OVAL

THE PARTY & THE DO-IT-YOURSELF In the ground floor of a XIX century building situated in the Barcelona Eixample, we are asked to refurbish a 200sq m establishment that has lost its character by the addition of different construction layers through time. Moreover, the establishment would be used as a Burger Bar, open from 9:00 to 24:00 h, and compatible with support different service time, breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks. We understand the project as an opportunity to recover what we consider essential: the spaciousness and the industrial character of the space by the reinforcement of its materiality. The intensification of the material memory is not a nostalgic or romantic attitude. We have chosen an unprejudiced and inclusive attitude, that doesn’t discriminate between this or that, but goes for this and that, our work, then, has consisted in updating the old layers and putting them together (in "visà-vis" relation) with the new ones. The different areas that conform the uses of the bar are defined from the specificity of furniture and lighting, in a linear sequence of uses 25 meters long, starting with a covered outdoor space at the entrance, up to the kitchen. In areas limited by solid brick pilasters, furniture, always resolved with plywood boards, has been fixed to the wall according to defined uses depending on the height and the type: informal bar, dinner tables area and benches with back in the isolated tables’ area. The definition of lighting follows the same criteria; to set up specific environments in relation to its location along the sequence, by using different luminaries of different intensity. The process was extremely fast (three months in total) and had strong economic constrictions (320€/m2), so we decided to go for a clear and determined strategy: the DIY strategy (“do it yourself”). We have worked following an open process of action-reaction, where all mistakes or changes could be understood as an added value. We are interested in a hybrid technique, capable of combining local materials and techniques, close to the craftwork tradition, with industrial materials and technics from other sources.