 is nestled in the landscape towards a lake, which is part of the La Moraleja golf course in the Spanish capital. With diagonal views across the scenery, the home sits low and is developed primarily on a single floor.

The residence comprises three built volumes, two of different heights that create a sheltered terrace. The building’s geometry is not only visually enticing but also designed to allow unobstructed views of the landscape through flexible, open space uncluttered by supports.

The home is separated into ‘daytime’ and ‘nighttime’ sections. A lower floor contains spaces dedicated to physical wellbeing, including a swimming pool and a gym, all illuminated by a skylight.

The architect explains: ‘Our true challenge is to create spaces that awaken emotions, that offer continuity, that become settings for life. Places where living is also about experiencing. Where architecture accompanies without imposing itself, and where every detail, however silent, contributes to building that experience.

‘We want visitors to feel calm. Upon entering, they perceive an atmosphere of wellbeing, as if the space had been designed specifically for them. We're very interested in that feeling of protection, of seclusion, but also of openness: natural light, framed views, warm materials. Everything is designed so that the architecture is almost invisible, yet deeply present.’

His inspiration came from the work of late Spanish sculptor Andreu Alfaro. Silvestre wanted the building to appear to flow seamlessly from one element to another. This was achieved by designing the swimming pool to transition into the terrace, which in turn moulds with the façades of the volumes and then circles back to the pool.

‘There are many moments in the project that move us,’ says the founder, ‘but perhaps one of the most special is the relationship between the interior and exterior spaces. In a setting like La Moraleja, living with views of a lake and a golf course allows us to work from the serenity of the landscape, from visual silence. The covered terraces, which emerge from the sliding between volumes, function as thresholds, as intermediate spaces where light filters in and the temperature is balanced.

‘It is there, at those transition points, where the architecture dissolves and becomes more human, where the house ceases to be just a construction and becomes a place. Those moments when interior and exterior merge naturally are, for us, where everything makes sense.’

For more information on this property visit www.lucasfox.com

fransilvestrearquitectos.com

Spanish beauty brand Rowse – known for its minimalist, plant-based skincare – unveiled its first standalone flagship store in Madrid last year (2024). Now, marking another milestone moment, it has expanded into make-up, with a debut collection of products named Longevity Makeup.

Here, Nuria Val and Gabriela Salord, who founded Rowse in 2018, combine their distinctly botanical approach with scientific innovations in the field of biotechnology. ‘Venturing into make-up felt like a natural progression,’ Nuria Val tells Wallpaper*. ‘After years of developing skincare focused on long-term skin health, we saw an opportunity to bring that same philosophy to this new category.’

Rowse make-up

It took two years of research and development before Val and Salord arrived at the final formulations for Rowse’s initial ‘make-up-meets-skincare’ offering: The Tinted Glow Serum With Exosomes, Shimmer Eyeshadow, Cream Highlighter and Lip & Cheek Balm.

The Goji-derived exosomes in the tinted serum are high-powdered botanical actives, created using biotech processes such as cellular fermentation. They act as microscopic messengers that, as Salord explains, ‘stimulate collagen production to regenerate the skin.’ Other ingredients included across Longevity Makeup include açai extract, mimosa wax, and jojoba esters, each working beyond surface-level enhancement to support lasting skin vitality. ‘Integrating these advanced ingredients into breathable, clean make-up took extensive research,’ Salord adds. ‘But the results are transformative – it’s everything we ever imagined.’

Rowse’s approach to make-up favours subtle ‘enhancement’ over complete coverage. By eschewing synthetic additives, all pigments are naturally derived, and also take direct inspiration from the quiet hues of the natural world. ‘Colour should complement rather than conceal,’ says Val, who strived to create a palette that feels like ‘an extension of the skin’. Across the Shimmer Eyeshadows, Cream Highlighters and Lip & Cheek Balms, you’ll find an array of warm wood tones, soft petal pinks, and muted greens referencing the softness of forest moss.

While the initial selection of shades remains intentionally concise, Longevity Makeup is designed to sit harmoniously across a spectrum of skin tones with lightweight and buildable textures. The product edit itself is also kept to a minimum, focusing on multifunctionality and unfussy, instinctive application. The result is an effortless collection of everyday essentials with, as Val emphasises, ‘a hint of playfulness’.

Longevity Makeup is designed to work in tune with the skin rather than against it. As Salord explains in a Reel posted on Rowse’s Instagram account last week (15 May 2025), it’s make-up that is ‘so safe you could actually sleep in it’. In addition, these high-performing, multifunctional formulations cut down on the need for an increased number of product categories, in line with a ‘buy less, buy better’ consumption practice, whilst biotechnology significantly cuts down on water use, land exploitation and carbon footprint, when compared with traditional botanical extraction methods.

‘The beauty industry has responded kind of slowly, but thanks to the pressure from hundreds of independent brands like ours that are doing everything to provide cleaner, safer formulations [we are] answering the consumer’s demands,’ Salord continues in the Reel.

It’s a statement reinforced by The International Natural and Organic Cosmetics Association in a January 2025 report on the future of the natural beauty market: ‘Overall, the new year looks set to be key to setting the foundations shaping the future framework for natural and organic cosmetics innovation, compliance and communication as we move towards 2030,’ it reads.

With Longevity Makeup, Rowse is solidifying its role as a key player in shaping this trajectory.

Longevity Makeup by Rowse is available now.

rowse.co

Loewe’s Casa de Campo perfume captures the beginning of spring in a bottle. As the latest addition to the brand’s Un Paseo Por Madrid fragrance collection, an olfactory translation of some of the city’s most iconic landmarks, it pays tribute to Madrid’s largest urban park, originally built by King Philip II in the 16th century as a royal hunting estate.

Today, Casa de Campo is a favourite gathering spot for the city’s locals to escape the bustle of the city, with an Arcadian atmosphere and reputation as an oasis of relaxation. During springtime, as its almond trees and violets bloom, it becomes a place for informal gatherings between family and friends, informing the composition of the Casa de Campo perfume.

Loewe’s Casa de Campo perfume smells like the first day of spring

Here, enveloping notes of sandalwood and musk meet the powdery sweetness of violet, echoing the sensation of walking through the park’s impressive range of flora and fauna.

‘Each fragrance in the Un Paseo Por Madrid collection creates a sensory experience of these iconic locations,’ explains the brand’s in-house perfumer and nose behind Casa de Campo, Núria Cruelles. ‘With Casa de Campo we have created a floral formula that transmits the real essence of this area; while the addition of sandalwood and musk helps to craft a deep and enveloping fragrance, blending woody warmth with a soft elegance, creating a olfactory experience that is ultimately luxurious and comforting.’

Casa de Campo also contains the brand’s signature ‘Loewe Accord’ which Cruelles developed as the olfactory signature of its fragrance line. Inspired by the Spanish rockrose – a wildflower that grows across the Iberian Peninsula – the accord has a raw, resinous character that makes it instantly recognisable. And, like all the other Un Paseo Por Madrid scents, Casa de Campo comes in a block-shaped glass bottle with a veined wooden topper.

For those who know Madrid, the fragrances will no doubt hold a special resonance, recreating the atmosphere of a familiar location and, inevitably, evoking the memories of the time spent there. Past locations and corresponding scents have included the Prado, the national art museum that is home to work by Velazquez, Bosch and Goya; Ópera, the city’s grand theatre for performing and musical arts; San Miguel, a lively market that is a monument to Spanish cuisine and Doré, the iconic 1920s cinema.

Yet, even those who have never set foot in the Spanish city can find a scent in the collection that speaks to them. Rosaleda, for example, is another fragrance included in the Un Paseo Por Madrid collection befitting springtime, inspired by the landscaped rose gardens in Madrid’s El Retiro park.

‘The Loewe Un Paseo Por Madrid fragrances embody a significant part of our Spanish roots; whether through the choice of ingredients or the inspirations behind each scent,’ says Cruelles. ‘This cultural background enriches the olfactory experience, ensuring that each fragrance reflects both a personal identity and the vibrant essence of Madrid. At the same time, the fragrances are also designed to be unique and memorable, I hope that people feel a deep personal connection with them, experiencing a sense of timeless elegance every time they are worn.’

perfumesloewe.com

Between 2014 and 2024, Spanish designer Jorge Penadés has been tirelessly researching the olive oil production systems of his birthplace in Andalucía. His decade-long research revealed that in this region – responsible for 20-25 per cent of global production and 80 per cent of Spain’s output – a significant amount of centuries-old native wood is discarded or sold as firewood because of undesirable characteristics. These include intricate knots, embedded stones, diverse trunk shapes and excessively dense wood, all of which can damage machinery during processing.

This discovery led Penadés to ponder how materials are often manipulated to conform to design industry standards, frequently overshadowing their intrinsic qualities. This reflects an extreme industrialisation of nature, exacerbated by the shift from traditional manual olive harvesting to super-intensive mechanisation. In these modern systems, trucks shake the trees, uprooting native species and replacing them with trees systematically planted in grids designed for efficient harvesting rather than ecological diversity.

Penadés’ investigation has led to the creation of a collection of furniture crafted from discarded centenary olive tree roots. These pieces will be showcased this weekend during Madrid Design Festival at ‘Uprooted’, an exhibition curated by London-based materials designer, researcher and author Seetal Solanki. Located in Espacio Gaviota, the showcase also includes material experiments and immersive spatial interventions alongside photographic reportage of the aggressive uprooting practices by visual artist Max Creasy.

The experiments, carried out by Penadés and guided by Solanki, led to many technical challenges due to the dense and irregular nature of olive tree roots. 'Unlike trunks, which grow upwards in a linear trajectory, roots grow organically in all directions looking for water and nutrients,' explains Penadés. 'Due to this situation, the roots typically have small stones embedded within them that can damage machinery. The roots can also be extremely hard which complicates cutting, and they have a tendency to bend unpredictably during drying. These technical challenges reshaped my entire design approach.'

The resulting works show how, rather than hinder the design process, the material's characteristics can actually inform and guide it. It is an approach that Solanki – founder and director of research studio, platform and consultancy Ma-tt-er – refers to as ‘material-led’. 'Materials have always led the way and humans have benefitted hugely from the life that they have provided for us,' she says. 'We need to resume our role as being stewards for materials as they are truly the guide towards a healthier planet and lifestyle for all living beings. We can achieve a lot more with a lot less if we consider a material-led design approach.'

To demonstrate this method, the exhibition includes Penadés' experiments with the wood, which are framed as a 'material interview', using 99 questions to explore the material’s reactions to various stimuli, such as burning, cutting, and soaking, among others.

Part research, part design exercise, ‘Uprooted’ probes the wider implications of cultivation, extraction, and exploitation. 'We hope to open up a conversation that feels relatable,' says Seetal. 'I personally would love for audiences to learn that materials cannot be extracted in a limitless manner without any consequences. We as designers are the caretakers of these materials and we need to pay more attention to and provide a respectful birth, life and death for each and every material we work with.’

Uprooted opens on 8th February at Espacio Gaviota, Calle Gaviota 25, Madrid
madriddesignfestival.lafabrica.com

For years, Madrid’s luxury hospitality scene was defined by a classic trio: The Ritz (now The Mandarin Oriental Ritz), The Westin Palace, and the historic Gran Hotel Inglés, which has stood since 1886. But the landscape is shifting. Since The Madrid Edition’s debut in 2022, the city has welcomed a wave of bold, design-forward newcomers. The latest to shake things up? Evok Collection with its new Brach Madrid hotel, its second in the Brach series, following the debut Paris property. When asked ‘Why Madrid?’, co-founder and managing director Emmanuel Sauvage doesn’t hesitate: ‘It’s simple, Brach is energy, it’s warm, it’s lively, it’s magnetic, and well, Gran Via is lively, it’s magnetic, it’s life, it’s energy!’

Wallpaper* checks in at: Brach Madrid

What’s on your doorstep?

From the hotel's spot on Gran Vía – Madrid’s beating heart, full of boutiques, cocktail bars, cafés, theatres, and cinemas – the real question isn’t what’s nearby, but what isn’t. This vibrant thoroughfare, a melting pot of Vienna Secession, New York Art Deco, Plateresque, Neo-Mudejar, and Haussmannian architectural styles, has earned its reputation as the city’s Broadway. Just moments away, the famed Paseo del Arte – home to the Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza, and Reina Sofía museums – offers a direct line to the artistic and cultural influences that have shaped the hotel itself.

Who is behind the design?

Acclaimed French industrial designer and architect Philippe Starck is no stranger to the world of luxury hotels, with over 40 projects to his name. Nor is he new to Evok Collection, having designed the original Brach in Paris. While Brach Paris was conceived as a ‘cultural hotel’, Starck describes Brach Madrid as one built on ‘love and passion’. ‘It is not about decoration, nor architecture; it is the opposite of trends,’ he explains. ‘Brach Madrid is a unique hotel for its desire to immerse us in a poetic, romantic Madrid story of happy nostalgia.’

The hotel stands on the site of the former Palacio de Masserano, built between 1919 and 1922 by architect Jerónimo Pedro Mathet Rodríguez – where French Romantic writer Victor Hugo lived as a child. Brach Madrid embraces the past in its details while speaking the language of contemporary design, a form of modern nostalgia. Its listed façades have been restored to their original condition, while interiors channel the spirit and energy of 1920s and 1930s Madrid. The public spaces hum with the city’s vibrancy, but the guest rooms and suites? They offer a world entirely their own.

The room to book

Brach Madrid offers 57 rooms, including three suites, designed to feel like an intimate, eclectic private home. Wood panelling, leather, pottery, and basketwork create a sense of warmth and softness, while pops of bright pink and orange in the tassels and trimmings nod to the vibrant chaquetillas of traditional bullfighting attire and the energy of Spanish dance. The bathrooms make a statement with breccia floors and an oversized mirror framed in glazed terracotta. Abstract botanical swirls and organic patterns emerge from the deep moss-green enamel, accented with bronze highlights.

Every inch of the space is layered with meaning. Starck envisions a love story – a woman adored by a man who fills the room with objects that evoke their romance: castanets, a tambourine, a guitar, a travel diary drawn across the leather headboard. ‘Everything has been imagined, specially created, crafted, or sourced. The colours, fabrics, materials, and furniture all weave the story of this couple. But guests are free to reinterpret it in their own way,’ he says. For ultimate comfort, book the Antonio suite, which can be interconnected with a deluxe room via a shaded terrace overlooking the city.

Minibar high?

The minibar is well-stocked with soft drinks, wines, champagne, and premium spirits like Clase Azul Reposado Tequila and Belvedere Organic Vodka – perfect for mixing cocktails at the in-room station. The ‘Épicerie Evok’ section adds a gourmet touch with truffle chips, praline almonds, and, naturally, jamón. There’s also an in-room mini-concept store that offers an eclectic mix of Brach merchandise, including candles, perfumes, toiletry bags, and even a bike bell.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

For Brach Le Restaurant, Starck set out to capture the spirit of a grand café in 1920s Madrid – a lively, intellectual hub where poets of the Generation of ’27, an influential group of writers, including Federico García Lorca and Rafael Alberti, might have gathered. The space boasts rich, wood-panelled walls, tilted mirrors, a dramatic fresco, leather accents, and theatrical lighting. Chef Adam Bentalha curates a sun-soaked Mediterranean menu – begin the journey with warm Challah bread and a refreshing olive and fig tapenade to dip in.

Meanwhile, La Pâtisserie pays tribute to the coffee-and-pastry ritual cherished by both Parisians and Madrileños. Whether you stay in or take away, expect regal Paris-Brests, indulgent éclairs, creamy flans, and more. Tucked within this space is an intimate cocktail bar. All of the objects and paintings seen across the food and beverage areas were sourced by Starck for over three years, from auction catalogues, aiming to evoke the artistic soul of early 20th-century Spain.

Where to switch off

While the rest of the hotel is rooted in rich, weighty materials, La Capsule spa takes a different approach – a serene, cloud-like retreat. ‘Weightlessness changes relativity and the weight of the body is replaced by pure spiritual energy,’ Starck explains. Cream marble interiors set the tone for a tranquil escape, featuring a 20m swimming pool, mindful movement sessions, and fitness coaching. Wellness extends to high-tech therapies, including a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, guided ice baths, an infrared sauna, a steam room, a flotation bath, and a recovery room. Guests can also indulge in specialised treatments such as cupping, Tui Na, Chi Nei Tsang massages, electrostimulation, LED photobiomodulation, and cryotherapy.

The verdict

Brach Madrid offers a stylish stay that resonates with the city’s artistic energy. Starck’s design philosophy – crafting spaces that tell a story and invite interaction – feels dynamic and refreshing. The rooms are playful and inviting, while the dining and bar areas strike a balance between sophistication and relaxed charm. It’s a place that captures Madrid’s cosmopolitan spirit, blending creativity, comfort, and elegance in equal measure.

Brach Madrid is located at Gran Vía, 20, 28013 Madrid, Spain; brachmadrid.com.Rates: from £405

Available to book on Expedia.com

It’s not exactly easy to pinpoint where the Wallpaper* editors will be. From design festivals to fashion weeks and OOO adventures, there’s always something exciting on our team’s calendars. Keep reading to find out where the magazine’s staff members will be heading in the new year.

Wallpaper* editors’ 2025 getaway plans

LA: Charlotte Gunn, Director of Digital Content

‘I will look forward to my annual trip to Los Angeles to visit friends and family. I spend the year diligently plotting all the new openings I want to try on a Google Map so I am fully prepped by the time we arrive. I’m already itching to try Camelia, a French fusion restaurant which opened in Echo Park at the end of the summer. I’m also keen to see how the development of Melrose Hill has progressed since my last visit – a couple of notable galleries had moved into the area and there was a pledge to redevelop a disused retail block with new independent shops and restaurants. To get me through the long British winter, I shall be dreaming of fresh seafood at sundown from The Jolly Oyster on Ventura beach.’

Venice & Helsinki: Ellie Stathaki, Architecture & Environment Director

‘The Venice Architecture Biennale always causes a stir of excitement at the architecture desk, so my biannual visit to the Italian city in May for the vernissage is at the top of my list for 2025. I am also dreaming of a winter trip to Helsinki. I’ve always felt there’s lots to see and enjoy in the Nordic capital, and I have only scratched the surface. I have only ever been for work, so going on a long weekend in a private capacity is also on my list. The reopening of Alvar Aalto’s Finlandia Hall in January just adds to the reasons why.’

Switzerland & Budapest: Hannah Tindle, Beauty & Grooming Editor

‘I’m hoping to travel to Clinique La Prairie in Switzerland in 2025, a spa and clinic that has been running since 1931. (Previous devotees to its ‘CLP method’ include Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo). I also want to visit the Omorovicza spa in Budapest, another institution with a storied past, built on the Rác Thermal Bath, which dates back to the 16th century.’

Naoshima: Jason Hughes, Creative Director

‘In 2025, I’m heading back to Japan, more specifically to visit the islands of Naoshima and Teshima, which sit in the Seto Inland Sea and are easily accessible by ferry from Osaka. Famous for their art and architecture, I look forward to exploring both islands on a bicycle and seeing the works of artists Yayoi Kusama, James Turrell, Walter De Maria and Lee Ufan. I’m planning to stay at Benesse House, a museum and hotel concept, designed by renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando.’

Australia, Uzbekistan and beyond: Lauren Ho, Travel Director

‘As I live my life constantly on the road, it’s important for me to plan my trips so that I make the most of each region or destination I am in. For 2025, I will be ringing in the new year in Sydney, followed by a few weeks of checking out new hotels in Australia. In late January, I will be heading to Beijing to see the newly opened Mandarin Oriental Qianmen, the group’s newest property, which unfolds within a 600-year-old hutong complex. This will be followed by a trip to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, which I am particularly excited about, and then, I will make my way to Europe, where I plan to explore Greece’s new hotel openings, and will head from Lisbon to the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe. While luxury hotels are my passion, at least once a year I like to visit a random destination I have never been to and that most people might not have access to. Finally, by June, I hope to make my annual pilgrimage to Africa to get my safari fix.’

Malaysia: Melina Keays, Entertaining Director

‘In February, I am travelling to The Datai beach resort in Langkawi - one of my favourite destinations in the world. Langkawi is the largest of a cluster of islands off the coast of northwestern Malaysia, separated from the mainland by the Strait of Malacca. I’ve been visiting this wonderful place for decades, and it never loses its allure. Langkawi is a proper tropical paradise; awarded Geopark status by UNESCO, it offers lush rainforests, stunning mountain ranges and white sand beaches.

There are fantastic things to see and do all over the island, which is rich in history and culture, but I could easily spend all my time at The Datai resort itself. It was designed by visionary architect Kerry Hill, who was determined to honour its environment, and set high over Datai Bay. The hotel is melded into its jungle setting, and its beautiful rooms and spaces float amidst the rainforest canopy, with breathtaking views of the Andaman Sea. The food at the Datai is superb, and I am particularly looking forward to the delicious Malaysian cuisine at The Gulai House, which is to be found at the end of a candle-lit jungle trail.’

Geneva: Tianna Williams, Editorial Executive

‘For the first week of spring, I will be heading to Geneva, Switzerland, to reunite with my cousin and sister. The location of this annual reunion varies from year to year, from the rolling hills of Shropshire, the coastline of the Gower Peninsula to London’s Hyde Park. I am excited to trade the London smog for crisp Mont Blanc mountain air, warm up with soothing mugs of hot chocolate, and, if feeling brave, take a plunge in Lake Geneva.’

Madrid, Rome, Paris: Sofia de la Cruz, Travel Editor

‘I tend to be quite spontaneous with the locations I travel to, often booking trips or accepting invitations at the last minute. That said, I will begin the new year in Madrid, and a few weeks later, I have a trip planned to Rome to explore the upcoming Hotel Romeo Roma, one of Zaha Hadid’s final projects before she died in 2016. I also have a weekend in Paris scheduled, which is something I make a point to do every year. As for the rest of the year, I hope to fulfil my lifelong dream of visiting Japan.’

Shanghai: Smilian Cibic, Editorial Assistant

‘I’m travelling to Shanghai to visit my dad, who has been working there for the past five years. I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s been up to. He’s designed his own micro home apartment, which has had quite a stir in the Chinese press. We will then travel together to Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital of China and then Shenzhen, the tech capital of the world.’

For more Travel content, visit Wallpaper*’s dedicated channel

Decorating your own Christmas tree is certainly an art form – although for most of us it may not extend too far beyond choosing a colour scheme and whether to go with or without lights. However, hotel Christmas trees are often elevated to the next level and will wow even the most discerning amateur. Whether adorned with AI baubles or 400 bellboy teddy bears, these are some of the most intriguingly decked-out trees around the world this year.

Hotel Christmas trees around the world

The Tokyo Edition hotels

The Tokyo Edition Toranomon, and The Tokyo Edition, Ginza, offer an alternative take on a classic Christmas tree. This year, the hotels have unveiled two sculptural installations by art director Yuni Yoshida in collaboration with the design brand 130 One Thirty. The concept was to create a ‘hotel within a hotel’. The result is two white ‘trees’ which have a delicate paper quality, and glow from within. Small windows have been carved into the installation to mimic that of lights or tinsel around a tree. Each ‘tree’ incorporates delicate design variations unique to each property.

The Tokyo Edition Toranomon is located at 4 Chome-1-1 Toranomon, Minato City, Tokyo 105-0001, Japan www.marriott.com

The Tokyo Edition, Ginza 2 Chome-8-13 Ginza, Chuo City, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan www.marriott.com

Ritz Paris

At Ritz Paris, the hotel’s bespoke Christmas tree has a focus on childhood nostalgia. The tree was designed by florist Anne Vitchen, who filled the tree with over 400 Ritz bellboy teddy bears. The hotel’s beloved mascot hasn’t just taken over the tree, but can be found in every corner of the hotel in a playful manner.

Ritz 15 Pl. Vendôme, 75001 Paris, France ritzparis.com

The Ned

The Ned has collaborated with whiskey brand The Macallan to unveil a collaborative Christmas tree which focuses on heritage and craftsmanship. The 22ft tree is inspired by the stunning distillery and the natural beauty of Speyside. The tree is adorned with red velvet bows, with copper baubles, an elegant nod to the distillery’s copper stills

The Ned is located at 27 Poultry, London EC2R 8AJ thened.com

Claridge’s

The unveiling of Claridge’s Christmas tree is always a momentous occasion. Last year, Paul Smith took over the 19ft tree in an ode to traditional toy making. This year, it is the turn of Burberry and its creative director Daniel Lee to imagine Claridge’s 2025 Christmas tree. At the centre of the 16ft tree’s design are the numerous bows that adorn it, each one crafted from surplus Burberry fabric (Lee said he chose the leitmotif because the bow was a ‘Victorian symbol of unity’). The top of the tree features a golden crown in lieu of a star or fairy, while the floor around the tree is piled with Burberry cushions and populated with oversized chess pieces.

Claridge’s is located at Brook St, London W1K 4HR www.claridges.co.uk

The Barcelona Edition

With avant garde flare, The Barcelona Edition has collaborated with Fabricio Giordano, founder and creative director of Flore Studio, a floral design studio and flower, plant and orchid boutique. Giordano gave a classic Christmas tree a contemporary twist by wrapping it in a net casing. Sharing on Barcelona Edition’s Instagram, Giordano said, ‘To wrap is to embrace, to contain, to turn inward, and a loving gesture. This year’s festive tree stands as a manifesto to embrace who we are and what we live, through abstract beauty.’

Barcelona Edition is located at Av. de Francesc Cambó, 14, Ciutat Vella, 08003 Barcelona, Spain www.marriott.com

The Rome Edition

You can find the Rome Edition's tree nestled in the hotel entrance. Designed by Milan-based artist, Sara Riccardi, she worked in close collaboration storied Turin workshop, Antica Fabbrica Passamanerie Massia Vittorio for this commission. The result is a striking tree comprised of textile compositions and cascading fringes in various shades of red. More than just a visual spectacle, it also engages sight and sound, with aluminium rods which echo vibrations. This is a contemporary tree not just to be admired, but also experienced.

The Rome Edition is located at Salita di S. Nicola da Tolentino, 14, 00187 Roma RM, Italy editionhotels.com

The Connaught

Outside The Connaught stands a 31-foot-tall Nordmann Fir tree, sourced from Denmark and designed by contemporary visual artist Urs Fischer. This is Fischer's 10th tree for The Connaught, and for 2025 he has taken inspiration from his installation ‘People’. AI-generated faces are placed within spheres, each lit with LED light – the tree captures people sharing collective experiences, and is rooted in togetherness.

The Connaught, Carlos Pl, London W1K 2AL www.the-connaught.co.uk

45 Park Lane

At 45 Park Lane, the evergreen Nordmann Fir has been designed by British sculptor Ian Turnock. For this year’s tree, Turnock was inspired by the stillness of winter, which he captured through sculptural decorations which reflect light and shadow in intricate patterns. There are metal finishes to the decorations which elevates the tree into a mesmerising installation, rather than a decorative object.

45 Park Ln, London W1K 1PN dorchestercollection.com

Summer is in full swing – which means you’re either on holiday or coveting the posts of friends who are. The latest crop of design-driven new hotels is tailor-made for escapism – from Fouquet’s opening a Cycladic sanctuary to reset in between (or instead of) partying hard on the island of Mykonos to a fresh-faced boutique stay with unmistakable New England charm on Cape Cod. Also on our radar this month: Annua Signature expands its glorious grip on Mallorca, a storied Montréal stay debuts a decadent new look and a San Sebastian landmark stars in a cinematic next act.

The world’s best new hotel openings

July 2026

Fouquet’s Mykonos, Greece

Fouquet’s Mykonos expands the brand’s reach beyond its exclusive addresses in Paris, New York City, Courchevel, and Saint-Barthélemy to a Grecian jetset hotspot. Set on Paraga Beach, on the southern coast of Mykonos, the sanctuary, designed by Divercity Architects, trades clubbing for calm. Embracing a contemporary take on traditional Cycladic aesthetics, it offers sweeping views of sparkling azure waters of the Aegean Sea from its 61 breezy suites and three villas, imbued with the serenity of sun-faded neutrals, clean lines and natural materials like stone. Embracing restoration, the wellness-focused amenities include indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a spa sanctuary in partnership with Dr Barbara Sturm (think hyperbaric oxygen therapy, a flotation tank and an ice bath) and a basketball court carved directly into the rock.

Fouquet’s Mykonos is located at Paraga 0, Mykonos 846 00, Greece

Gran Hotel Margalida, Banyalbufar, Spain

Annua Signature builds on its Spanish presence with the debut of Gran Hotel Margalida, located in the village of Banyalbufar on the quieter western coast of Mallorca. Madrid-based architect Álvaro Onieva and interior designer Virginia Nieto reinvented a historic building into a contemporary escape that captures the elemental beauty and ease of the Balearics. Local materials – notably stone references the Tramuntana mountain range – hues inspired by the Mallorcan glow and vast water views set the tone for an unhurried Mediterranean holiday. Guests can float between the terraces planted with indigenous wild olive and 29 sea-facing rooms, warmed with sunny yellow accents. For an added dose of relaxation, the wellness area has an indoor pool and a light-washed wood gym that may be the chicest of all.

Gran Hotel Margalida is located at Carrer Major, 49, 07191 Banyalbufar, Illes Balears, Spain

Hoshinoya Nara Prison

Working with longtime collaborator and architect Rie Azuma, Hoshinoya Resorts has transformed the former Nara Prison – the sole survivor of architect Keijiro Yamashita's Five Great Meiji Prisons, built in 1908 by inmates – into 48 soigné suites. Each merges nine to eleven former cells, contrasting century-old red-brick masonry with contemporary finishes. The hotel’s layout mimics a hand: five cell wings radiate from a central watchtower where guards once surveyed prisoners. The former detention block now houses a Japanese-French restaurant, whilst an adjoining museum, provocatively titled ‘An Eternal Question Posed by an Iconic Prison’, asks visitors to meditate on liberty inside spaces built to deny it.

Hoshinoya Nara Prison is located at 18 Hannyajicho, Nara, 630-8102, Japan

Hôtel Nelligan, Montréal, Canada

Following a comprehensive transformation led by Corner Collection, a Montreal-based family-owned independent hospitality group, in collaboration with Atelier Zébulon Perron, the luxe redux of Hôtel Nelligan honours the heritage of existing architectural elements – including original stonework and exposed brick – while integrating refined materials to create a cohesive, elevated environment in lockstep with the past and present identity of Old Montréal. Fostering a deeper sense of place are partnerships with local artists and makers such as Lambert & Fils and St-Damase. The use of rich velvet sofas in elegantly curved shapes, deeply veined marble and warm wood infuses the interiors with character, from the 102 guest rooms to the atmospheric modern Greek restaurant and cocktail bar/music salon nestled within the old stone vaults.

Hôtel Nelligan is located at 106 Rue St-Paul Ouest, Montréal, QC H2Y 1Z3, Canada

Hotel Palacio Bellas Artes, Curio Collection by Hilton, San Sebastián, Spain

One of Spain’s earliest grand movie theatres just entered a second act as a striking hotel. Isabel López Vilalta recast the 1914 Beaux-Arts cinema as Hotel Palacio Bellas Artes, Curio Collection by Hilton, reawakening the building’s spirit and inviting an international audience to experience it anew. An audacious destination for design and gastronomy, the landmark hotel weaves rich colour, texture and subtle cinematic references into a tapestry of early film glamour and San Sebastián’s cultural heritage. The 81 rooms and suites are dressed in sumptuous shades of rose, with heavy drapery and velvet walls that nod to a theatrical past. This sense of drama carries through to the lobby bar and the highly anticipated Basque-influenced restaurant.

Hotel Palacio Bellas Artes, Curio Collection by Hilton is located at Urbieta Kalea, 61, 20006 Donostia / San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain

Shore Haven Inn, Falmouth, Massachusetts, USA

Cape Cod is one of New England’s most quintessential summer colonies, with an elite pedigree that spans the Kennedy clan and present-day polo-clad elites. But a younger, cooler, more accessible undercurrent is sweeping in. Riding this wave, Lark Hotels continues its commitment to reinvigorating tired stateside digs into hip haunts for modern-minded travellers. At the old Victorian hotel, formerly known as the Beach Breeze Inn, hydrangea-framed gardens, freshly cut lawns, white Adirondack chairs and a classic shingled exterior look like a postcard from the Cape. Boston-based Rachel Reider Interiors gave the hotel a fresh new look, anchored by a coastal palette of watery blues, soft greens and sand, complemented by textured wallcoverings, light wood and rattan accents.

Shore Haven Inn is located at 321 Shore St, Falmouth, MA 02540, United States

The Dean Munich

Irish lifestyle brand The Dean has arrived in Munich’s Westend. Set between the main station and Theresienwiese, the site of the annual Oktoberfest, the historic quarter trades its former factory past for creative studios and indie Java joints with Google and Apple offices nearby. Designer Tatjana von Stein, a Munich native, has reworked a 1970s hotel block into 281 rooms, fusing the city’s Art Nouveau roots with 1980s club culture. Glossy lacquer clashes with burr wood, velvet against polished chrome, whilst the lobby features an oversized eye motif channelling new-wave iconography. For sustenance, Ibasho opens with yellowtail hiramasa, slow-cooked pork shoulder temaco and Wagyu ribeye, and post-prandial treats are served up in four bars, including a hidden speakeasy.

The Dean Munich is located at Landsberger Str. 68, 80339 Munich, Germany

June 2026

Casa Cedo, Porto, Portugal

Porto is known for Port wine and the bridges across the Douro River, but it’s underrated when it comes to its boutique hotel scene. Casa Cedo has the potential to put the city on the design-driven hospitality map for a cohort of travellers who prioritise intimacy and curation over spectacle and scale. Daniela Franceschini, founder of Lisbon-based Quiet Studios, worked closely with local artisans and creatives – including Ayala Braidman, a ceramist based in Porto, and Portuguese visual artist Juliana Julieta – to imbue the property with character. The rich details carry from the eight rooms to the common areas: a lounge area, rooftop, private rear garden and a living/dining room that hosts special events with buzzed-about local chefs, as well as a hybrid reception and retail cabinet with ceramics, coffee, fresh flowers and Byredo fragrances.

Casa Cedo is located at R. de Cedofeita n. 334, 4050-174 Porto, Portugal

La Darbia, Chianti, Italy

A peaceful escape with access to wineries in Chianti and Florence (just a 25-minute drive away), La Darbia sits on a hilltop estate spanning 15 hectares of olive groves, meadows, and lavender fields. Restored by Studio Primatesta, the intimate retreat is the result of a meticulous renovation that preserves the 11th-century site’s original character and heritage. A contemporary spark comes through local materials – pietra serena, terracotta, travertine, and wood – and traditional craftsmanship techniques, such as intricate woodwork by Flavio Bettio, which ground its sense of place. Tucked into a trio of historic farmhouses, each of the 17 light-filled suites (four of which cater to families) is individually decorated with layered textures, while the windows frame the rolling countryside. The restaurant, led by Chef Sebastiano Pagliaro, serves seasonal Tuscan cuisine. All guests have access to two panoramic swimming pools.

La Darbia is located at Via Case Sparse (Greve), 16, 50022 Greve in Chianti, Italy

Eréma, Milos, Greece

Empiria Group arrived in Milos with the opening of Erema, a member of Design Hotels, located on the southeastern coast of the island near Provatas Beach. While the moon-like landscape may be hard to pull your gaze away from, the architecture and interiors by Athens-based ID Laboratorium, led by Stamos Hondrodimos, are equally arresting without pulling focus. The volcanic terrain lays the foundation for its sensibility and environmental consciousness. Minerals such as stone and marble, alongside sun-faded earth tones, contribute to a grounded feel. From the 41 suites, each with a private pool and panoramic terraces overlooking the Aegean Sea, to the two restaurants, the indoor and outdoor spaces flow together, an expression of the Cycladic lifestyle. The third location of Anthologist, a boutique curated by Andria Mitsakos, stocks global finds, Greek ceramics and vintage treasures.

Eréma is located at Cape Chalaka, Plaka 848 00, Greece

Faraway Sag Harbor, New York

Faraway, the hip, heritage-tinged brand from Blue Flag, with outposts in Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, has expanded its reach out East. For Faraway Sag Harbor, Jenny Bukovec Studio, in collaboration with the in-house design team, gave the old Baron’s Cove a full facelift, reimagining the iconic hotel, located just a short walk from Havens Beach and Main Street, into a fresh-faced bolthole that draws on maritime history, merging a coastal palette and oceanic revival motifs. The 67 rooms and suites are clad in saturated hues and warm wood. The lobby lounge is envisioned as a hangout when not enjoying the outdoor spaces, including the covered porch, lush patio – conceived as the heart of the social scene – and outdoor pool. Guests also have access to Amalfi Coast–inspired dining at Zagara, a ground-floor bar and lounge and a gym.

Faraway Sag Harbor is located at 31 W. Water Street, Sag Harbor, NY 11963, United States

Kitirua Plains Lodge, Amboseli National Park, Kenya

Abercrombie & Kent’s return to Kenya, with the opening of Kitirua Plains Lodge, an A&K Sanctuary in Amboseli National Park, marks a full-circle moment informed by the legacy of having defined luxury safari travel in the 1960s and a clear vision for the future. Pivoting from archetypal tented camps to something more permanent, Luxury Frontiers created structures from quarried stone with sculptural roofs that nod to traditional mud-building forms and timber screening. Interiors draw directly from the surrounding dust, grasslands and wetlands. Earth tones come to life in textured clay plaster walls, green stucco, green onyx accents, locally sourced Mazeras stone and handwoven sisal ceilings. Kenyan-made furniture crafted from mango wood and African teak is complemented by woven grass artwork and raffia accessories. The sculptural spiral staircase in the main lodge, open-air boma for storytelling and meals under the stars and yoga deck are also calibrated to the landscape.

Kitirua Plains Lodge, an A&K Sanctuary is located at Amboseli National Park, Ol Tukai, Kenya

May 2026

The Baby Grand, Coronado, USA

For its second hotel venture, The Baby Grand, San Diego-based hospitality group CH Projects (the team behind the power-clash cult-favorite Lafayette Hotel in North Park) snapped up a prime perch along Orange Avenue. Once an asphalt parking lot, the 31-key boutique is poised to become Coronado’s coolest stay, steering away from the dulcet tones synonymous with SoCal style. Brooklyn studio Post Company crafted a lush aesthetic that toes the line between overgrown jungle and fantastical underwater oasis. The lobby roars with sculpted rock formations, swaying palms and private lagoons. The under-the-sea themes play out vividly in the rooms, with iridescent clamshell headboards and oversized mirrored minibars mashed up against custom leaf wallpaper and bold leopard prints. The flashy, sensorial feast carries over into dining concepts: an oyster-and-champagne bar with an ornate mosaic of sea creatures and a craggy, Greek-inspired taverna.

The Baby Grand is located at 1315 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA 92118, United States

Hotel Corduroy, Montauk, USA

Montauk, the easternmost point of Long Island and the furthest of the Hamptons towns from New York City, retains a more laid-back appeal than the buttoned-up, busier East Hampton. Hotel Corduroy – the latest venture from Blue Flag Capital, which also includes The Beachside on Nantucket – takes over the former Sunset Montauk. To convert the old motor court into a cool summer weekend escape, Ward + Gray drew on the area’s surfing heritage and its Atlantic coastal setting, grounding the project in a palette of deep green, sun-faded red and light oak. Conceived with mingling in mind, the 29-key hotel will feature outdoor gathering spaces for golden-hour cocktails and firepit stargazing, while the rooms act as sanctuaries with grasscloth wallpaper, reeded bamboo bedside tables and rattan-wrapped consoles.

Hotel Corduroy is located at 437 West Lake Drive, Montauk, NY 11954, United States

Nômade Temple Madrid, Spain

Mexican-owned Nômade brings its breezy, wellness-centric bohemian ethos to Spain’s largest city with Nômade Temple Madrid, a creativity-driven urban destination for design, culture and healing. Housed within the restored Las Letras building on Gran Vía, the hotel’s layered aesthetic, the work of Oneness, is a visual expression of its eclectic vibe – sun-faded reds, geometric prints, modular seating, bold lighting. There's a deeply entrenched spirituality, yet it’s still very socialable. The 93 rooms and two penthouses are tailored for rest; likewise, GÖN House of Healing focuses on restoration. The scene beyond the guests' quarters and wellness wing is far more happening: a 112-seat restaurant draped in natural stone, aged brass and dramatic drapery; a communal cafe softly lit with vintage-style lamps; a speakeasy and nightclub for vinyl and vivid photo opps and a lush, romantic rooftop.

Nômade Temple Madrid is located at Calle Gran Vía, 11, 28013 Madrid, Spain

Sublime Sand, Comporta, Portugal

Following the well-laid roadmap of its destination-defining older sibling, Sublime Sand captures the wild, natural ethos of Portugal’s chicest coastal enclave. The architecture by Lisbon-based Fragmentos in collaboration with Sublime Comporta’s original architect, José Charrua, harmonises with the rugged, windswept landscape of Alentejo, where umbrella pines and cork trees perfume the air and rice paddies stretch as far as the eye can see. The indoor-outdoor spaces, created by Andringa Studio, take a similar approach – drawing from the sun-faded palette of the surrounding landscape and incorporating minimalist textures, local materials like wood and stone and sculptural forms. These elements come together across the multi-bedroom villas, Beefbar, Davvero – the crowd-pleasing Italian restaurant from Sublime Lisboa – as well as the wellness facility and kids’ club.

Sublime Sand is located at Estrada Nacional (EN) 261-1, 7570-337 Muda, CCI 3954 Grândola, Portugal

Tierras Villas, Crete, Greece

A quiet departure from the thumping beats of Mykonos and the hordes swarming Santorini, Crete’s newest refuge, part of the family-owned Omicron Hotels group, focuses on heritage and halcyon. Designed by Manos Kipritidis, Tierras Villas embraces a peacefulness that’s both visual and visceral, signalling a shift in how the island is being discovered – slower, more intentionally, with a stronger orientation toward nature and an eye for aesthetics. Set against the sweeping backdrop of the Mediterranean, each of the five minimally designed villas features calming hues and organic materials such as stone and wood, along with a private pool and expansive terraces for sipping a crisp, chilled glass of Vidiano while soaking in sweeping views of the sparkling sea and blue sky.

Tierras Villas is located at Mononaftis, Ag.Pelagia, 715 00 Crete, Heraklion 715 00, Greece

April 2026

Airelles Palladio, Venezia, Italy

The first project outside France for Airelles reaffirms the French hotel group’s knack for transforming historic landmarks into richly appointed luxury retreats. Spread across impeccably restored buildings – including the church of Santa Maria della Presentazione – the property occupies the site of the late-16th-century Bauer Palladio. Architect and interior designer Christophe Tollemer conjures a Venetian fantasy, steeped in heritage and the serenity of Giudecca. A warm palette of ambers, mahogany and deep blues, along with terrazzo and marble floors, custom Fortuny chandeliers, delicate Murano glass pieces, Rubelli wall coverings and hand-selected antiques gives the impression of staying at a noble villa. The elegant effect carries through the 45 rooms and suites, three restaurants, five bars, a spa and wellness area and swimming pools.

Airelles Palladio, Venezia is located at Fondamenta Zitelle, 33, 30133 Venice, Italy

Conrad Athens The Ilisian, Greece

Like the phoenix, the regenerative bird that rises from the ashes in Greek mythology, Conrad Athens The Ilisian emerges from the remains of its predecessor: the former Hilton Athens. Occupying the redeveloped mid-century modernist landmark on Vasilissis Sofias Avenue, the 307-key hotel commemorates the building’s legacy, incorporating the original 620-square-meter marble façades by 20th-century Greek artist Yannis Moralis and exterior illumination by Eleftheria Deko, the Emmy Award-winning lighting designer behind the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The interiors by AvroKO pay tribute to the past through original furnishings pulled from the archives, which contrast with the sleek finishes and pop art of its modern revival. There are tonal rooms and suites with skyline views, nine restaurants and bars – including Athens’s first rooftop bar, reborn as Galaxy Dispensary – a spa and the largest outdoor pool in the city.

Conrad Athens The Ilisian is located at Vasilissis Sofias 46, Athina 115 28, Greece

Delano Miami Beach, USA

Delano Miami Beach isn’t a new build – the landmark property dates back to 1948, when its 14‑story tower was the tallest on the strip. Yet if you weren’t aware of its past, the slick surfaces and gleaming fixtures might belie its age. The transformation, led by Elastic, celebrates the spirit and sun-dappled lifestyle of Miami, while honouring the hotel’s legacy. The glossy pool area is flanked by umbrellas, accented with playful fringe. Rooms are bright and airy with crisp linens, light chevron wood flooring, rugs that evoke the soft sands below and large, ocean-facing windows. Gigi Rigolatto, the first-floor Italian concept designed by Hugo Toro, is a soaring oasis of striped plaster walls, intricately carved wooden panels and yellow Sienna marble.

Delano Miami Beach is located at 1685 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33139, United States

Read our full hotel review of Delano Miami Beach

Four Seasons Cartagena, Colombia

Located in Getsemaní, a vibrant neighbourhood steps from the Walled City, Four Seasons Cartagena captures the rhythm, romance and Caribbean charisma of Colombia’s most seductive city while also offering a sense of tranquillity and resort-style amenities. WATG breathed new life into a collection of historic buildings, restoring the Cloister of Saint Francis, timeworn façades, courtyards and the original Club Cartagena grand staircase. French designer François Catroux, in collaboration with Wimberly Interiors and AvroKO, shaped the interiors, which unfold in a warm embrace of old-world charm: intricate woodwork, sun-baked hues, and furnishings and textiles created by Colombian artisan Poli Mallarino. Guests can choose between colonial-style or contemporary rooms, each infused with timeless character. French studio SBM Interior Design extends the visual identity across the eight food and beverage venues, including the cocktail bar dedicated to architect Gastón Lelarge.

Four Seasons Cartagena is located at Calle 30 Media Luna 8B #8B-44, Getsemani, Cartagena 130001, Colombia

Read our full hotel review of Four Seasons Cartagena

Vestige Binidufà, Menorca, Spain

The buzz of Ibiza (thankfully) hasn’t yet reached Menorca. Nestled within an 800-hectare private estate on the island’s unspoiled northern coast, where native Minorcan cattle roam the untouched countryside, Vestige Binidufà preserves the bucolic side of the Balearics, sharing its sprawling grounds and amenities – including two restaurants, swimming pools and wellness facilities – with its hilltop sister, Vestige Son Ermità, which opened in June 2025. Shaped by the land and its history as a working farm, the in-house design studio, Vestige Estudio, restored a red-colored finca into an 11-bedroom, valley-ringed hideout that harmonises rustic farmhouse charm and serene sophistication, expressed through earthy hues, exposed wood beam ceilings, terracotta tile flooring, stone soaking tubs and antiques from the family’s collection.

Vestige Binidufà is located at Diseminado Binideufa, 18, 07750 Ferreries, Illes Balears, Spain

March 2026

1 Hotel Tokyo, Japan

Adding to Tokyo’s striking skyline, 1 Hotel Tokyo, the brand’s first seedling in Japan, is a masterclass in sustainable luxury within an urban setting, rising atop Akasaka Trust Tower. To create a biophilic oasis in one of Asia’s largest cities, Creme, in collaboration with 1 Hotel’s in-house design team, turned to nature, bringing the outdoors in through the thoughtful use of natural materials, a practice deeply rooted in both 1 Hotels’ philosophy and Japanese design. A vertical botanical installation, Oya stone and recycled timber panels greet guests in the 38th-floor lobby. Rooms are adorned with muted earthy hues, abundant greenery and floor-to-ceiling windows that flood in sunlight. The spaces feel like a breath of fresh air: a visual reset, a place to unwind above the bustle of the city.

1 Hotel Tokyo is located at 2 Chome-17-22 Akasaka, Minato City, Tokyo 107-0052, Japan

Read our full hotel review of 1 Hotel Tokyo

Fairmont Hanoi, Vietnam

Fairmont Hanoi, the brand’s first debut in Vietnam, adds a splash of modern luxury to the city’s Old Quarter. Glimmering gold and dripping in glamour, the 241-key hotel is a contemporary take on the opulence of Vietnamese tradition, poised to become a landmark in its own right. Influenced by French Colonial and Indochinese architecture, the sculpted, articulated façade, with collonaded podiums and balconies, punctuates the ever-changing cityscape. The interiors by Aston Design extend the aesthetic, while layering in elements that echo Vietnamese symbolism and the surrounding landscape, from a large-scale floral installation in the lobby to the vertical tapestry of vegetation in the courtyard. The clutch restaurants, bars and lounges serve as the social hubs, while the 3,500-square-meter spa and light wood-accented rooms channel artistry into relaxation.

Fairmont Hanoi is located at 10 Tran Nguyen Han Street, Hanoi, Vietnam

Read our full hotel review of Fairmont Hanoi

The Huntington Hotel, San Francisco, USA

San Francisco is in the midst of a renaissance, driven by new culinary and hospitality happenings, most notably the return of the Huntington Hotel. Once frequented by luminaries like Truman Capote, the storied Georgian estate helped put the city on the map. The redux – now part of Leading Hotels of the World – seeks to reclaim its cultural legacy. For hometown designer Ken Fulk, returning Nob Hill’s crown jewel to its ivy-clad glory required a grand reimagining of its accommodations, restaurant and wellness facilities, alongside a careful polishing of original plasterwork ceilings and boiserie panels. The 143 rooms and suites capture the elegance of the hotel’s heyday, enhanced by the allure of warm, muted hues and bold art. The Big Four benefited from a gracious upgrade without compromising its character, while the emblematic Nob Hill Spa once again beckons with an atrium crowned by Moorish fretwork and a heated indoor swimming pool.

The Huntington Hotel is located at 1075 California St, San Francisco, CA 94108, United States

The Lake Como Edition, Italy

Situated on Lake Como’s western shore in Cadenabbia, The Lake Como Edition balances heritage and hip, standing out among the historic landmarks of Italy’s most legendary lakeside destination. The Edition’s creative directors, Kirstin Bailey and Paul Haslhofer, in collaboration with Neri&Hu and architectural partner De.Tales, transformed a 19th-century palazzo into a modern interpretation of Italian glamour, translating the landscape – lush flora, turquoise water, pink sunsets – into a colour palette complemented by marble-faced archways and terrazzo floors. The lobby lounge is punctuated by a celadon green Sekoya marble bar and a custom Neri + Hu bauble chandelier, while the lakefront pool deck, dotted with striped umbrellas, looks ready to splash across postcards. Walnut furnishings and arched windows add character to the 148 rooms. True to the hotel’s forward-thinking ethos, there’s a state-of-the-art longevity spa for high-tech biohacking treatments and cryotherapy.

The Lake Como Edition is located at Via Regina, 41, 22011 Cadenabbia, Italy

Read our full hotel review of The Lake Como Edition

Six Senses London, UK

While most of London’s luxury hotels cluster around Mayfair and Belgravia, Six Senses London plants its flag in the heart of Bayswater. Taking cues from the building’s origins as the city’s first major department store, AvroKO looked to the heritage façade, the Great Exhibition and the streamliners of that era, weaving in modern, streamlined thinking and a soft palette that shifts the mood from retail to retreat. The residential-style rooms and suites unfold in a serene sweep of rounded forms, inky blues and warm woods. Some feature soaking tubs or glass stall showers that resemble old-school phone booths. Works by contemporary British artists complement a sculptural green bar, curved velvet seating and orb-like lighting in Whiteley’s Bar. Follow the restored circular staircase down to the basement spa, replete with a handmade porcelain petal sculpture by Ula Saniawa, a vaulted swimming pool and a biohacking recovery lounge.

Six Senses London is located at 1 Redan Pl, London W2 4SA, United Kingdom

Read our full hotel review of Six Senses London

February 2026

Alila Mayakoba, Riviera Maya, Mexico

Far removed from nightclubs and co-eds in Cancun, Alila Mayakoba shows off a more tranquil, down-to-earth side of the Riviera Maya. Huber Design Studio took a biophilic approach, celebrating the ecological beauty and deep cultural roots of the Yucatán Peninsula. Situated at the intersection of nature and culture, the five-star, adult-centric resort unfolds across mangrove-framed waterways, cenotes and the Caribbean coastline. Native, locally sourced materials – including tropical hardwoods such as tzalam, parota and rosa morada, along with stone ranging from hand-chiselled Mérida limestone to travertine – ground the design. Furniture, ceramics and henequén textiles handcrafted by Mexican artisans reinforce a sense of proximity and purpose, resulting in a retreat that feels deeply rooted in place while thoughtfully reducing its environmental footprint.

Alila Mayakoba is located at Carretera Federal Cancún-Playa del Carmen KM 298, Mexico

Ayan Zalaat, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Set on a 34-acre estate just outside Ulaanbaatar, Ayan Zalaat gives visitors a visually stunning and immersive introduction to Mongolian heritage. The combination of architecture led by the Mabetex Group and interior design by Fabio Friso reflect the country’s rich roots, while introducing a new echelon of glamour and grandeur to contrast its rugged surroundings. From the opulent double staircase and chandelier-studded reception to the 10 dazzling F&B concepts, it’s lavish on a considerably large-scale – but its sumptuous scene never overshadows its spirituality. The 32 rooms and suites show off bespoke furnishings, premium Mongolian wool carpets, marble bathrooms and expansive windows for soaking in the panoramic views. The property is also home to the Soma Temple and an ornately decorated Mongolian theatre, adorned with bright colours and intricate motifs, that hosts traditional throat singing (khöömii).

Ayan Zalaat is located at BZD - 11 khoroo, Ulaanbaatar 13241, Mongolia

The Newman, London, UK

Designed by the London-based studio Lind + Almond, The Newman is a new independent hotel that strikes a balance between a modern creative vision and nods to Fitzrovia's decades-long bohemian and literary heritage. Drawing inspiration from Art Deco design and the vibrant, creative spirit of the neighbourhood itself, the 81 rooms, including 16 suites, mix a soft yet warm neutral palette and geometric shapes with scene-setting art and a curated selection of books. Guests will also notice references to iconic figures such as the curves of the wood on the headboards, which recall the oversized bangles worn by British writer, heiress and political activist Nancy Cunard. Bathrooms feature bespoke tiling that echoes the façade of Gem Langham Court Hotel and sinks influenced by Shropshire House.

The Newman is located at 50 Newman St, London W1T 3EB, UK

Read our full hotel review of The Newman

The Vineta Hotel, Palm Beach, USA

The newest entrant to the posh Palm Beach scene, The Vineta Hotel, marks the first US opening for Oetker Hotels (the luxury hospitality brand behind Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc and Eden Rock - St Barths). Set on Cocoanut Row, just two blocks from Worth Avenue shopping, the elegant property revives what was previously The Chesterfield, a beloved Palm Beach hotel. Paris-based interior designer Tino Zervudachi headed the top-to-bottom renovation of the 1926 landmark, restoring iconic elements such as the distinctive Mediterranean Revival façade and leaning into its 100-year-old legacy with signature Palm Beach pastels and details like scalloped pendant lights that ooze coastal glamour. Snowbirds can expect 41 light-filled rooms, a flower-framed courtyard restaurant called Coco’s, a cocktail bar and a pool flanked by sun loungers.

The Vineta Hotel is located at 363 Cocoanut Row, Palm Beach, FL 33480, United States

White Elephant Aspen, USA

Colorado’s chicest winter hotspot welcomes a new stay aimed at the well-dressed coteries. White Elephant Aspen – the brand’s first Western outpost, joining properties in Nantucket and Palm Beach – introduces a contemporary, alpine-chic aesthetic to Aspen. The brainchild of Boston-based architectural firm EMBARC, the 54-key hotel showcases a mountainside colourway of white, cognac and charcoal, complemented by the natural textures of leather, wood and stone. Rooms and suites (some of which have crackling fireplaces) are kitted with porcelain tile, embossed headboards and oil-rubbed bronze light fixtures. The art collection boasts 125 original works, including landscapes by Alex Katz and rotating photography of nearby Maroon Bells by Bob Tabor. Guests familiar with the portfolio will appreciate the playful details, such as elephant door knockers.

White Elephant Aspen is located at 110 W Main St, Aspen, CO 81611, United States

January 2026

Andaz One Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand

For Andaz One Bangkok, a new lifestyle hotel on historic Wireless Road, Thailand interior design firm PIA drew inspiration from the pulse of the city, from the motorbike-jammed bustling streets to the hidden alleys. Envisioned as a base for ‘curious urban travellers,’ the design and energy aim to match the exuberance of the Thai capital. Colour and texture play an important role in expressing a sense of evolution. Arches – in mirrors, hallways and windows – nod to the curved lines of the Thai mid-century movement, while pops of sunny yellow and orange, bold works by Thai female artists and traditional window grills inject character and personality. As much a place to unwind as to sip cocktails at the swank lounge or swim in the outdoor infinity pool overlooking Lumphini Park, the 244 rooms are quiet with peaceful, leafy views.

Andaz One Bangkok is located at 201 Wireless Road, Lumphini, Patumwan, 10330 Bangkok, Thailand

Chesa Marchetta, Engadin Valley, Switzerland

In 2014, Iwan and Manuela Wirth, co-founders of the international gallery Hauser & Wirth, expanded into hospitality with the creation of Artfarm and, four years later, opened The Fife Arms in Scotland. The creative powerhouse couple has done it again with Chesa Marchetta, a cosy 13-bedroom retreat in Sils Maria, a small village in Switzerland’s Engadin Valley. Reimagined by the design-oriented duo and frequent collaborator Luis Laplace, of the Paris-based interior architecture firm Laplace, the seasonal refuge comprises four historic buildings dating back to the 16th century, decorated with arven wood panelling, traditional Engadin furniture and blankets from a nearby weaving collective. As to be expected, the art collection is exceptional: a mix of works by Old Masters and local artists, alongside murals by Corin Sands. There’s also a former barn turned 46-seat restaurant, adorned with stone and an exposed wood-beam ceiling.

Chesa Marchetta is located at Via da Marias 88, 7514 Sils im Engadin/Segl, Switzerland

Read our full hotel review of Chesa Marchetta

Oculto, Mexico City, Mexico

Oculto, the latest venture from Vida Lenta – the hospitality group behind Hotel Dama in Condesa and Hotel Parián in Roma Norte – is an intimate boutique gem in Mexico City’s trendy Juárez neighbourhood. Fernanda Diaz, of Mexico City-based interior design studio Eran, conceived the hotel as both an intentional hideaway for travellers and a tribute to Mexican craftsmanship and creativity. Tucked behind an unassuming façade on Calle Versailles, the 21-room bolthole veers toward minimalism with polished concrete floors and clean lines, yet the interiors are anything but sterile. The palpable warmth comes from the thoughtful layering of locally sourced antiques and contemporary art, creating an authentic atmosphere that encourages slowing down while remaining unmistakably spirited, like CDMX itself.

Oculto is located at Calle Versalles 80, 06600 Mexico City, Mexico

Soori Penang, George Town, Malaysia

​For Soo K. Chan, ​the founder of award-winning firm​ SCDA Architects, Soori Penang​ – the follow-up to the flagship Soori Bali – is deeply personal. ​Situated in the oldest part​ of George Town, the UNESCO-designated historic heart of Penang, ​the extraordinary undertaking reinvents a​ collection of Khoo clan​ shophouses​, where the architect was born and raised, into an intimate 15-key ​luxury boutique hotel. Centuries-old craftsmanship shines, reflecting an unwavering reverence for the past, thoughtfully reinterpreted through a contemporary mindset. The generously proportioned one- to three-bedroom ​suites are imbued with heritage details, from motifs inspired by the ornate Khoo Kongsi temple to carved stone and onyx lanterns, complemented by custom-designed furniture and latticed shutters. Inner courtyards, with reflective pools and bespoke stone fountains, provide a tranquil place to unwind between excursions.

Soori Penang is located at 48 Lebuh Aceh, George Town, Penang, 10300, Malaysia

Read our full hotel review of Soori Penang

V Villas Maldives at Mirihi

International architecture and design firm Studio Gronda transformed an older resort in the South Ari Atoll into a stylish vacation paradise where tropical escapism is elevated with sun-dappled sophistication. The newly unveiled V Villas Maldives at Mirihi, debuting as part of Accor’s MGallery Collection, echoes the barefoot luxury essence of Maldivian holidays. In tune with the rhythms of island living, each of the 42 villas showcases contemporary open-air architecture, seamlessly integrating indoor and outdoor spaces. Throughout the property, guest sanctuaries are accented with timber floors, vaulted ceilings, natural textures and handcrafted furnishings. Accommodations range from overwater villas with private sun decks suspended above the lagoon to beachfront abodes shrouded by lush greenery, as well as multi-bedroom suites complete with private pools.

V Villas Maldives at Mirihi - MGallery Collection is located at Mirihi Island, 00190, Maldives

Functioning outside of reason and control, surrealism was an attractive movement for artists seeking alternatives to political realities in the twentieth century. As a medium, photographs particularly appealed, thanks in part to their ability to manipulate reality, subtly distorting the quotidian in a tribute to the uncanny.

André Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto, released 100 years ago, set the tone for this blurring of reality and fiction, a milestone now marked by Loewe and Loewe Foundation with an exhibition in Madrid. Throughout, curator María Millán draws on works created throughout the last century, from 24 artists based in Europe, Asia and the Americas, from recognised surrealist artists through to fashion photographers.

Offbeat photographic techniques, from sandwiched negatives, to double exposures, solarisation and photomontage are jarring juxtapositions against lighting and props that lend a sense of otherness to staging. Skewed proportions and different perspectives are seen in works such as Horst P. Horst’s Robert Wilson on Paul Walter Chair (1990), where a man on an oversized chair rests against a backdrop of painted clouds, or in David Wojnarowicz’s New York (1988), a collage of a steam train and a skeleton, which appears as if an X-Ray.

Elsewhere, surrealism’s fantastical nature is viewed through a religious lens by artists including Graciela Iturbide and Lola Álvarez Bravo, while portraits of Jean Cocteau by Berenice Abbott, Lucien Clergue, Philippe Halsman, Germaine Krull and Dora Maar lean towards more traditional surrealist sensibilities.

Loewe and Loewe Foundation presents 'Surrealist Centennial' at the Leica Gallery, Madrid, as part of PHotoESPAÑA, until 14 September 2024

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The remodelling of Real Madrid CF’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium is nearing completion, over 12 years since work began. A team of architects led by Madrid-based studio L35, comprising Hamburg’s GMP Architekten and Barcelona’s Ribas & Ribas, was tasked with recalibrating the stadium’s relationship with its surroundings and enhancing its public-facing function, as part of a renovation estimated to have cost €1.76 billion.

Tour the Santiago Bernabéu stadium in Madrid

Football lovers in the Spanish capital have already been enjoying new features at the stadium, which now spans 175,000 sq m, including its state-of-the-art retractable pitch – stored between matches in 25m-deep underground chambers – and a retractable roof that regulates noise and climatic conditions.

Now, the architects’ finishing touches will solidify the stadium’s new incarnation as a more accessible space for leisure, culture and community.

Although it had 57 entry points, the architects felt the lack of a principal gateway to welcome visitors with a weightiness befitting the Bernabéu, which has stood as a symbol of Madrid’s sporting prowess since 1947. 'The stadium is embedded in the city – it’s been there longer than everything surrounding it,' says Tristán López-Chicheri, CEO of L35, whose portfolio also includes Simón Bolívar stadium in La Paz and the El Campín complex in Bogotá. 'We’ve generated space for access that brings formality to this building.'

When it opens, this new entrance on Paseo de la Castellana – a major thoroughfare extending from central to northern Madrid – will offer a direct view to the football pitch. The new façade has added 15m of depth inside, creating zones for leisure, rest and events, as well as a new space for the football club’s museum. By shifting the position of two principal supporting towers, the architects have also allowed for more fluid pedestrian movement around the stadium.

To the east of the site, a former shopping centre has been demolished to make space for a public square set across two levels, including the entrance to a food court. New vehicle entrance points at this plaza now lead team and staff vehicles down into parking facilities below the stadium, while a new underground logistics tunnel enables swifter circulation of services.

Ahead of the redesign’s full completion, the stadium’s new exterior has already provided Madrileños with an impressively revamped local landmark, with horizontal, reflective stainless steel strips that wrap around the structure, creating a dynamic sense of movement. The undulating shape of this new curved façade is designed to reduce the impact of the building’s volume, explains L35 architect Guillermo Gusó García: the stadium is now 57m tall but its shape means the perceived size and scale change according to the movement of the outside viewer.

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Nowadays, tippling in Madrid bars seems incomplete without some flavoursome design to nibble on. With a wave of recent openings, designers and architects are crafting aesthetics that pair perfectly with what’s poured into your glass. Whether channelling edgy, industrial chic or nostalgia, these bars feature inventive approaches to design while incorporating elements of the Spanish capital’s history and traditions. Here are some of the key players shaking (and stirring) up Madrid’s drinks scene.

Madrid bars serving up style

La Analógica

US-born Nico Paredes worked in the music industry for several years before moving to Madrid from Nashville in 2022 – and he soon opened this indie music-themed bar, where his collection of 200 vinyls spin on the Technics SL 1650 record player. The walls display vinyl covers by artists ranging from The Strokes and Radiohead to Jungle and Lana del Rey, while each cocktail on the menu is inspired by a different album, including ‘Antics’ by Interpol and ‘King of the Beach’ by Wavves – all also exhibited. The space’s dark blue and orange colour theme is inspired by the cover art for ‘Invisible People’ by Chicano Batman, with leather sofas and vintage chairs sourced by furniture provider Francisco Segarra completing the retro look.

La Analógica is located at C. del Espíritu Santo, 15, laanalogica.com

Bar Trafalgar

With a façade inspired by an Edward Hopper painting, this bar has been capturing the nighthawks of Madrid’s Chamberí neighbourhood since it opened in 2022. Designed by architect Marta Banús, the space revolves around a large, curved, peninsular bar, whose counter has a zinc-looking finish created by metalworkers in the town of Valdepeñas, recalling Spanish traditions of old. The pool table is complete with a stainless steel cover that doubles up as a table surface, and artworks sourced from Madrid’s Estampa Gallery hang on the industrial-looking exposed walls. Meanwhile, the bar stools, blue velvet seats and cream-coloured leatherette sofas are the architecture studio’s own bespoke designs.

Bar Trafalgar is located at C. de Alburquerque, 14, bartrafalgar.es

La Estrella

Dark, star-filled skies are what inspired the design of this new two-floored cocktail joint, whose name translates to ‘the star’. With the help of Verbena Design Studio, the owners created a space that exudes a sense of nostalgic glamour, with velvet seating and 1970s Italian brass wall lights. Murals by the artist Ignasi Monreal made of blue and white ceramic tiles depict images of dreamy hedonism, which the designers say evoke the spirit of Madrid’s nightlife. Downstairs, the upholstered ceiling and distressed mirrors are dotted with stars, while the walls are filled with historic artworks sourced second-hand from Madrid’s Ritz hotel following its recent refurbishment, adding to the old-world aesthetic.

La Estrella is located at Calle de la Estrella, 3, @laestrellamadrid

Fat Cats Cocktail House

Inspired by the Fat Cat Burglars, a notorious gang of thieves who stole from wealthy elites around the US in the 1960s and 1970s, Alejandra Pombo studio wanted to design a space reminiscent of the luxurious homes of these robbers’ hapless victims. The bar’s entrance recreates the window of a jewellery store, a nod to the allure of looted jewels. Inside, the designers say, the carpeted floors and the fabric walls create the feeling of a 1970s American mansion, while the mirrors in the side of the bar, the corridor and the surface of the diamond-shaped tables suggest there’s nowhere to hide for even the most risqué among us.

Fat Cats Cocktail House is located at C. del Infante, 5, fatcatsmadrid.net

Gilda Haus

A high-gloss, metallic shade of pearl orange floods the floors, ceilings and walls at this new bar serving cocktails and gildas (pickled goods on skewers – a Madrid favourite). Designed by Codoo studio, the space oozes fantasy and indulgence, from the velvet curtains to the fabric carpets. Touches of light create nuance and texture within the monochromatic palette, such as the office-style tube lighting found in bright, concentrated blocks around the ceiling. The lightweight stainless steel chairs and tables are recognisable as those used on the terraces of classic Madrid bars: the designers say that placing such ubiquitous items in an otherwise highly stylised space brings avant-garde design together with the simplest of traditions.

Gilda House is located at C. de San Mateo, 6, @gildahaus_

ISA

With offices across the US, London and Bangkok, AvroKO studio designed the five different spaces of this Asian-inspired cocktail bar, located in Madrid’s Four Seasons hotel. One seating area features Japanese kintsugi-style decoration on the walls, while floral patterned fabric covers the walls and ceilings of the plush, romantically lit central lounge; Madrid-based artist Sandra Val created a ceiling fresco in the main bar area, and the speakeasy-style red room features a circular banquette and a sake barrel in the middle, surrounded by a variety of vintage chairs. The cocktails feature ingredients like lychee, jasmine, kumquat, shiso, ginger and lemongrass, while a selection of nigiri, sashimi, gyozas and more are available on the food menu.

ISA is located at C. de Sevilla, 3, fourseasons.com

Persimmons

The cocktails at this Georgia-inspired bar revolve around the traditional chacha, a traditional Georgian distillate, which this new Madrid establishment produces from the glossy, orange-coloured fruit that lends it its name. The persimmon is celebrated in the design too, such as in an artwork by Georgian artist Tinatin Tskhadadze, or in the colour of the restaurant’s most eye-catching table, designed by Olga Rusakova of Chapter One Studio. Swirls of the persimmon’s rich colour are also found in the marbled surface of the bar’s dark onyx counter, which is illuminated from within. Spread across two levels in the Salesas district, the space features items by nearby suppliers, like lighting by Ovalamp and tables and chairs by G69, while the bar stools are from Interiorismo, a Georgian outlet selling Spanish-designed furniture.

Persimmons is located at C. de Bárbara de Braganza, 2, persimmons.com.es

Yeite

The designers at Plantea Estudio say they wanted to create a ‘primitive’ look in this discreet, intimate new hideout in the Conde Duque neighbourhood, which they perfectly delivered. The space’s centrepiece is a monolithic stone block acting as the bar, and next to it, guests can enjoy signature cocktails and sophisticated snacks at low, circular tables (made of the same heavy granite) with space-efficient wooden stools that mimic the simplicity of old Madrid taverns. Together with the Pirelli rubber tiling on the floor and the stainless steel bar stools, the look is sturdy and utilitarian, but the space’s most striking feature is the Yves Klein blue on the walls – brilliant and evocative in the daylight, while deep and alluring in the evening. Look out for Alvar Aalto lighting pieces too.

Yeite is located at C. del Conde Duque, 14, yeite.es

Some artists relish the pristine white walls of a gallery, able to surround their immaculate creation with clinical absence. Nigerian-American Precious Okoyomon is not one of these artists, as anybody who navigated their mulchy, decaying, and regrowing landscape within the Arsenale sheds of the Venice Art Biennale 2022 will recall. There, a meandering path through topology, bushes, and mud sculptures, within a space shared with snails and butterflies, was not only explored with the eyes, but also the nose as a nature-led act of resistance against racism.

Butterflies made a return alongside an animatronic bear in Okoyomon’s recent project at Sant’Andrea de Scaphis in Rome – the artist transforming the deconsecrated church into a humid and sweaty tropical forest where butterflies lived their best – if short – lives in a purpose-designed habitat. Fragrant honeysuckle and roses grew alongside plants poisonous to us humans, but from which the butterflies took nourishment. Okoyomon’s work flourishes in non-gallery spaces that offer a pre-existing sense of place, within which they expand the otherness and create a new world of unexpected, immersive, and complex interior landscapes.

Okoyomon came to the world of art through poetry, reading from their first published volume at the Serpentine Galleries in 2018, at the invitation of curator Hans Ulrich Obrist. In Madrid, the two have reconvened for Obrist’s annual site-specific curation for Fundación Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, working within possibly the most Okoyomon-perfect space imaginable.

Precious Okoyomon’s When the Lambs Rise Up Against the Bird of Prey, in Madrid

'I asked if there was a cathedral inside a mountain in the centre of Madrid,' Obrist said. He and Okoyomon had been discussing a visual response to composer Alexander Scriabin’s early-20th-century, never-completed Mysterium, which would have comprised not only music but also smell and touch. Scriabin composed his work to be performed over a week within a Himalayan-foothills cathedral, hoping it would culminate in the end of the world and the replacement of humanity with a nobler being.

'And there was!' Obrist exclaimed. To his welcome surprise, there was such a space in Madrid. Secreted inside Montaña de los Gatos, an 18th-century artificial mountain in the corner of the city’s Parque de El Retiro, was a resonant brick void as if readymade for this moment. Inside, Okoyomon has created a copse of spindly trees, each reaching towards the glass rooflight at the summit of the dreamlike space. On a mound of earth supporting aromatic and lush vegetation, sits a nodding and swaying animatronic of a humanoid-lamb. The creature invokes poet and essayist Anne Boyer’s 2014 text When the Lambs Rise Up Against the Bird of Prey, Okoyomon here reimagining Boyer’s vulnerable creature as an all-seeing, all-knowing survivor. In a romantic, post-human world, this might be Scriabin’s nobler being.

A picturesque path wraps the outside of Montaña de los Gatos. At the summit, it is possible to peak through the glass roof, from a real world in the throes of a climate crisis, into Okoyomon’s fantastical, post-apocalyptic forest. Only glimpses of the trees can be seen, and the lamb is not visible past the glass, which in bright Spanish sunlight acts as a mirror, reflecting back the surrounding Parque de El Retiro. Until the 1868 overthrowing of Spain’s Queen Isabella II, the park – a neat geometric landscape of power, control, and polite decoration – was not open to the public.

But the tight dominance of nature (human and nonhuman) that the royal park represents is surely of the past. Within their brick hollow, Okoyomon offers a new kind of human-nature relationship, inviting imagination of possible future landscapes society may need to construct – ones maybe more primordial and chaotic, but also less hierarchical, dogmatic, and dominated.

'When the Lambs Rise Up Against the Bird of Prey' will be on display until 3 April 2024 in the Montaña de los gatos in El Retiro Park

Rowse is a plant-based beauty brand on a mission to embrace nature in all forms. It was on a particularly grey Parisian afternoon in 2018 when Spanish travel photographer Nuria Val and Gabriela Salord (a French marketing expert in the cosmetic sector) crossed paths. The serendipitous encounter marked the start of not only their friendship but the birth of the skincare brand, which uses cold-pressed, organic ingredients.

Paired with the knowledge of pharmacist Lamia el Kadiri, Rowse quickly grew into a line of face serums, body oils, shampoo bars, perfumes, and more. Fast forward six years, and after firmly planting its roots as one of the most coveted online marketplaces for natural beauty, Rowse has opened the doors to its debut flagship store in Madrid. The space represents the brand’s first standalone brick-and-mortar store, outside of its various pop-up locations across Europe. Located at Calle Vallehermoso 114 in the charming district of Chamberí, the store spans two floors featuring a boutique and wellness space for a multi-sensory retail experience. 

Inside the Rowse flagship store, designed by Isern Serra

‘Transitioning from an online presence to a physical space is an exciting step forward,’ Val and Salord tell Wallpaper*. With Val’s social presence as a reputable photographer and Salord’s reputation in beauty and business, it comes as no surprise that Rowse has garnered a vast following across Europe, notably in Scandinavia and the Mediterranean. ‘Our online community has grown tremendously and it’s incredibly rewarding to now have the opportunity to connect with them face-to-face,’ they continue. ‘This opening symbolises the shared values and aspirations of a growing community. It’s a tangible representation of the increasing awareness and support for brands like ours, that prioritise sustainability and environmental responsibility.’ 

The concern for environmental responsibility extends beyond the products and into the retail space, which is designed to cultivate a welcoming Mediterranean atmosphere. Barcelona-based architectural firm Isern Serra, who was previously tasked with designing Rowse’s Barcelona showroom in 2021, was enlisted once again.

The store incorporates responsibly produced fixtures from local craftsmen, against a minimal backdrop of white micro cement. Hints of earthy tones permeate the space, through wooden fixtures, terracotta hues and green potted plants. Furnishings are contemporary; a standout feature is the Muuto lamp and chair that grace the entrance, accompanied by long white curtains from family-led Spanish fabric house, Guell Lamadrid. Downstairs in the wellness space, terracotta walls create a ‘serene ambience’, lit by a bespoke light installation by Santa & Cole.

‘We want to cultivate a sense of warmth and comfort, allowing visitors to feel at home and at ease,’ explain Val and Salord. This is very much in keeping with the Rowse ethos, which almost operates as a global community as well as a skincare brand, encouraging connectivity through workshops and creative collaborations. ‘We’re diving headfirst into the world of wellness, with plans to host retreats across Europe, starting with Mallorca in the Balearic Islands,’ the founders say.

‘As for why we chose Madrid and this particular building, it's deeply personal,’ Val and Salord continue. ‘Madrid holds a special place in our hearts, as it's where our journey together began. It only felt natural to realise our dream of opening our flagship store in this vibrant and dynamic city.’ Another factor in selecting this location was the availability of an underground floor. We envisioned transforming it into a beauty oasis where we could provide facial treatments and host workshops. 

‘We’ve got some incredible plans brewing behind the scenes. While we can’t reveal all the details just yet, we’re continuously working on expanding our product line and exploring new ways to connect with our community.’

The Rowse flagship is located at Calle Vallehermoso 114, 28003, Madrid, showcasing the full product collection starting from €25.

rowse.co

Now in its 7th edition, Madrid Design Festival 2024 takes over the Spanish capital for 6-weeks, showing visitors that design has become an integral part of this historic city. Through historic design exhibitions, brand collaborations, showroom presentations and public events, the Festival gathered 700 professionals, 55 exhibitions and installations and 200 brands, highlighting Spain’s engagement with design in a variety of disciplines and themes such as urban design, community, collaboration, craftsmanship, AI, graphic design and hospitality. 

This year, the Madrid Design Festival gave awards for outstanding achievement to Miguel Milá, whose retrospective exhibition is a highlight of the festival, Piet Hein Eek and Irma Boom. The winner of the professional design category was the Office for Political Innovation for the Reggio School, while Angela Maria Manegual Roselló, a student at the design school in Mallorca, received the Young Talents award. 

Fiesta Design at the ILE

The ILE (Institución Libre de Enseñanza) serves as a central exhibition and gathering space for the MDF, hosting both the Madrid DesignPRO talks, which took place the opening weekend of the festival (February 14-17), and Fiesta Design exhibitions, which offer an experimental platform for brands and designers to collaborate on a project connected to design solutions to everyday living. A selection of this year’s presentations included ‘Weaving Networks’, a group exhibition curated by Mario Suárez with work by Spanish artists and designers who have chosen to establish their studios outside of major cities, preferring remote or rural settings as sites of creativity, community and inspiration. 

This idea was explored further with ‘Designing Repopulation’, an experimental project proposed by Andreu Carulla in partnership with Amazon. The project aims to address the problem of depopulation in Spanish rural villages, suggesting that with the opportunity of remote work, the Internet, and Amazon delivery services, living in smaller villages is a realistic possibility. For ten days, he moved his studio to Gistain, a remote mountainous town in Huesca, where less than 50 people currently live. Along with the tools he needed delivered by Amazon, Carulla set about creating a series of work using a felled tree. He connected with local residents, most of them elderly, whose expertise and experience proved essential to realise the pieces made for the exhibition. 

Heritage textile brand Gancedo partnered with nearly 20 designers who have studios in the Tetuán neighbourhood of Madrid. Using materials from the brand’s fabrics and textiles archive, each proposition, whether collage, sculpture or weaving, was completely unique yet tied to the distinctive characteristics of the neighbourhood such as its use of brick, low rise housing, or the tradition of bringing chairs onto the street after work to socialise with neighbours.

Soul & Matter presented a selection of Spanish craft, including works by Idiola Cuesta, Adriana Meunie, Maria Oriza, Canoa Lab and Marc Monzo, among many others. Having been a guest at the 2023 Chengdu Biennial in Korea, this exhibition brings together the work for the first time in Spain.

Institución Libre De Enseñanza
P.º del Gral. Martínez Campos, 14
Chamberí, 28010

Miguel Milá at the Fernán Gómez Cultural Centre

One of the festival’s most engaging exhibitions is the retrospective of Miguel Milá, one of Spain’s most influential mid-century designers. Curated by the designer’s son, Gonzalo Milá, and Claudia Oliva, ‘Miguel Milá, (Pre)industrial Designer’, includes more than 200 pieces, prototypes, plans and original drawings. 

Born in Barcelona in 1931, a time of austerity and scarcity, from an early age Milá was guided by the motto of 'be useful and you will be used'. This search for practicality and simplicity guided him throughout his life, with many of his best designs inspired by everyday domestic needs. 

A lamp that helped launch his career, ‘T.N.’, (1956), was designed for his tia (aunt) Nuria, (T.N), who requested a better reading lamp. His brother wanted a table that would not hide his rug, leading to the design of the rectangular glass table, and the now iconic ‘Cesta’ lamp, produced by Santa and Cole, remains as contemporary today as ever.

But while Milá was centred on practicality, this didn’t distract from his ability to experiment and be innovative. Using materials such as rattan and coloured glass, Milá was not afraid of pushing convention and developing new ideas throughout his career. For Milá, who continues to work today, craftsmanship and aesthetics are as essential as practicality, the combination of which has allowed his work to become timeless.

Fernán Gómez Cultural Centre
Pl. de Colón, 4
Salamanca, 28001

Chairs: Icons of Modern Design. The Alexander von Vegesack Collection 

Featuring over 80 pieces and 100 catalogues and publications, ‘Chairs: Icons of Modern Design. The Alexander von Vegesack Collection’, opens up the archive of one of the most important design collectors of the 20th century. The exhibition reveals not only the tastes of a visionary collector, but of the cultural and historical moments in which the pieces were made. As Pablo Sevilla, co-curator of the exhibition, notes, 'the exhibition is about the evolution of industrial design through the lens of the chair', an object that has always 'reflected the cultural, social and technological changes of the time.' 

It begins with the 1883 Thonet chaise lounge, and puts a focus on Thonet as a designer whose advanced ideas about style, comfort and production helped open the way for early 20th century designs. From here, thematic sections or ‘chapels’, as Sevilla describes them, present objects and ephemera on key design moments such as ‘Pop’, ‘PoMo’, ‘Space Odyssey’, and ‘After the Party’.

Insightful ‘dialogues’ can be made across the exhibition, such as with the installation of Alvar and Aino Aalto’s designs for the Paimo Sanatorium in which curves and wood are central themes, placed in contrast to Marcel Breuer’s ‘Tubes’ installation where metal and the machine of living are emphasised. As an avid traveller, von Vegesack refers to his collection as “Adventures in Objects”, having bought objects throughout his life as a way to document his travels. He continues this adventure today with Domaine de Boisbuchet, which serves as a laboratory for the designs of today and tomorrow, keeping alive his passion for design and as a documentarian of our times. 

‘Chairs: Icons of Modern Design. The Alexander von Vegesack Collection’ is curated by Guillermo Gil Fernández and Pablo Sevilla, until 31 March 2024

Centro Cultural de la Villa
Pl. de Colón, 4, Salamanca
28001 Madrid

Showrooms in Madrid

In addition to the festival’s main exhibitions and events, showrooms across the city opened their doors with specially commissioned pieces or installations. Among them, Andreu World highlighted its ambitious ‘Circular Design Challenge,’ Natuzzi featured an installation by Valencian designer JM Ferrero about soft spaces and sensations, Gandiablasco held a competition for design students to prepare a project using AI and their archives, and Mil Studios opened the doors to their beautifully renovated 2-floor showroom housed in a former textile factory, located on a quiet, residential street in the Tetuán neighbourhood of Madrid. 

Housed within the stark, concrete walls of a disused 400 sq m industrial garage, a new restaurant in Madrid is provoking diners to consider the function, provenance and durability of materials. Located in the Prosperidad neighbourhood, Tramo is an exercise in eco-conscious, low-energy design – and its gastronomy offers plates up a similar taste of all things slow and responsible.

Restaurant Tramo blends classic 1950s Madrid architecture with a conscious design ethos

At eight metres high, the original gabled roof – consisting of slender cement beams suspended by steel rods – remains in place, its skylight illuminating the dining hall naturally. This structure – low-cost and long-lasting – was typical of 1950s Madrid architecture, explain Tramo’s architects at SelgasCano studio, known in London for their 2015 Serpentine Pavilion and the Second Home offices.

While vast and voluminous overhead, the multi-levelled platforms on the restaurant’s floor delicately break up the otherwise open, unwalled space. Here, diners enjoy seasonal dishes from small suppliers – and if the tiered layout provides an auditorium effect, the open kitchen forms the stage. ‘We created smaller, welcoming areas,’ says Lucía Cano, one half of the architect duo, ‘generating different notes and circulations, in contrast with the angular industrial unit.’

Among the passive, geothermal and aerothermal systems that regulate the temperature is a three-metre-deep underground installation of earth tubes, where air circulates at 18 degrees. ‘The idea is for the space to renew from the inside,’ says Catalan designer Andreu Carulla, who created a network of ceramic passages through which the air is propelled into the restaurant - and they double up as the benches on which diners sit.

Made up of over a thousand individual, made-to-measure clay blocks, these ceramic benches exemplify Carulla’s fondness for modular design, which he explains reduces wastefulness by creating objects that are easy to repair, replace or improve. The philosophy also lends Tramo (Spanish for ‘section’ or ‘segment’) its name.

From reclaimed wood to recycled aluminium, the materials used here have long and multiple lives. The fabric in the seating is made of recycled fibre, while the cushions use material left over from the ceiling’s thermo-acoustic lining. Portable LED torches recharged using energy from the roof’s solar panels include light diffusers made of organic cotton paper, while earth dug out for the underground heat exchanger has been used to craft the restaurant’s plates and bowls.

Dishes served on this crockery include freshly caught lobster from Valladolid, organic vegetables from Cáceres, wild sea bass from the Canary Islands and grass-fed beef from regenerative farmers in Ávila. Apart from the coffee and the chocolate, Tramo’s menu only features produce from Spain, while also celebrating age-old, family-run trades like artisanal cheesemaking.

Rául Sánchez Aguirre, overseeing the culinary operations, says a similar ethos governs both cuisine and design. ‘Everything must be functional, high-quality, natural and local,’ explains the chef. ‘We’re getting as much as possible out of materials and produce, without anything superfluous.’

espaciotramo.com

Madrid Design Festival 2023 is based on the theme of ‘redesigning the world’ (until 9 April 2023). The citywide event features exhibitions, installations and conferences that address the theme of how design can offer solutions to the uncertainties and complexities faced by society today, from healthcare to housing, the climate and better urban living. The festival also spotlights the city’s diverse and engaged design scene, and offers reflections on historical design in connection with contemporary makers. 

With over 600 creative professionals participating across showrooms, cultural centres, galleries, restaurants and shops, including 50 spaces embraced by the OFF Festival, the city seems to be fully embracing its design potential and ambition. Main exhibitions include Fiesta Design at the Institución Libre de Enseñanza (Institute of Free Education) or ILE, which brings together brands such as Bombay, Ikea and Andreu World with emerging talent; and the subterranean Fernán Gómez Cultural Center, where several large group exhibitions by guest curators are on display. As part of the events, Stefano Boeri, Hella Jongerius and Curro Claret have been honoured with lifetime achievement awards for their distinctive contributions to the field of design and architecture.

madriddesignfestival.com

MADRID DESIGN FESTIVAL 2023: THE WALLPAPER* HIGHLIGHTS

Madre Natura – Mother Nature 

Curated by Teresa Herrero, 'Madre Natura' (Mother Nature), is a comprehensive exhibition that addresses the festival’s theme of design as a tool for change, looking specifically at materials and processes. Based around the four elements: water, air, earth and fire, it brings together work by 30 emerging and established artists working in the fields of craft and design, who are proposing new ideas and alternatives to traditional objects. Presented at the Féran Gómez Cultural Center, 'Madre Natura' is meant to connect with the viewer in an emotional way, giving insight not only into new ways of designing and making work, but how our individual choices can make a difference.

Justino del Casar’s vertebral vessels are made of paper that once held personal information, such as old philosophy exams, bank statements or lottery tickets, with the idea of giving a new life to these histories. ‘Pure Plants’, designed by Carmelo Zappulla in collaboration with Aldo Sollazzo, are 3D-printed cactus plants that use Pure Tech, a material that absorbs CO2 from the air. Icaro Maiterena’s compressed ceramics are ‘sculpted’, often in a performative way, by throwing the clay on the floor repeatedly or moving his body within it. And UK-born, Spanish-based artist Barbara Long’s stitched and lumpy installation that uses hand-sewn scraps of fabric reflects on different stages of life and how we are always constructing our future in the present.

Modernist Pottery in Madrid: Ceramics and Design in the Mid-20th Century

Also at the Féran Gómez Cultural Center, this unique exhibition seeks to bring recognition to Madrid’s place in the history of modernist design and ceramics. Despite the harshness of Franco’s regime in Spain during the 1950s to 1970s, artists and designers continued to make work in the country, but it was never, or very rarely, seen outside of their studios. Organised by Pedro Feduchi, a grandson of a potter from the era, and Pedro Reula, a design gallerist, the show sheds light on some of these forgotten artists and their intimate community. As few official archives of the era ever existed, the curators went to artists’ family members and friends to learn more about them and sorted through old boxes stored in basements to dig out pots, mosaics, objects, photographs and letters, and so piece history back together. 

It was only in 1958 that an official organisation was established to support Spanish industrial design, which eventually led to an exhibition at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York, one of the first official presentations of Madrid’s modernist artists and designers. 

Sevilla: Illuminated Shadows

Sevilla was the guest city invited to exhibit during the festival. Curated by Macarena Navarro-Reverter, with a dramatic installation design by Studio Noju that plays on the city’s intense sunlight and dark shadows, the exhibition at the Féran Gómez Cultural Center pairs traditional craftsmanship with contemporary design as a way to fuse the past with the present. Sevilla has a long history with very specific craftsmanship linked to elaborate religious rituals, such as the Easter week holiday, but it is also known for its traditions around bullfighting. There are centuries-old workshops specialised in materials such as golden embroidery, hat making, enamel and metalwork. Contemporary designers were invited to collaborate with craftsman to propose a new interpretation of materials or methods. Highlights include a striking installation of traditional Sevillian hats designed by Férnandez y Roche as well as the installation by Las Ánimas studio that subverts traditional sacred objects through materials and colours.

Alvaro Catalán de Ocon Studio

Alvaro Catalán de Ocon, who is celebrating ten years since the launch of his ‘PET Lamps’ project with an exhibition at El Matadero Cultural Centre in Madrid, opens his studio to the public during Madrid Design Festival. A four-floor building in the neighbourhood of Carabanchel, the studio opens a window into Catalán de Ocon’s process and offers a chance to see a selection of his work, including the new ‘Plastic Rivers’ carpet with GAN that is woven with recycled PET bottles and the ‘Ceramics Cu’ collection.

Natural Connections by AHEC at El Matadero

AHEC, which is supporting the Slow Design exhibition at the Féran Gómez Cultural Centre, also invited four designers to create a new piece of furniture that reflected on communal spaces and the natural world, using three types of wood: cherry, maple and red oak. Presenting their work at El Matadero, a former slaughterhouse-turned-cultural centre, each of the designers embraced the possibility for experimentation and new designs. Jorge Penadés sought to push the versatility of the medium through ‘Wrap’, a large modular communal table and shelving unit made with thin, lightweight wooden tubes that can be constructed in different ways. The possibilities for multiple installations plus the environmental aspect of less weight for shipping are intriguing.

Inma Bermudez and Moritz Krefter designed five benches, titled ‘La Manada Perdida’ (The Lost Herd), that are designed as places not only sit, but to talk and connect. The shapes call to mind cows or horses, as well as jungle gym equipment, but they also take inspiration from sawing benches. Hooks and handles invite handbags and coats, while children immediately want to play on them. Alvaro Catalán de Ocon developed a large hanging lamp titled ‘Nube’ (Cloud), using small, interconnected wooden cylinders that are linked together with wire. Pulled like a macramé skin that appears to almost float in the air, the fixture is like a ‘game of craft’, says the designer.

Mujeres que no son Florero

This intimate exhibition features ceramic vessels made by 14 female creatives, each with a bouquet of flowers specifically designed for the vase. It was conceived by ceramicist Adriana Cabello, in collaboration with Inma Bermudez, and first presented as part of the Valencia World Capital of Design 2022 events. The title of the exhibition is a play on words in Spanish about women being looked at as trophies rather than for their work, and the show is meant to highlight the relationship between ceramics and design and women’s strong presence in both fields.

For the Madrid Design Festival, the vases were installed in an apartment designed by Quam Architects, that is tucked off a main street in the city centre. Several Madrid-based designers were invited to participate and they collaborated with a local school of flower arranging. Gorgeous, sculptural installations, with vases that span bulbous forms and modern geometric shapes, feature stylish bouquets that work in perfect in harmony with the vessel. A highlight in the show was a vase by Inma Carpena that was broken in transit but was somehow reborn as one of the more poetic sculptural vessels on display.

Kauani Lamps

Part of the rising talents exhibition from Maison & Objet, now installed in connection with the Fiesta Design programme of MDF, the ‘Kauani’ lamps are a collection of 3D-knitted wireless lanterns created by Tornasol Studio’s co-founder Inés Llasera, and Mexican textile designer Inés Quezada. ‘Kauani’, which means ‘to flourish’ in Nahuatl, consists of three different lamps that emulate different elements of native Mexican flora, such as cactus, agave and corn as well as the colours of cacao and chilli peppers. The lamps are produced with a knitwear mill in Catalonia’s countryside. Their simple form and bright colours and patterns combine for a tactile and eye-catching object. 

Watching Ian Schrager unfurl new hotels across the world is like watching a man racing to make up for lost time. At last count, the legendary hotelier had a dozen properties in his Edition stable with at least half as many again in the pipeline. The latest property to open is The Madrid Edition hotel.

A four-storey bank built in the 1980s in the city’s Sol quarter has been reimagined into a 200-room hotel that boasts not just an impeccable location – the Plaza Major, royal palace and Gran Vía are all within easy reach – but also a crack design team comprising Schrager and his longtime collaborator and master of minimalist architecture John Pawson, and Paris-based designer François Champsaur.

Schrager was particularly keen to link the aesthetics and emotional experience of the design to the hotel’s specific location and physicality, the latter anchored unusually by a looming baroque portal designed by the 18th-century Spanish architect, Pedro de Ribera. And as the discussions with the design team developed, Pawson, who had also spearheaded The West Hollywood Edition (where you can stay as part of Wallpaper’s upcoming LA tour), says the idea emerged ‘to combine the energy and optimism of La Movida – the countercultural movement that sprang up in Madrid in the mid-1970s, after Franco’s death – with the sensory richness of a Velázquez painting’.

This approach has been translated into a palette that still bears all the hallmarks of Pawson’s work – think white Bianco Neve matt marble and white oak floors, alongside soft linen and leather – that’s overlaid with unexpected flourishes such as a sprawling garden terrace perfect for a postprandial cava, and the headboards in the bedrooms, which are a subtle deconstructed take on de Ribera’s elaborate portal.

The hotel’s defining moment occurs early with a head-turning spiral staircase at the entrance, whose ribboned form has no visible handrails. For Pawson, it was the project’s most challenging aspect – ‘We talked to a lot of fabricators and engineers,’ he says – but he also regards it as one of his biggest triumphs. ‘I love the tactile quality of its polished surfaces and the contrast with the deep tones of the baroque timber that encases it. The graphic dialogue between light and dark makes entry from Plaza de Celenque a very special experience – one that resonates through the wider design of the hotel.’

INFORMATION

editionhotels.com

johnpawson.com

champsaur.com 

Turning into this quiet, conventional residential street in Madrid, a visitor might be surprised to walk past Casa Galgo by Murado & Elvira Arquitectos. The new home is an ode to minimalism, all simple, white volumes, clean lines and a serene presence. And what makes this home even more memorable is its distinctive, slim main volume, a monolith of minimalist architecture, just 4m in width, which amply accommodates the house – albeit a narrow house – while adhering to local planning restrictions. 

In order to make the most of the narrow site (set in a densely built part of town), the architects, led by studio founders Clara Murado and Juan Elvira, dug down, plunging one generous level below ground while digging out wrap-around outdoor space to make sure light travels throughout the home. There is ‘a courtyard on the basement level, a garden with a swimming pool on the ground floor, and a double-height terrace on the first floor that expand and complement the tight interior of the house’, the architects explain. These allow for ‘a rich spatial experience while keeping the necessary privacy in a dense residential neighbourhood’.

The house spans four levels in total, which host a family room and garage, in the basement; the flowing living and kitchen space, on the ground level; the ensuite master bedroom, which occupies the whole first floor; and further bedrooms at the top. The whole is crowned by an accessible roof terrace. 

Clean surfaces and large openings help the natural light bounce off the walls, illuminating the interior. Meanwhile, large perforated metal sliding shutters add interest and nuance to the lighting experience. Similarly, the main staircase balustrade is elegantly woven to provide views through it, as well as a sculptural quality, as it spans levels and functions.

A slim, white, perforated bridge leads to the main entrance from the street, spanning playfully over the lower ground courtyard, while a spiral staircase connects an upper terrace to the second floor sun trap on the roof at the rear – adding a bit of drama and anticipation to this otherwise serene minimalist structure, a modestly sized, narrow house that punches above its weight.

INFORMATION

muradoelvira.es

A writer’s cabin in the north of Madrid is a striking bolthole for a children’s book author. The small home office, created by Barcelona-based MuDD Architects, uses a combination of digital fabrication and skilled building work for a curving sanctuary in the Sierra countryside.

With temperatures reaching lows of -20 degrees in winter, the design accommodated the challenges of the area’s climate. ‘We wanted to achieve a very transparent building while still offering some comfort in winter,’ explains MuDD Architects founder Stephanie Chaltiel. ‘To do so, thick 20cm stone wool insulation was used in between the wooden structure, while a hung chiminea placed in the middle heats the cabin.’ A rich mix of woods adds to the ambience, with different tones of maple syrup finishings in the wood a warm juxtaposition to the locally sourced pine of the bookshelves.

The curves of the bookshelves follow the sloping line of the roof, forming a sculptural wave against the clean lines of the cabin itself. A complex process, it required the precision which comes with computer-aided design. ‘With this project, there was the opportunity for us to highlight the possibility of using digital fabrication for everyday use,’ says Chaltiel, avoiding the complexity and expense usually present in parametric design. ‘The CNC cut vertical and horizontal doubly curved parts of the bookshelves and had a 0% imprecision tolerance while being drawn in 3D, but were difficult to mount on site,’ she adds. The pieces were then assembled like a jigsaw puzzle, held together by the friction of the wood.

The wood is a warm foil both for the glass and also the folded oxidized iron of the roof, a living material with a colour dependent on the levels of oxidation. The restrained cut of the slender oxidised iron frame of the main façade ensures a seamless transition to the vibrant garden outside. ‘The idea was to create a game of forces, where heavy elements look like they're held in equilibrium, stressed by the cast hung iron chiminea and the pale bookshelves inspired by horses captured in the midst of their frenetic race,’ says Chaltiel. ‘This project came a few months after the author almost lost her life during the pandemic crisis. The writer’s cabin is an architectural symphony of her being alive and being able to create in this unique new built home.

Information

muddarchitects.com

A hotspot for Madrid's elite when it first opened in 1946, the iconic Gran Hotel Velazquez has been given a second lease of life as the first outpost of Bless, a new collection of stylish urban retreats and beachside destinations from Ibiza-based Palladium Hotel Group.

Located in the city's upscale Salamanca District, an energetic half-hour stride from attractions such as the Museo del Prado or Plaza Mayor, the 111-room property is the work of prolific Barcelona-based designer Lázaro Rosa-Violan, who layered the building's original details, from the grand marble staircase to the glass dome, with contemporary touches that give a true sense of place – like the bed headboards and wall murals in the guestrooms that reference 19th-century Madrid with hunting scenes and country landscapes.

On the ground floor in Versus – originally called Ruleta – sip on cocktails under a roulette wheel ceiling installation, while in Etxeko, which is dominated by a central crystal pen that holds a life-size bull, cast in silver alloy, chef Martín Berasategui justifies his 10 Michelin stars with a menu based on the Basque standards of high quality raw ingredients, like the delicious oxtail cannelloni served on a bed of mashed potatoes and drizzled with a tempraillo bordeaux sauce, or the red tuna hot off the Josper Grill.

Come summer, Pico Pardos Sky Lounge will be the best place for a nightcap and views of the Golden Metropolis and beyond.

INFORMATION

Website

ADDRESS

Calle de Velázquez, 62

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A month-long celebration of creativity has just come to an end in the Spanish capital. In its second edition, the young and ambitious Madrid Design Festival (1-28 February) adorned the city with exhibitions, installations and activities.

The fair kicked off with a revision of Spanish modernity, ‘Darro: Design & Art (1959–1979)’, which was held at Fernán Gómez Villa Cultural Centre and told the story of its founder Paco Muñoz. The modern movement’s quest to produce inexpensive but well-designed living spaces in Spain during the 1920s was curtailed when the Francisco Franco dictatorship plunged the country into isolation. In the 1950-60s, Muñoz’s studio, Darro, reignited the concept and for two decades, in collaboration with major architects and artists such as Javier Carvajal, Miguel Fisac and Equipo 5, producing some of the most renowned works of Spanish modernity.

A selection of work exhibited at Extraperlo. From left to right: ‘Hypothesis 281’ by London-based Spanish designer Tomas Alonso; ‘List of Operable Coordinates for Two Drones to Kill Each Other in Symmetry’ by British artist, writer and film-maker Ilona Gaynor; ‘Lufa’ Torch by Mexican designer Feranado Laposse; a linocut print by Anna Ruiz of Jorge Penadés and Italian journalist and curator Maria Cristina Didero; Lampara Para Jorge Penadés by Spanish fashion photographer Nacho Alegre; ‘Cocoon’ Wardrobe by French artist Marlene Huissoud; ‘Books Without Content’ by Czech creative collective Okolo

Also at the centre was another flagship exhibition titled ‘Cuidado Diseño.’ The showcase explored contemporary Spanish crafts with projects initiated by the new generation, but executed with century-old traditions. Work by local designers included ‘FIlamento’ by Mayice Studio, a sculptural ceiling light made of a single piece of glass that measures more than one metre long and a Dekton clay table by Studio Apparatu, which explored innovative materials in collaboration with Spanish manufacturer Cosentino.

The fruits of a year-long collaboration between Finsa, an Iberian Peninsula-based MDF producer, and the Dutch collective Envisions was another example of material experimentation. For ‘Wood in Progress,’ six designers, including Simone Post, Roos Gomperts and Elvis Wesley, produced six prototypes by reinventing production processes and injecting a sense of curiosity and playfulness. 

Elsewhere, Barcelonian Guillermo Santomà, whose works are often classified as collectibles, extended his destructive yet poetic design language to the 19th-century opulent baroque setting of Museo Cerralbo. Here, he established a peculiar dialogue between his 12 new pieces – including a dissolving coach made of soft foam and purple resin – and the museum’s permanent collection.

Outside of the festival’s route were two unmissable exhibitions by Madrilenian names to watch. Alvaro Catalán de Ocon opened the doors to his new studio space in emerging creative district Carabanchel with a showcase of a new edition of his acclaimed ‘PET’ Lamp, a glimpse into the new collection ‘Ceramica Cu’ (which will be presented at the upcoming Salone del Mobile) and a pop-up store with Galleria Rossana Orlandi, which presented beautiful objects by fellow Spanish studios Andrea Santamarina and Moneo Brock.

Designer Jorge Penadés stepped into curator shoes for his show ‘Extraperlo’ which he created to expand the boundaries of design via a roll call of international authors with diverse profiles. In its first presentation at his work/live space in the Puerta del Ángel neighbourhood, locals such as Tomás Alonso, Cristian Zuzunaga, Julen Ussía, plus British designer James Shaw, American studio Chen Chen & Kai Williams, and Korean artist Kwangho Lee contributed freshly created objects.

Penadés also teased us with his new ‘Piscis’ collection for furniture brand BD Barcelona: six limited-edition vases created with extruded aluminium profiles from an old lamp in the company’s catalogue from the 1990s, which are also to be launched at Milan Design Week next month

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Madrid Design Festival website

Madrid's gastronomic scene is further boosted with the launch of Lobo 8, a neighbourhood restaurant which can be found inside Gran Hotel Inglés, which since 1853, had entertained a kaleidoscope of VIPs from Virginia Woolf to Henri Matisse.

Inspired by the tradition of the sherry tavern or 'tabanco', the restaurant, is named after the street it is located on, with Rockwell Group working a moodboard of dark sage, navy blue, oak, brass accents and splashes of burgundy, with added customised leather furniture and details like the framed wolf pictures. 

The seasonal menu is filled with traditional dishes such as Iberian pork cheek served with beetroot and tamarind, alongside equally classic desserts like the fried milk with rosemary and lemon or the mouthatering french toast 'torrija' and honey topped with milk meringue ice cream.

ADDRESS

Calle de Echegaray, 8

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Since 1836, generations of Madrid’s establishment and jeunesse dorée have been quietly inducted into the Casino de Madrid. Housed in a grand old pile in Calle Alcalá, the private members’ club has only ever allowed public access to its restaurants – the rooftop aerie of executive chef Paco Roncero being both the club’s crown jewel and a chance for nosy interlopers to peek into its grand interiors.

After 30 years of continuous service, La Terraza del Casino restaurant, a high-ceilinged space comprising a series of bright rooms linked by arched doorways, has become a modern classic.

The designer Jaime Hayon who redesigned its interiors 10 years ago has just returned for a spruce-up. In 2007 he intruded lightly on the historic space, injecting quiet moments of youthful levity and humour through his trademark love for geometric shapes. He set the scene at the reception by hanging a chandelier of polished metal and bulbs that, on second glance, morphs into the shape of a smiling face. From there, the Spaniard riffed off harlequin themes with black and white chequered marble floors, coloured glass, and canary yellow seats in a sea of white drapery.

For La Terraza del Casino redux, Hayon has brightened the palette considerably, transforming the greys and whites of the original design into a vivid tropical palette of blue and yellow accents set against a pale green interior. New ceramics, vases and objects and banana leaf palms were selected to add energy, combining to create an upbeat sense of glamour.  

The result is a vivacious yet sophisticated room that allows Roncero’s conceptual menu – think chicken with molé and truffle, and hake kokotxas with spinach curry and pil-pil sauce – to shine without ever looking pretentious. Consider us duly impressed.

ADDRESS

Casino de Madrid
Alcalá 15

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Since 1853, the Gran Hotel Inglés hotel had entertained a kaleidoscope of VIPs from Virginia Woolf to Henri Matisse, but after 165 years, the grand old pile in Madrid’s historic Barrio de las Letras quarter was showing its age.

Happily, the Rockwell Group has just completed a stylish tip-to-toe renovation, keeping intact the fine bones of Juan Jose Sanchez Pescador’s original design whilst breathing new life and modernity into the public spaces and 48 rooms. The lobby’s 20ft-high ceiling sparkles once more with chandeliers, whilst the bedrooms are swathed in leather, wallpaper prints of vintage hotel postcards, and marble.

In-house restaurant, Lobo 8, meanwhile, frames oak columns against chef Willy Moya’s comforting menu of traditional tapas and Madrilenian classics like calamari sandwiches, and braised bull-tail stew. A particularly nice touch is the hotel’s library of some 600 volumes curated by Spanish publisher Zenda, which are also available to guests on Kindles. 

ADDRESS

Calle Echegaray 8

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This is a tale of both a family and a country, and their heritages that spanned nearly half a century.

Deep in the Cantabrian Mountains, some 150 kilometres away from his hometown Oviedo in northern Spain, a young Joaquín Vaquero Palacios (1900-1998) used to travel around on horseback with his father, one of the founders of the Hidroeléctrica del Cantábrico company (now part of the EDP group). Here, immersed in resplendent scenery, they scouted for a location for what would become the second largest hydroelectric dam in Europe at the time.

But this was to be no ordinary dam. In the 1950s, Vaquero Palacios – now a trained architect, painter and sculptor – was entrusted by the company’s management to use his creative mind to enhance the environment and condition of its facilities. Over the coming decades, he created some of the finest examples of 20th-century modernist Spanish industrial buildings, integrating technology, architecture, design and art.

Fast forward to 2018 and Joaquín Vaquero Ibáñez, the architect grandson of Vaquero Palacios, who some 18 months ago decided to bring this project to light. ‘This body of work represents the futuristic vision from a very complicated period of Spanish history (the time after the Second World War and the end of the Civil War in Spain). People were able to break local barriers to impose intelligence, sensibility, modernity and an advanced vision of things,’ he says.

Madrid photographer Luis Asín was commissioned to create a new series of visuals to document the dams’ pharaonic dimensions. These images, alongside a selection of unseen old models, original sketches, period photographs and industrial objects, are now part of the exhibition (and accompanying book), ‘Joaquín Vaquero Palacios – The Beauty of the Colossal, Asturias, 1954-1980’, on view at the Museo ICO in Madrid.

Vaquero Palacios started working on Salime, the company’s first plant in Asturias in the late 1950s, and later came the prosperous plants Miranda (1962), Proaza (1968), Aboño (1980), and Tanes (1980). Greatly influenced by both his native landscape and his journeys to places including New York, Mexico City and Rome, the multi-faceted creator designed buildings covered with façades of fractured concrete planes, showing clear influence of expressionist architecture, and designed concrete viewpoints from where to appreciate the monumentality of the dam.

The interior is adorned with design elements such as staircases that feature handrails made of electric-cable; a free-standing circular wooden pavilion, in an imitation of a turbine, is placed in the common area as the meeting place; and in the main turbine hall, a vibrant pair of murals cover each side of the room, a co-creation with his son Joaquín Vaquero Turcios (Vaquero Ibáñez’s father). The architect affirmed that the integration of the arts in engineering was absolutely necessary: ‘All our day-to-day activities are saturated so we need to be appeased in some way to survive the tensions which we are subjected to.’

The achievement is more than an artistic intervention: the creator has succeeded in transforming these spaces through art and architecture; he has dignified the workplace and eliminated the workers’ sense of being buried in underground areas that can plunge as deep as 300 metres. ‘The concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, which balances engineering, architecture, interior design, design and art is something that we should take more in mind in our world of specialisation. We need people with a more general overview of our actual problematics,’ says Vaquero Ibáñez.

INFORMATION

‘Joaquín Vaquero Palacios. La belleza de lo descomunal. Asturias 1954–1980’ is on view until 6 May. For more information, visit the Museo ICO website

ADDRESS

Museo ICO
Calle de Zorrilla 3
28014 Madrid

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Studio MK27’s new housing scheme in Spain is substantial enough to pass for a lifetime’s architectural output for a less fortunate firm. Set in the western Madrid suburb of Somosaguas, the project covers more than a third of a hectare and comprises 21 private houses, arranged as a series of interlocking public and private spaces.

Marcio Kogan and Suzana Glogowski of Studio MK27 in São Paulo worked closely with the developer, builder and co-architect of the project, Enrique López of local operation Caledonian. For the Brazilians, the project was a first. ‘We’d retro-fitted interiors in Spain and Portugal, but this was our first new build in Europe,’ explains director Mariana Simas.

The job had its origins in Spain’s serious financial depression at the tail-end of the Noughties. ‘The client liked our projects,’ Kogan recalls, ‘and one day he called to say that he had an entire block near Madrid that he wanted to develop. Yet he also chose us for a particular economic reason. “In Brazil, you have a lot of experience of designing against crisis,” he told me.

That’s what he wanted to do in Spain. Design against crisis.’ The studio’s first proposal wasn’t met with much enthusiasm, though. ‘We suggested purchasers buy 70 sq m spaces, and then add another 70 to 150 sq m at a later date,’ recalls project architect Glogowski. ‘He refused that instantly,’ Kogan says cheerfully, ‘asking, “How can I sell something that doesn’t exist?”’ ‘We tried another approach,’ Glogowski continues, creating ‘a community that would be like an old medieval city – a pueblo – without cars’.

Modularity was key to this massive site. The masterplan was changed, changed and changed again as the number of houses on the site shrank according to the market’s desires for larger properties. The architects initially offered eight individual housing designs, but interested buyers clearly preferred three, ranging in size from around 80 to 200 sq m.

Planned using a grid of 1.25m squares, the site combines private terrace spaces with a series of winding pathways and small plazas. From above, it’s a jigsaw of almost unthinkable complexity. ‘It’s like Tetris,’ Kogan jokes. ‘Each house is actually unique, although similar, because we came up with a system that allowed variations. There is also a unity of materials.’

‘Although it’s a bit industrial-looking,’ Glogowski adds, ‘we have made it intentionally scrambled – you don’t know where one house ends and another begins.’

Outside, brilliant white walls and wooden walkways and doors contrast with the cascades of planting. The latter was overseen by Isabel Duprat, a former friend and collaborator of the legendary Roberto Burle Marx, undertaking her first European commission. Beds of wild flowers, ground-hugging shrubs and mature trees are set among the asymmetrically arranged decking, which rises and falls over five levels.

It certainly fulfils the original MK27 brief of creating an instant village, something that appears to have emerged organically over time. However, beneath this tranquil, pedestrian-only realm – and making all the bucolic, ground-level splendour possible – is a rigorously designed concrete underworld, containing residents’ car-parking, basement space and direct, discreet access to the houses.

López wasn’t just the client, but also the executive architect and the contractor. ‘The quality of construction is absolutely high-end,’ says Kogan. ‘It’s rare to have a spec house of this quality.’

‘He was even more demanding than us,’ Simas recalls. Studio MK27 is working on other similar projects for Caledonian in Spain, as well as a spec office building. Shared design values have certainly helped the process in Somosaguas, where the community has been tight-knit from the outset, with a strong creative vibe among the new owners, which include other architects.

Kogan and Glogowski visited the site every few months throughout the two-year build, although most discussion was carried out over Skype. Glogowski explains that as well as responding to the changing unit size, the masterplan was also revised to accommodate personal requests by each household. ‘We did it many times,’ she recalls. ‘You change one window in one house and you have to change everything else.’

The end result is clearly worth the complexity. While the project has hints of the vernacular, or even contemporary Spanish modernism, it’s filtered through MK27’s distinctive South American approach to domestic space, with generous views of verdant landscapes and a mix of private and open spaces. Most importantly of all, these houses have created an instant neighbourhood, united by design.

‘Children especially love it – it’s like a small city,’ Glogowski says. The central ‘square’ has a communal swimming pool but the architects are quick to point out that this is not a gated community. ‘There are no exterior walls in this project,’ says Kogan. ‘The outside is defined by the shape of the houses, not walls.’ Public and private, personal and shared, the different spaces are clearly delineated to those in the know, yet the overall effect is a rich composition of life-enhancing forms.

As originally featured in the November 2017 issue of Wallpaper* (W*224)

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Studio MK27 website and the Caledonian website

What will our future cities look like? When will we move to outer space? Could we swallow a pill that would make us fluent in new languages? These are just some of the questions – and predictions – that the Norman Foster Foundation is proposing with its new educational programme, bringing architecture, design and technology together under one roof.

The foundation, which has just moved into its new Madrid headquarters – a listed palace first built in 1912 and renovated by a studio within the Foundation led by Norman Foster – aims to train up a new generation of reactive practitioners to harness the vast flow of information accessible to us today. One of the programme’s key aims is to dismantle the silos that have traditionally kept educational fields separate. The foundation also provides a permanent home for Lord Foster’s impressive and growing archive of more than 74,000 objects collected since the 1950s.

The organisation is integral to Lord Foster’s roles as a professional architect, public citizen, and family man, serving as a form of cultural activism. It is his protean family motto – ‘the only constant is change’ – that rings most clearly in its philanthropic activity. As a student, Lord Foster himself relied on scholarships to study architecture. It was after receiving the Pritzker Prize in 1999 (and winning the sum of £100,000), that Lord Foster set up a foundation in collaboration with RIBA to support architecture students with travelling scholarships – an enterprise that will continue alongside that of the Norman Foster Foundation.

The HQ launched with a forum titled ‘Future is Now’, led by Lord Foster, which featured a stellar line-up of luminaries from a variety of sectors, including Jonathan Ive, Michael Bloomberg, Nicholas Negroponte, Patricia Urquiola and Maya Lin. They came together to deliberate how design and collaboration might address the topics up for discussion: cities; technology and design; and infrastructure.

Lord Foster’s keynote speech offered some empowering and thoughtful statements. ‘Design is the key to the future,’ he began, before rallying the audience to understanding the importance of interdisciplinary work. ‘The future is far too important to be left to one profession. All disciplines must pull together,’ he said. And with six decades of experience, from his student days as an early adopter of ‘green architecture’ to a professional who prides himself in running against convention, when Lord Foster says something, we must listen.

After presenting accessible yet hard-hitting statistics – ‘by 2050, 75 per cent of the population will be urban’ and ‘75 per cent of cities are on the coast’ – Lord Foster declared that ‘cities are the future now’. Continuing on to compare the densities of three case studies Houston (15 people per hectare), Madrid (55 people per hectare) and New York (260 people per hectare), he credited the success of major global megalopolises to geographical limits, such as London’s green belt or Manhattan Island. Lord Foster was an early pioneer of the skyscraper, as well as building the first post-9/11 high-rise in New York, the Hearst Tower, and now seeks to tackle new challenges such as bringing agriculture into the city through hydroponics.

Meanwhile, Michael Bloomberg addressed what happens when architecture and design meet politics, using examples of his achievements across business and government. He highlighted three contentious problems that the world faces including climate change, nuclear war and destruction of jobs through technology. ‘A lot of problems come from the cities, but solutions also come from the cities,’ the former Mayor of New York City said.

The panel continued with Lord Foster, Bloomberg, architect/artist Maya Lin and Richard Burdett, professor of urban studies at the London School of Economics, shifting the conversation to the transport revolution. ‘The car will become extinct,’ said Lord Foster, highlighting how 6m professional drivers in the US could be out of jobs – and the tension between technological progression and a fear of the unknown.

This was a sentiment reiterated by Jonathan Ive, chief design officer of Apple, when interviewed, in the ‘Technology and Design’ section of the forum, who spoke of the ‘rapid and intoxicating’ rate of change in expectation. And, when quizzed if he had any regrets, Ive said, ‘What haunts me more is the potential of ideas we’ve missed.’

Ive, who has recently been announced as the new chancellor of London’s Royal College of Art, has a collective approach to his work at Apple that is second nature. His speech was heavily seasoned with the all-inclusive pronoun of ‘we’ – not a single ‘I’ was heard during Ive’s interview. An attitude weighted further when asked what products excite you: ‘People. We make tools for people.’

The debate always found its way back to ‘people’, returning to the values that Lord Foster founded his Foundation upon. Designer Marc Newson discussed the role of creativity and his favourite tool, the pen (we’re sure it was the ‘Nautilus’ pen that Newson designed for Hermès, that he casually took from his inside pocket). ‘It’s still the speediest link from what’s up here [gesturing to his brain] to out there [gesturing out to the audience],’ he said.

Nicholas Negroponte, co-founder of the MIT Media Lab, amusingly used eggs and omelettes as an analogy for how humans working with and adding to nature could make a better result. And later, following an emergent egg theme, Patricia Urquiola used the frittata as a metaphor for bio-tech and ‘silo-breaking’.

After which Niall Ferguson, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, explained how an egg had hit his Tesla car in the morning of the forum driving through the anti-Uber strikes by cab drivers in Madrid. Drawing attention to the problems that occur when we ‘make people for tools’, he prophesised, ‘Your brilliant inventions will be misused'.

‘You don't want people driving cars!’ exclaimed Negroponte in return, leaving Ferguson feeling ‘outnumbered’ by optimists.

Further talks spanned the world’s first architectural robotic laboratory introduced by founder Matthias Kohler, professor of Architecture and Digital Fabrication at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, rising sea levels, as well as a relaxed conversation between artists Olafur Eliasson and Cornelia Parker about climate change.

The audience was left with Lord Foster’s final remarks. ‘If you want to look far ahead – first look back,’ he said, continuing on to reference the ‘Great Stink’ of 1858, when an outbreak of cholera broke out in London due to open sewage – a crisis that caused the sewage system, that is still in use today, and the Thames Embankment to be built, developments that have sculpted the infrastructure of the city as we know it today. He followed this up with the ‘Great Manure Crisis’ of 1894 – the Times newspaper had predicted that 50 years on, London would be 9ft deep in manure. Yet, by the end of the century, the invention of the automobile had changed everything.

‘Tech responds in crisis,’ said Lord Foster. ‘The car, today’s enemy, yesterday’s saviour’ was a critical moment of realisation and circularity on which to end the forum, highlighting the dual role of the foundation as a historical archive as well as an active centre for research and education. It is this sense of social responsibility, and the format of an independent, non-profit facility, that we might increasingly rely on in the future to support a diverse workforce. Manuela Carmena, Mayor of Madrid, remarked on the foundation’s potential to reduce inequality in Madrid through offering an alternative platform for education, open to all.

Yet, it is also clear that it is down to individuals to take up and participate in this model – perhaps more so now than ever. Being a citizen of the world comes with a responsibility to self-educate, to look outside ‘official’ avenues of knowledge, to use diverse sources and to be a discerning critic. Lord Foster bowed out with a poignant piece of advice: ‘Remain a student!’

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Norman Foster Foundation website and the Foster + Partners website

The Madrid-based architecture firm Lucas y Hernández-Gil has reshaped a compact corner in the city’s residential Retiro and Salamanca neighbourhoods to form a light-filled café and bakery. The highlight is the hand-painted yellow and white square tiles that clad the counter bar, which paired with the custom-designed iron furnishings and rustic wood flooring underfoot, creates a crisp aesthetic with a warm mood.

The shop is already drawing in an appreciative crowd with a menu of house-baked goodies by patissier Laura Negri that includes enticing titbits such as the black beer tart or the spicy carrot cake, best enjoyed with a Serra Gelada blend espresso – made with a mix of Panama, Colombian and Brazilian coffees. For lunch, a must-try is the New York-style pastrami sandwich, served between two slice of chewy sourdough bread that is also stuffed with cherry tomatoes, arugula cheese and a mustard and honey dressing.

ADDRESS

O'Donnell 15

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Spanish for ‘The Beautiful and The Damned’, Hermosos y Maldito is a new culinary hotspot that nods to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s second novel, which embraced the jazz age in pre-First World War New York.

Located inside Madrid’s TÓTEM hotel, creative agency, Better, decked one half of the space out with sumptuous cerise velvet banquets, richly coloured navy floral wallpaper by Bárbara Osorio, Gubi pendant lights and floor-to-ceiling velvet curtains, while the other side – a more casual lunch spot – features blond oak Søborg chairs by Danish firm Fredericia, mid-century sideboards festooned with wild flowers, tableware by Madrid-based trio Vajillas de Ultramar and an attractive laser cut screen divider.

Food, by Rodolfo de Bernardi and Nacho Tirado’s is health-conscious Mediterranean home-style cooking, while the damned comes in the form of a round-the-clock Prohibition-style bar, featuring a vast menu of classics along with bespoke creations by mixologist Fran Camino. 

ADDRESS

Calle de Hermosilla, 23

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The iconic Torre de Madrid, designed by architect brothers Julián and José María Otamendi Machimbarrena, was thought to be the tallest concrete building in the world for a while and has cut an impressive figure against the cityscape since 1957.

It now has even more reason to be revered, with the addition of a Jaime Hayón-designed hotel, the Barceló Torre de Madrid. Locally born Hayón is known for his playful use of colour, and has kitted out the 256 rooms, the Lobby Bar and public spaces with art and design from his team, in pops of neon or softer avocado and forest green that work beautifully with of art deco style mirrors, orb lighting and marble.

You’ll spot plenty of Hayon’s chair designs for Fritz Hansen, as well as reinventions in gold piping of his clown-like ‘Game On’ artworks that adorned the walls of Galerie Kreo in 2015. 

ADDRESS

Plaza de España 18

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Even tech moguls must sometimes be reminded to think outside the box. That is precisely the wisdom Alfredo Muñoz imparted when a successful Microsoft exec approached his firm, Abiboo, to build a ‘traditional programme’ of bedrooms and common areas – collectively dubbed Casa C+ – near a golf course outside Madrid.

Influenced by the rebellious German architect Gottfried Semper, who approached his work anthropologically, Muñoz has never opted for the traditional residential format. Instead, he spent two days with the client’s family of five, studying their habits, interests and aspirations. 'We all came to the conclusion that the programme had to be dynamic, like a self-generating organism that grew from within,' he says.

Take an interactive tour of Abiboo’s Casa C+

Identifying specific activities that would go on in the house – dining, sleeping, studying, swimming, entertaining – Muñoz planned a series of isolated ‘mini-houses’ and arranged them in a centrifugal formation around a monumental fibreglass spiral staircase, what he calls 'inductive', rather than deductive growth. Each block has a different panoramic view and is easily identifiable from the outside. 'The villa had to have a centre but still maintain a non-hierarchical relationship between its parts,' he says.

The materiality of these parts was integrated within the site, a 5,000 sq m, rolling green plot punctuated by century-old trees and surrounded by mountains. Turning back to Semper, he designed the lower, communal levels in earthy, 'stereotomic' stucco, graduating upward to lighter 'tectonic' materials. A ventilated double-skin facade of ruddy laminated wood helps improve thermal performance upstairs, where exposure to the Sun's radiation is higher.

Casa C+ is inspired by the past but designed for the future

‘Having the lower part of the house connected to the earth and the higher areas with lighter materials emphasises the experience of an organic villa that grows from the site,’ says Muñoz. ‘Like a tree.’

It’s inspired by the past and designed for the future, yet Muñoz says Casa C+, with its scattered volumes and unifying continual stair, is a symbol for the current zeitgeist. ‘We were interested in exploring the spirit of our time, represented by complex relationships and permanent change.’

And there is nothing traditional about that.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Abiboo website

Madrid’s heaving dining scene just got another boost with the opening of a restaurant whose Galician name telegraphs its homey gastronomic intentions, but not its unexpectedly contemporary interiors.

Meaning ‘authentic’ or ‘genuine’, the restaurant is a contrast to the Embajadores quarter, a sleepily old-fashioned neighbourhood near the Sunday street market, El Rastro. For this, applause please for the Madrid-based Studio Zooco that’s headed by Miguel Crespo Picot, Javier Guzmán Benito and Sixto Martín Martínez.

Several adjoining units have been cobbled together to form a spacious dining room, its size cropped through the clever insertion of sliding screens comprised of vertical and horizontal panels of braided string lattices. These literal walls of transparency allow the restaurant to be configured into zones for different sized groups, without fragmenting the space or sacrificing any sight-lines or light.

The building has been a Galician restaurant since 1979 and the architects have notated their design by incorporating a similar ribbon of timber that curls up and around the walls and flooring to create subliminal pathways that are bordered by concrete and hexagonal ceramic tiles.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, executive chef Domingo Urosa unfurls the complex flavours of Enxembre’s Galician specialties of seafood and rice, and creamy filloas, or sweet northern Spanish pancakes.

ADDRESS

Paseo de las Acacias, 12

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It’s always a tricky thing when television chefs try to translate their winning ratings formula into a bricks and mortar establishment. But when the chefs in question were trained by the likes of Alain Ducasse and Santi Santamaria, it’s probably a good idea to reserve judgment for the time being.

The Torres twins, Javier and Sergio, are hoping to replicate the success of their one Michelin-starred Dos Cielos restaurant at the Meliá Barcelona Sky hotel with a sophomore outlet, this time in Madrid’s Gran Meliá Palacio de Los Duques.

The palace’s former stables have been converted into a long mod-rustic dining room, where the exposed brick walls, original equine fixtures and glass paneled floors are quietly set off by thin-stemmed modular furniture and burnt colours. Arched windows open out into the jardin ancient, a particularly lovely spot in which to sample the Dos Cielos’ 166-wine cellar during the Spanish summers.

In the kitchen, the Torres hermanos have entrusted the brigade to Damián González as well as their diktat to populate the menu with local produce. Some the dishes will be familiar to long time fans with reliable pickings including chicken wings roasted with fenugreek, the ever reliable suckling pig, cod tripe braised with chickpeas, and slabs of top sirloin that have been marinated for three months in a vinaigrette of meat jus and pickles.

INFORMATION

Website

ADDRESS

Cuesta de Santo Domingo 5 y 7

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For obvious reasons New York-style loft living is usually associated with the Big Apple itself. So, when  Madrid’s Only You Hotels group chose to imbue its second property in the city with this aesthetic, it came as a surprise. Located in central district of Atocha, the urban-style hotel is just a few minutes away from Retiro Park and Madrid’s famous Golden Triangle of Art, amongst other cultural draws. So far, so Madrid.

Inside, however, Barcelona-based interior designer Lázaro Rosa Violán has defined every one of the hotel’s seven floors with interiors that pay homage to New York. Each of the 205 rooms is a smooth combination of industrial and Mediterranean styles and materials, where metro tiles converge with exposed brick, and contemporary art, mirrored walls and illuminated dressing tables bring a touch of polish and glamour.

However the New York theme is at its best in the hotel’s public spaces. A pop up gin bar, in collaboration with Seagram’s Gin, honours four Manhattan cocktail bars, including the highly acclaimed The Dead Rabbit, while Spanish cuisine is eschewed at The Bakery by Mama Framboise in favour of palmiers, doughnuts and macarons, offered in a New York deli-style setting. For flavours a little closer to home, chef Javi offers Latin American and Asian cuisine by way of Europe at Mora Trotamundos by Spoonik, while the stunning views from the seventh floor YOUniverse terrace and restaurant are wholly unique to Spanish capital.

ADDRESS

Paseo Infanta Isabel, 13

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It is often a stretch to describe a bathroom showroom as visually stimulating – but when Patricia Urquiola is behind the design, things liven up. The Spanish designer has loaned her Midas touch to Laufen's new Madrid outpost, showcasing the Swiss bathroom brand's wares at their most desirable.

Located in an historic villa built in the early 1900s, the space has been conceived as a platform where designers and architects can get experimental with the brand's modern collections. Here, Urquiola embraces her Mediterranean roots by imbuing clinical bathroom ceramics with a little warmth.

Rather than staging mise-en-scènes, Urquiola has curated the products like sculpture – wall-mounted sinks and a pair of bathtubs mirror each other, arranged around a series of plinths. The Milan-based designer added hints of colour to the original architectural surrounds by way of dark marble plinths, vibrant side tables and tinted glass shutters that mimic the iridescent iterations of her ‘Shimmer’ collection for Glas Italia.

'The idea was to create a space with multiple functionalities,' Urquiola explains of the spa-like set-up. 'A new kind of showroom, where people can also work... an elegant and strict space.’ Wood, Perspex, resin and marble form the alluring backdrop to Laufen's ranges, which include collections by Konstantin Grcic and Toan Nguyen, both utilising the ultra-thin ceramic SaphirKeramik.

As a finishing touch, each room features a continuous black iron tube border, with gold corners for added elegance; a fine framing of Urquiola’s refined sanctuary in the Spanish capital.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Laufen website

ADDRESS

Laufen Bathrooms
C/Covarrubias 23
28010 Madrid

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The opening of a new Casa Loewe in Madrid is a homecoming of sorts for the Spanish house. Despite the brand’s country of origin, the store is Loewe’s first Spanish flagship, and has been remade in line with the retail concept which creative director Jonathan Anderson has introduced since his appointment in 2013.

Anderson applied his characteristic attention to detail to the landmark 19th century building, which sits on the corner of Goya and Serrano streets in the capital’s Salamanca district.

‘It is about reconnecting to where Loewe is from,’ says Anderson. ‘It makes complete sense for us to have an incredible store in Madrid.’ Spread over three floors connected by a floating spiral staircase, the nearly 1,000 sq m space is monumental indeed, housing every aspect of the Loewe universe.

A cream-coloured Spanish limestone floor coalesces with neutral wooden fixtures and rugs, that serve as a backdrop for cultural artifacts which Anderson has hand-picked.

British art – a Sir Howard Hodgkin print, and a Jim Partridge and Liz Walmsley sculpture, for instance – shares the space with a ceramic Windwall installation by the Madrid artist Gloria Garcia Lorca. In the Constance Spry-inspired flower shop, Edmund de Waal's ceramic vessels are also on display.

In the following two months, Loewe will host public events throughout the city, to celebrate the house’s iconography. Madrid’s Botanical Garden envelops visitors with an immersive, collage-like exhibition, 'Past, Present and Future', which juxtaposes imagery and objects from across Loewe’s 170-year existence.

Understandably for such an epic time-span, the accompanying book could not be condensed in any way. Edited by Luis Venegas, who spent months sifting through the archive, it’s a hefty 600-pager full of one-of-a-kind material, some of which the world has never seen before. ‘It’s quite subjective,’ Venegas explains. ‘It’s not about making clear, linear connections. It’s just our favourite side of Loewe.’

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Loewe website

ADDRESS

Casa Loewe
Serrano 34  
28001 Madrid

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Some hotels like to flaunt their counter-establishment grunge-chic. Not, we’re pleased to report, the newly opened Tótem. 

Designed by Barcelona-based designers Corium, the hotel looks and feels like it belongs in Madrid’s tony barrio de Salamanca – its bold-coloured interiors entirely in keeping with the neighbourhood’s haul of fancy boutiques and starched table-linen. The discretely marked entrance of the handsome 19th-century corner block opens into a naturally lit lobby furnished in shades of beige, moody blue, and turquoise. 

The 64 rooms are splayed out over five floors, their décor a calm blend of oak floor, walls of deep blue, and brass trims around door frames. Each room is dominated by large windows that overlook either broad leafy streets or the internal courtyard bar, while the black marbled bathrooms are stocked with organic and natural amenities by local brand, Hand Made Beauty. There is a small gym, which is just the tonic after demolishing the room-minibar chocolates by chocolatier Matias Lopez. 

ADDRESS

Calle Hermosilla, 23

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The third outpost of Bocadillo de Jamón y Champán is a genuine surprise that proves that the copious Madrid cafés serving bocadillos - or a traditional Spanish sandwiches - could skip the rusty cliché to become a styled destination. 

Housed in a late 19th century building in the hip Malasaña neighbourhood, it was conceived by local architects Lucas y Hernández Gil who created an aesthetic that, as they say, pretends to be simple and straight forward but at the same time sophisticated and elegant. A kind of ´minimal neomodernism’.

As such, original features are merged with contemporary ideas throughout: iron modernist-style columns have been painted a blue-grey colour, while original stone walls have been tempered with custom metal furniture in pastel pinks and inky blues. Meanwhile, a bar clad in cobalt blue bevelled tiles and burnished brass, lines the back wall.

The high stools and tables make for a casual and social atmosphere in which to sample the selection of delicious bocadillos. We recommend one filled with jamón de Bellotas (acorn fed ham) washed down with a sparkling glass of Veuve Clicquot, of course.

ADDRESS

Calle del Pez 36

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Celebrating its 20th year in business, Batavia, the Spanish furniture store dedicated to furnishing a modern and eclectic view of decor, is opening its new flagship store in the Palacio de Santa Bárbara in Madrid.

The Madrid-based company has been sourcing and creating a unique selection of designs coming from countries all around the world, based not only on their beauty, but also on their functionality and durability.

Gathering in its two shops a selection of both high-quality and vintage furniture, the Batavia team not only designs their own collections, but also reworks antique pieces to suit current trends.

The company also works on interior design and architectural projects, counsels clients on decor and buys furniture for them, facilitating the process of decorating a new space.

The newly opened flagship store, was designed by the affiliated architectural firm Àbaton in the 400 sq m former stables of a mid-19th-century mansion, which have been transformed into a serene modern space.

Original mosaic floors and exposed solid stone support columns are a few of the elements that the firm decided to keep from the former tenancy, a hardware store, which had existed inside the space since 1906.

The architects also decided to repurpose the hardware store’s original shelving, perfect for the inclusion of a thoughtfully curated design gift section, which is illuminated by a sophisticated but discreet lighting system, and adds to the flagship’s eclectic mix of contemporary and vintage furniture.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit Batavia’s website

Photograpy: Belén Imaz 

ADDRESS

Calle de Mejía Lequerica, 2, 28004, Madrid, Spain

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Perched on an upwards slope and only visible from the western quarter of the city, Madrid's new Museum of Royal Collections lies nestled between the city’s Royal Palace and the grand Almudena Cathedral.

At first glance, the 46,000 sq m museum, designed by Spanish firm Mansilla+Tuñón (at the time headed by Emilio Tuñón and Luis Moreno Mansilla, who passed away in 2012), appears to act as the Royal Palace’s plinth. Its long pillars, made from granite, stretch up from below, visually cradling the neighbouring building.

Working with such a significant historical setting, it was important for the architects to develop a suitably context-sensitive approach. So, they drew inspiration from the closely situated palace, sourcing a palette of materials that would work in harmony with – and complement – the museum’s surroundings. The white concrete references the light-coloured limestone situated in the palace windows, while the museum’s external joinery and white wood shutters pay homage to the Royal Palace’s exterior fixtures.

The architects devised the layout with the ambition to create a dynamic contrast between the architecture and the museum’s historic exhibits. With this in mind, Mansilla+Tuñón opted for three exhibition levels, each assigned to a different collection; the first level houses tapestries; the second displays paintings, sculptures and other miscellaneous items; and the third floor exclusively focuses on carriages.

The museum’s interior program is organised in a linear way. When descending from the entrance, visitors are greeted by a ramp, which leads them to the galleries beyond. Each of these generous spaces measures 120m in length, 16m in width and span a breathtaking 8m high.

Currently in its tenth year of construction, the museum’s new home is almost finished, although the grant opening is not planned for a while still. The museum is scheduled to only open its doors to the public in 2018 – when the exhibition design reaches completion.

INFORMATION

For more information on the Royal Collections Museum, visit the architect’s website