The blocks of Barcelona’s Eixample can be as charming on the outside as they are on the inside. Sometimes even more so, because, with how busy its streets are, the calm of some of its interiors is a valuable respite. These apartments were designed around large block patios, with layouts designed so that light and natural ventilation could work their magic on the health of their tenants. Many of these interior areas have garden areas and are populated with galleries; a landscape that is sometimes stately and, at other times, uneven or decadent, depending on how well preserved the estates are.
The apartment in which the consultant Helena Agustí Sanahuja (Barcelona, 29 years old) lives arose from the partition of a larger one, which originally faced both the street and one of these interior wooded areas. In fact, it shares an entrance with its neighbor: both access through the same door to a large hall that acts as a distributor, with a window to a patio of lights that maintains the modernist stained glass windows. From here, each one has the door to her home. These partitions of the old Eixample apartments undoubtedly reduce the cross ventilation originally planned. Also a little light, in the areas that have now become truly interior, after the mutilation of their original concept. But one of the two floors at least gains in acoustic comfort. That of Agustí Sanahuja.
The new distribution that his apartment acquired was almost entirely oriented towards the gallery. From least to greatest depth, in the first layer the kitchen was located, with a window to the same light patio that the hall window overlooks. On a second layer is the living room, which benefits extraordinarily from the light that enters through the corridor, flanked by the two bedrooms, with a more sheltered and intimate position. On a third layer is the gallery, with two full bathrooms at its ends: one for each room or, in this case, for each member of the couple: Helena lives with the writer Víctor Segura.
Helena has inherited this design from her former tenant, the interior designer Toni Espuch, owner of the Azul Tierra stores. “Before she lived in a passage next door. One day, by chance, this happens to me sometimes,” he highlights as if it were a kind of recurring serendipity, “I was having something in a bar in the passage when Toni told me that she was moving to a bigger apartment, in the same building where He has his store. As soon as I saw it, I felt that it was a place where I could live permanently, where my cat would also surely be better.”
This is the fifth apartment in which the businesswoman lives for rent, always in Eixample, where she also has the office of her agency, Partida Continua (until recently, Weincontro) in another modernist building. This experience, plus her appreciation for the architectural and craftsman legacy of this area, has led her to be selective with owners, when the opposite is typical. “In other apartments where she had previously lived, the entire property belonged to a single owner. When this happens, sometimes they have no interest in taking care of their assets, they only care about performance; Many things are in poor condition or have been poorly renovated. This makes me incredibly sad because, having something so beautiful, in which many years ago someone put care into thinking about each thing, with a lot of artisans involved…, and suddenly you go and find a gotelé. This experience has allowed me to learn a lot about landlords, I would say I am a professional tenant,” she laughs.
The renovation carried out by Toni Espuch in this apartment was designed from the search for a balance between heritage and evolution towards a more contemporary design. The update is evident, especially in spaces such as the kitchen, with the free-standing work center, located on a large black island. But not only is its equipment visibly more contemporary, so is its position within the home, as it is located right at the entrance and has a half-open concept. Respect for heritage is most appreciated in the details: the maintenance of moldings and handles, the design of the doors or the inclusion of antique pieces of furniture.
“My desire was to find an apartment where the box was good,” emphasizes Agustí Sanahuja. “I kept some pieces that were Toni’s, like the old display cabinets in the kitchen or the sofa, which connected very well with the space. From there, I put my things together. Many are vintage; I am a big buyer of both clothes and second-hand pieces. “Practically nothing is new, almost everything is inherited or belonged to someone.”
His interest in aesthetics, heritage and the stories behind things has a lot to do with his work. Partida Continua is a hybridization within the branding covering strategy marketing, design and communication. “We analyze brands and define a strategy to achieve a solid long-term positioning. We don’t think about endgames, but about new paths, hence the name of the agency. If brands asked themselves why they exist, instead of revolving around what I do and how I do it, they would connect much better with their audiences,” he says. “Once you have come to the definition of that essence, that is when you can create a visual universe, a graphic language and an action plan in communication.”
Helena Agustí Sanahuja came to the world of communication and design by chance. She trained in international business, but, in the middle of her studies, an internship led her to join the export department at the wallpaper and fabric company Coordonné. “As soon as I arrived at the company, the first weekend they sent me to Paris to the Maison & Objet fair, which I have gone to a lot of times since. This was the landing…” she remembers. “I started working so young that for many years I was ashamed and lied about my age because otherwise they wouldn’t pay any attention to me.”
He worked in this company for six years, during which he sealed his career and lifestyle with the world of design in a symbiotic way. “It was an experience that changed everything for me. I come from a family of lawyers. “It never crossed my mind that I could end up dedicating myself to something as creative as what I do now.” In parallel to Partida Continua, he is currently promoting the creation of a multidisciplinary platform, Culture House, with a cultural program in its own space, located on another floor of the same modernist building where he has the agency.
“I don’t like that talk lately in Barcelona that nothing ever happens here. So, at a certain point, I thought: if things have to happen, let it be starting with myself. I would like the Culture House to become a transversal and multidisciplinary meeting place, which is not limited to design.” The “art of the encounter” (in his own words) is one of his fetish situations. An attitude, spontaneous ability or instinct that, in addition to taking her down unexpected paths, has led her to end up living in this privileged secret place in the Eixample.
