I started school at Elisava in Barcelona to get my masters in interior design & interior architecture. Our second class was a 4-hour long field trip to three very different places within walking distance of the neighborhood Poble Nou. The first was a place called Apocapoc.
Its a repurposed industrial building designed with sustainability in mind. Its used for events, vertical farming, and what seemed like co-working that people have a membership to. There were bananas growing on one of the trees, and many people in rooms on computers or looking at models. There was no air conditioning but it was not hot. They also provided a kitchen and showers. It reminded me of my space back in LA being just as industrial and similar in size, what we could have done if we invested more into it. They even saved the rain water to give to the plants since they would not feel the rain directly, as well as recycled the grey water. It was a soothing place to be, and I think they successfully achieved their goals, but it also made me just want to be outside and feel the fresh air that it was missing.
The second place we visited was Side Gallery. We did not get an in-depth explanation of where we were going so we did not have any context upon arrival. There were two rows of furniture displayed on a platform of cement bricks. It made it look expensive and one of a kind. Towards the back of the room was a grey structure inviting you to enter through view points like the two photos above. It was unclear weather we could actually step into it. As the gallery owner was talking to our class I stepped into the side of this grey structure to take the photo on the right and then began walking towards the rest of the exhibition in the back. He immediately stopped, and looked to me and said, “hi, can I help you?” and I froze because I was confused why he said that. My professor whispered to me “its a private space back there” and then I understood what this man could not say. At first I thought he suddenly suspected me of not being apart of the class, I thought that would be rather stupid of him cause I haven’t done anything that would suggest that. It was an alienating phrase which I have to excuse to the language barrier. I thought maybe we mentioned it in his speech that I did not pay attention to, and thats why he was frustrated. Since that alienating moment I decided to check out, I wanted to leave because there was not much more to see, and galleries do not come with a great reputation and this only confirmed that.
Towards the end of the “tour” he was almost finished explaining something when a classmate appeared from forbidden area. He paused, and asked him why he was back there, the classmate apologized, “sorry, I had to take a phone call” The owner was not pleased, he became very stern and said, “no…its not sorry, its extremely disrespectful of you” and there was a long pause. He explained no further and continued to answer the question my professor asked. We left shortly after and in the elevator I asked, “so what was back there?” and I learned it was his living area.
As someone who has lived in an industrial space myself I did not appreciate that attitude. Clearly he has been dealing with this for quite sometime and has become frustrated with it. I think this actually questions the interior design at play, not entirely doing its job. When things are so abstract, its a shot in the dark to expect people to intuitively know where not to enter, thats why at museums they pay people to stand around, to enforce rules we would not inherently know as this type of space is slightly irrational and impractical. I also don’t understand why one would subject himself to this type of living if he did not enjoy this way of living. It kind of leads me to believe that he decided to live there simply because he thought it was cool. If he had been more patient I probably wouldn’t have left with such a bad taste in my mouth.