We are familiar with Barcelona’s many innovative hospitality concepts, but even we have to admit that we didn’t see this imaginative project from creative director Miguel Àngel Vaquer, coming. At Bar Nou, located just of the Universitat de Barcelona campus area, chefs are turned into DJs and placed behind an elevated booth in the preparing of tapas. The house specialty is the traditional Catalan dish ‘pa amb tomàquet’ – tomato-rubbed bread – which is prepared in a novel way by letting patrons select their own choice of bread, tomatoes, salt and olive oil. The idea of merging tradition with contemporary ideas is evident in the décor, created by Maio, a local architectural firm with a penchant for flexible systems and the ad hoc. A vaulted ceiling system was installed to create a homey atmosphere, while bright yellow furnishings and neon light installations mirror the energy of the bustling Catalan capital.
ADDRESS
Ronda Universitat 13
Barcelona
Spain
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Tour architect Paul Schweikher’s house, a Chicago midcentury masterpieceNow hidden in the Chicago suburbs, architect Paul Schweikher's former home and studio is an understated midcentury masterpiece; we explore it, revisiting a story from the Wallpaper* archives, first published in April 2009
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Technogym’s new Pilates reformer blends peak performance with sleek designThe Technogym Reform is the latest addition to the company’s design-led equipment roster, made from sustainable materials including apple-skin leather
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Kaari Upson’s unsettling, grotesque and seductive world in DenmarkThe Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark is staging the first comprehensive survey of late artist Kaari Upson’s work
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Wallpaper* checks in at The Palace Madrid: an old soul with new sparkleOnce a haunt for intellectuals and artists, Madrid’s grand dame navigates a new era of luxury following a four-year-long renovation by Lázaro Rosa-Violán Studio
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Sun-soaked European destinations to visit in springDreaming of Florentine palazzos and Greek islands now that the weather is starting to turn? Check into one of these beautiful European hotels and holiday homes
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Esperit Roca is a restaurant of delicious brutalism and six-course dessertsIn Girona, the Roca brothers dish up daring, sensory cuisine amid a 19th-century fortress reimagined by Andreu Carulla Studio
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Must-visit cinemas with award-worthy designThere’s more magic to the movies at these design-led cinemas, from Busan Cinema Centre’s ‘flying’ roof to The Gem Cinema Jaipur’s art deco allure
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‘I explored Benidorm with an open mind’: the famous Spanish seaside town is captured in a new photo bookFrom neon lights to pink sunburns, photographer Rob Ball turns his lens on Benidorm to see what remains of a ‘pan-European holiday utopia’
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Wallpaper* checks in at Brach Madrid: a hotel of love and passionBrach Madrid, part of Evok Collection, is a charming city-centre bolthole designed by Philippe Starck
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2025 getaways: where Wallpaper* editors will be travelling to this yearFrom the Japanese art islands of Naoshima and Teshima to the Malaysian tropical paradise of Langkawi, here’s where Wallpaper* editors plan to travel to in 2025
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The most whimsical hotel Christmas trees around the worldWe round up the best hotel Christmas tree collaborations of the year, from an abstract take in Madrid to a heritage-rooted installation in Amsterdam
