Adventures in Barcelona: Meeting A Design Idol

{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}

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

{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.}

{The Fabulous Bar}

{Lounge/Library Area}

{The Chic Lounge Area}

{Original Artwork}

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

{More Chic Seating}

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

{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!}

{More Lovely Artwork}

{Our bathroom was sleek and modern.}

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.

{Lázaro Rosa Violán and I}

{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.}

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

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

 

{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!}

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

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

{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.}

{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.}

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

{A Fabulous Hallway}

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

 

{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.}

{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.

New Projects by Lázaro Rosa Violán

{The Forthcoming MG Hotel in Madrid—Isn’t this dining room spectacular?}

Lázaro Rosa Violán has been at the top of my list of favorite interior designers for the past few years now. His work inspires me beyond measure. I’ve blogged about him several times before and even had the chance to meet him when Fabian and I visited Barcelona a few summers ago. Lázaro was gracious enough to invite us for a visit to his ultra chic atelier which you’ve probably seen all over Pinterest as well as in the pages of AD España. What I admire most about his work is that it is all truly his. Every element in every space he works on is designed by Lázaro himself—every chair, every table, every light fixture or lamp, every piece of art. The man is a true artist. Last week, I decided to look at his website for the millionth time and was elated to see that it had been updated with photos of recently completed projects as well as very precise, detailed renderings of projects that are currently in progress.

Lázaro’s interiors are beautifully layered, with various styles blending together perfectly. The palettes he chooses are typically sophisticated and restrained, usually with one bold accent color. Lázaro’s work is rooted in masculinity, but he balances it with a touch of glamour nearly every time. In a word, his work is sublime. While going over some of my previous posts on his work, I came across a quote of his which left me feeling rather inspired: “The interior designer is an actor. He must dress up and change roles, understand new identities and integrate them with his own.” This personal philosophy of his further concretes my opinion that he is a true design visionary.

{MG Hotel—How amazing is all of the lighting? The architecture is stunning.}

{MG Hotel Lobby featuring more Fabulous, Original Lighting}

{A Guestroom at the MG Hotel—I love the antique-inspired doors flanking the loveseat.}

{Lázaro recently completed the design of the Hotel DO in Barcelona. I love the bleached wood and warm tan and tobacco colored leather.}

{A Chic Guestroom at the Hotel DO}

{Guestroom at the Hotel DO featuring Original Art by Lázaro Rosa Violán}

{Concept for the Lobby at Hotel M— I love the glass and steel doors as well as the mix of textures and colors.}

{The Nosh and Chow Restaurant in Stockholm is so striking. Of course, I love all of the lighting fixtures.}

{Gorgeous Nosh & Chow Restaurant}

{I love the blue tiles used on the walls outside of the kitchen.}

{I think it’s fantastic that Lázaro includes concepts for projects on his website. Not only are the renderings, like this one for a restaurant called Beppe beautiful, they make me anticipate what the final product will look like once the project is completed.}

{The design for Aristocrazy, a jewelry boutique is at once modern and glamorous.}

{How amazing are the orange and black doors at Aristocrazy? Very Veuve Clicquot inspired, no? So chic!}

{Stunning Hanging Pendants and Tilework at Iberica Restaurant in London}

{This project, Wharf in London, is currently in development, but from the looks of these renderings, it is going to be a knock-out.}

{Wharf}

{Toto Restaurant in Barcelona feels at once very Catalán, but with a bit of British edge. It’s a difficult thing to put into words, but if you’ve been to Barcelona and London, you probably see exactly what I mean.}

{Club Tast in Palma de Mallorca has a very romantic, bohemian vibe.}

{Club Tast}

Which of these spaces is your favorite?

{Image Source: Lázaro Rosa Violán}

Style Profile: Lazaro Rosa Violan

Yesterday, I blogged about the beautiful Hotel Pulitzer in Barcelona after having fallen in love with its design. Upon doing a little research, I found out that the hotel was designed by Spanish interior designer, Lázaro Rosa Violán, who has soared to the top of my list of favorite designers. Violán is a self-described “urban archaeologist” and “style hunter”, which I can certainly appreciate. Violán has been designing restaurants and hotels in his native Spain since 1990. His interiors are perfectly layered, with various styles blending together perfectly. Violán’s palettes are typically sophisticated and restrained and he balances masculinity with a touch of glamour nearly every time. In a word, his work is sublime. According to Violán: “The interior designer is an actor. He must dress up and change roles, understand new identities and integrate them with his own.” This personal philosophy of his further concretes my opinion of Violán as a true design visionary.

Hotels:

{Hotel Pulitzer Roma}

{Hotel Market, Barcelona}

{Hotel Praktik Rambla, Barcelona}

Restaurants:

{Big Fish, Barcelona}

We HAVE to go to this restaurant when we visit Barcelona! The design is incredible! I love the rough luxe look of it all. The combination of worn, whiskey-colored chairs, floating capiz chandeliers, industrial pendants, and black and white palette are too good to miss! Let’s just hope the food is half as delicious as the décor!

{Bazaar, Madrid}

{Fishop, Barcelona}

{Miu, Barcelona}

{Flamant Café, Barcelona}

{La Polpa, Barcelona}

{La Rita, Barcelona}

Retail:

{Felix, Barcelona}

Click on the images to enlarge them and see them in their full glory! I keep going back and looking at them in order to take in every detail.

Image Credit: Lázaro Rosa Violán