Urban branding: Seat opens house in Barcelona

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ho would have thought that the inauguration of one of the city's most innovative spaces would be celebrated on a rainy spring afternoon in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic de-escalation. Umbrellas and masks for the guests. The audience streaming from their screens. Views of Plaza Cinc d'Oros, at the confluence of Paseo de Gracia and Avda. Diagonal. A total of 2,600 m2 across four floors, designed by architect Carlos Ferrater. It is Casa Seat. In the lower floors of the old Deutsche Bank building, now transformed into a luxury apartment building that will be managed by Mandarin, as conceived by the owner, the British KKH Property.

A space to redesign the mobility of the future, Seat promptly reports. Its president Carsten Isensee explained that it is "much more than a tribute to our origins. "This iconic building is also the place from which we look to the future, Our headquarters in the heart of Barcelona, which we aspire to become a benchmark urban mobility hub."

From the 600 to the Cupra Formentor, Seat's love affair with Barcelona spans 70 years. In the midst of the automotive sector's reconversion, the brand is now cars, but also mobility, music, innovation, culture, and city.

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Big brands tend to occupy everything. Just as Peugeot displays its mega-store at Champs Elysees, 136, on the way to the Arc de Triomphe, on the most beautiful avenue in the world. There you will find the Peugeot salt and pepper shakers that run through the terraces of Paris.

And what about the Porsche tower, which stands black and imposing in Sunny Isles, Miami. Its developer Gil Dezer, the same one who built the Trump Tower with the mythical Tiffany's at street level, at the entrances to Central Park in New York. Luxury brands point to lifestyles by putting their name to urban architecture: Residences by Armani Casa, The Ritz Carlton Residences, Missoni, and Aston Martin. Dezer owes a good part of his millionaire fortune to this.

And now Seat and Barcelona. This pandemic spring will pass and joy will return. Music, dance, graffiti, gastronomic tastings, and painting. A permanent creative agenda that will include debates and talks and even concerts with the Liceu. In the coming months Andrea Motis, Ignasi Terraza, and Francesco Tristano.

MÓ

Wayne Griffiths, commercial vice-president of Seat and CEO of Cupra, announced the creation of Seat MÓ, the new brand that will drive the urban mobility strategy focused on micromobility products and services, including the Seat MÓ eScooter 125 and the Seat MÓ eKickscooter 65. "We want to make individual mobility accessible to everyone and Casa Seat will be its operations center. Barcelona will be the place where we will test and develop new mobility."