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Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Adventures in Barcelona: Meeting A Design Idol

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{Lobby at the Hotel Pulitzer}

A few months ago, while still in the initial planning stages of our trip to Barcelona, I mentioned that we had chosen to stay at the Hotel Pulitzer. It is located right off of the Placa Catalunya, which is about as central as you can possibly get to all of the sights. The location was quite ideal and we read so many positive reviews about the hotel on Trip Advisor, which I check out before every trip. The hotel certainly lived up to the positive reviews. The service and concierge were excellent and extremely friendly and helpful. We were given several restaurant recommendations from the concierge that we just loved and they were incredibly thoughtful, sending up a bottle of Cava and chocolates to our room for our anniversary. However, the look of the hotel was just as (if not more) important to me as the location. I have loved the design of the Hotel Pulitzer for at least a couple of years now. It is chic, bold, timeless, and it was all designed by one of my top interior design idols, Lázaro Rosa Violán, whose work I have written about on several occasions.

 

{The Hotel Pulitzer Designed by Lázaro Rosa Violán}

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{Lounge Area: How amazing is the abstract artwork?}

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{The entire hotel has a mostly black, white, and grey palette with a few hints of red, such as these abstract paintings or the amazing Asian bar below.}

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{The Fabulous Bar}

IMG_3399 {Lounge/Library Area}

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{The Chic Lounge Area}

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{Original Artwork}

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{I love the look of the dark wood paired with the white chairs and diaphanous drapes.}

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{More Chic Seating}

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{We stayed in a Superior Room, which we loved. It had super high ceilings and was quite spacious for a European hotel room.}

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{Our room had three large abstract paintings like this one. I absolutely love that they are black and white and in gilded frames. The contrast looks fantastic. I wanted to take this gorgeous chair home with me. I love the contrast piping!}

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{More Lovely Artwork}

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{Our bathroom was sleek and modern.}IMG_3080

I had the enormous pleasure and honor of being invited to Lázaro Rosa Violán’s studio for a visit. It was one of my personal highlights from our trip to Barcelona. I have loved and admired Lázaro’s work for quite some time now for its beauty and originality. After chatting with him and learning more about his design process, I am even more impressed and in awe of his work than ever before. Scroll back up and look through my pictures of the hotel again. Just about everything in the space was designed by Lázaro. While most interior designers create a vision for a space and then select furniture, lighting, and art from various sources, Lázaro does it all himself. If it is not vintage or antique with an amazing story behind it, chances are, he has created it himself.

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{Lázaro Rosa Violán and I}

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{Most of the furniture, lighting, and artwork in Lázaro’s studio was designed by him. He was actually a painter before delving into interior design. The man is a true artist in every sense of the word.}

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{It is difficult to tell in these images, but the studio is enormous as is the scale of most of the objects in it.}

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{Lázaro’s space is filled with beautiful, interesting architectural salvage pieces, all of which have wonderful stories behind them.}

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{The majority of the items in this image were designed by Lázaro. The Chesterfield sofas are enormous. My 6’2” husband was positively tiny in them!}

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{Chairs Designed by Lázaro and a Workspace on the Right}

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{A Vintage Chandelier and a Custom mirror made from Gilded Remnants from an Old Church Altar}

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{Lázaro’s Contemporain Studio is housed in a former textile warehouse within a Modernista building from the early 1900s. These gorgeous herringbone floors are original to the space.}

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{Lázaro is very humble and has a self-deprecating quality that is rather endearing. It was refreshing to meet a man with his caliber of talent who would critique his own amazing work.}

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{The enormous main room, or salon is cleverly divided into three spaces, two seating areas and this work area.}

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{A Fabulous Hallway}

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{Lázaro’s Gorgeous Dining Room, which I wrote about here.}

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{The amazing kitchen features an antique series of gilded Chinese panels and an island which originally held fabric samples when this was a textile mill over 100 years ago.}

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{I did not take any photos outside, but Lázaro has an enormous, absolutely amazing terrace right outside of his kitchen.}

 

I have had the good fortune of meeting several prominent, inspiring designers, but I have never been so in awe of someone and their amazing work. Lázaro is a true designer and all around artist with such a vast knowledge of art and architecture and a veritable understanding of what it takes to design an original, vibrant space.

 

To see more images of Lázaro’s incredible studio, check out this feature from AD España.

 

Image Credit: Paloma Contreras for La Dolce Vita

Please do not use any of these images without my consent.

29 comments:

Connie @ SogniESorrisi said...

So cool you got to meet him! I love that fireplace with all those candles on top!!

Erin Gates said...

Paloma- seriously cool! I am uber jealous! His work is exactly what I am feeling right now! And that hotel WILL be where we stay when we go next year! Thanks for the tips!

Melissa Blake said...

Ummm, that kitchen and gorgeous hallway is enough to sell me!

Helena - A Diary of Lovely said...

Impressive!!!

Unknown said...

I love Barcelona :D...and I love the eclectic style and here's a good example of the art of mixing amazingly well.
Thanks for sharing Paloma

teebarnes said...

Fabulous and impressive hotel! And the bar, with its pop of red is stunning!

hana said...

omg i am drooling. you are such a lucky girl & he is truly talented. your trip photos have me reminiscing about my barcelona visit a few years ago. thanks for sharing! xo

Ms. Pink said...

i love spain, i love that designer, i love this post and i love your blog!

mp
http://www.thepinkandblueblog.com/

LindsB said...

Wow, what an amazing opportunity to meet one of your favorite design icons! His work really is one of a kind and he has an eye for design like no other. I can see why it was the highlight of your trip.

kylie said...

Love, love, love his work. I actually pulled a photo of the bar as inspiration for a project last week. I would give anything to work for a designer as talented as Lázaro. Thank you for sharing his work with us and I'm so happy for you that you met your design icon.

Also, Happy Anniversary to you and Fabian. You are a beautiful couple and I always enjoyed the times when you spoke about Fabian at our lunches because it made you smile every time.

Miss you,
Kylie
xxx

Xanela Chic said...

Una casa realmente preciosa, y el hotel tiene una pinta excelente...
Me alegro muchísimo de que hayas disfrutado tanto en España...
Bss...

Xanela Chic said...

Una casa realmente preciosa, y el hotel tiene una pinta excelente...
Me alegro muchísimo de que hayas disfrutado tanto en España...
Bss...

Xanela Chic said...

Una casa realmente preciosa, y el hotel tiene una pinta excelente...
Me alegro muchísimo de que hayas disfrutado tanto en España...
Bss...

Lauren said...

The hotel and his studio are beyond amazing!!! I know pictures couldn't possibly even do them justice! So glad you had an amazing time on your trip.

Anonymous said...

Mmmmm....Lazaro....
I'm a fan too, but not for the same reasons. More pics of Lazaro with his shirt unbuttoned slightly please. Where's his beautiful dog whom he colour co-ordinates with?
Maria

Unknown said...

Anonymous / Maria, are you from Spain? We did meet Lázaro's beautiful Bosco. He is such a sweet dog!

Bravehearted Beauty {formerly LLH Designs} said...

Happy for you, Paloma. It looks like you're having some incredible adventures!

Living Livelier said...

So delighted for you - what an opportunity! Lucky lady!
deb

Concrete Jungle said...

The hotel is stunning....wonderful wonderful Spain design wise everywhere these days it is like they have awoken from a long sleep.

Carissa said...

the lounge area is lovely :D

Anonymous said...

You lucky, lucky girl! Wonderful post. Thanks for sharing.

Alaina @ Live Creating Yourself said...

Well you introduced me to Lázaro's work a while back and I am still in love. He is a genius in my opinion. That studio space is divine - can you imagine working there everyday?! The floors. The couches. The chairs. The kitchen! The huge windows. I love it all! So amazing you were able to meet him!

Alaina

Linda Merrill said...

Spectacular place - those floors! Thanks for the photo tour. I've never been to Spain, and now I want to!

theanchor.tk said...

I am impressed with such a great display of good taste! beautiful pictures. Ive seen him already featured in a few spanish magazines, he is good, very good

Marcus Design said...

Wow, such amazing interiors!! Each image is stunning and there is so much to look at. It is so cool that you got to meet Lazaro in person! How fabulous.
Nancy

Lupi said...

amazing hotel and home! so wondeful, beautiful home!

Unknown said...

I am amazed by his work, he's a true visionary!
this post is breathtaking...I can only imagine how you felt standing and talking to your idol and one of the greatest designers
Photos are gorgeous,thank you for sharing :)

Blake said...

I stayed at the hotel when I visited Barcelona as well and I absolutely adored the decor! So glad to know who created it! Did you get to see the roof deck at the hotel? And I love your blog!! I've just started blogging on tumblr - your blog is a true inspiration, from the content to the typography!

-Blake
prettyforasmartgirl.tumblr.com

Naya M. said...

Hi Paloma - I was in Barcelona for NYE 2010 and stayed at Pulitzer, which my travel buddy had recommended. Literally, the day I returned state-side, I discovered your blog and found your post about the very same hotel! I've been following your blog ever since...
So, you mentioned that Lazaro designed most of the furniture he uses in his projects. Do you know if he takes orders for any of those pieces? He should have a store!

Cheers,
Naya from SF