What would a grand house in Barcelona look like if some of its most renowned creators imagined it? What would the bar conceived by Nandu Jubany, Juan Avellaneda's dressing room, or Javier Cercas's reading nook look like? Until June 13, at the Círculo Ecuestre, these questions go from being a mere exercise of imagination to becoming a tangible reality: Ecléctica Barcelona transforms the historic building into a large collective dwelling intervened by twelve creative duos.
The initiative is presented as an exhibition tour through twelve rooms, from the laundry room to the dining room, each designed by a duo formed by a personality from the world of gastronomy, music, fashion, or well-being and an interior design studio from the city. But Ecléctica Barcelona shies away from the usual format of design and interior design exhibitions, where pieces often appear decontextualized or grouped without a common narrative. Here, everything responds to the same logic: to build a house that, above all, is plausible.
It is not a set or a succession of independent environments, but a home with its spaces, routes, and uses. Thus, visitors can walk through it as if they were one of its inhabitants, moving from one room to another naturally, although the exuberance of the building and its decorations mean that this imaginary house is beyond the reach of most visitors. Even so, the exhibition seeks that inspiration does not remain in the rooms of the Círculo Ecuestre. Each exhibited object has a QR code from which its information can be consulted and, in many cases, purchased directly.
The initiative was born from the impulse of interior designer Pia Capdevila and Patricia Pérez, founder of the AMT Comunicación agency. First, friendship united them; then, a shared passion for interior design. Both "missed more things happening in Barcelona related to architecture, interior design, and creativity," as Capdevila recalled at the project's inauguration, and began to shape Ecléctica Barcelona. The initiative, however, has not seen the light until this year, as the celebration of the World Capital of Architecture has been the definitive impulse to materialize an idea that had been brewing for some time.
The objective was ambitious: to bring architecture and interior design closer to those who do not consider themselves experts and even to those who believe they are not interested in these disciplines. Hence the desire to build a deliberately eclectic exhibition —the project's name is no coincidence— where any visitor can find a space, a piece, or a sensibility with which to identify, also attracted by the personalities participating in the project.
With that goal, they could hardly have chosen a more suitable setting than the Círculo Ecuestre. Its stately halls, antique pieces, frescoes decorating the ceilings, and imposing staircase make the building another protagonist of the exhibition. For many visitors, it will also be an unusual opportunity: that of accessing a private club with more than 170 years of history that rarely opens its doors to the public. But even those who frequent its halls will find an unrecognizable space, as the space has undergone a profound intervention that has included the restoration of original elements or the transformation of walls and ceilings.
Thus, the result is far from a simple arrangement of furniture: the building becomes, for a few days, a completely new home. But alongside the visual dimension of the ensemble —warm atmospheres, carefully selected materials, and compositions thought out in detail—, the organizers have also worked on sound, aromas, and lighting. Each room has its own identity: from the smell of beer that greets the visitor in the space conceived as a bar to the musical pieces that accompany each ambiance. All elements contribute to reinforcing the sensation of walking through a living and inhabited house.
From room to room
The tour begins by ascending the stairs of the Círculo Ecuestre, where the visitor suddenly enters a monumental living room that functions as a prologue and declaration of intent. The space impresses from the first moment: a life-size mammoth skeleton dominates everything and forces one to stop. This is a space conceived by Lázaro Rosa-Violán and filmmaker Isabel Coixet as a sum of objects that evoke special moments, travels, and accumulated memories.
From there, the visitor enters a usually hidden room that here acts as a starting point: the laundry room, designed by Àgata Samons and La Ordenatriz, with a touch of nostalgia, where the idea of the old "lavatodo" is recovered, a large central bathtub in which to clean different objects. Also with a certain touch of nostalgia, Bárbara Aurell and chef Albert Raurich reinterpret the kitchen, dominated by a large blue table that evokes the memory of grandmothers cooking and chatting around it. There, the table ceases to be a mere functional object to become a social meeting point: a place where ingredients are exchanged, but also conversations.
From the nostalgia of the kitchen, Ecléctica leads the visitor towards the modernity of the bar by Olga Pajares and Nandu Jubany, inspired by the fermentation processes of beer and enveloped in a warm and inviting tone. The room is presided over by a large bar that acts as a central element and contrasts with the next room: the office of Jaime Prous and Risto Mejide, where the space is reduced to the essential —a table, an armchair, and a bookshelf—. A place designed not only for working, but also for thinking, imagining, and even stopping for a game of chess from which to extract great ideas.
In the next room, before entering the staircase that leads to the upper floor, the dining room —inspired by the philosophy of Martina Klein under the gaze of Pia Capdevila— proposes a reading of the space from elegance. The challenge has been to respect the classic living room of the Círculo Ecuestre, dominated by a fresco of a girl playing the piano that dialogues with the room, while a real piano plays in the background. The result is an atmosphere of reinterpreted classical elegance, where there is also space for color and a more contemporary vision of the living room.
But even in the transitional spaces of the Círculo Ecuestre, those that usually go unnoticed by those who frequent it, Ecléctica Barcelona manages to find beauty. This is the case of the library, a small corner that also functions as a staircase and takes on a new life here, under the gaze of Coton et Bois with Javier Cercas.
A same philosophy that is also reflected in the bathrooms which, far from their function, also breathe beauty. The first, designed by Cristina Carulla and Mariona Ferran, founder of Alegra, is presided over by a large bathtub and enveloped by silky white curtains that surround the room and even descend from the ceiling, reinforcing a feeling of freshness and cleanliness. While in the other, developed by Sara Folch together with wellness creator Xuan, the central space is a large water area with showers, waterfalls and relaxation areas inspired by a spa.
The gym, which in principle could be understood as a purely functional space, is redefined here as an environment of calm and well-being. Designed by Adela Cabré and Cocó Constans (Ffitcocó), it proposes the idea that well-being is part of a broader system that integrates rest, balance and movement: since the bedroom is directly integrated with the gym, connecting rest and sport, in a warm room with Technogym training machines. In the dressing room, it is the mannequins dressed in the collection of designer Juan Avellaneda, who has designed this space together with Ricard Trenchs, that dominate a space that is also a bedroom, blurring the boundary between fashion and interior design.
But if there is an unexpected element that vertebrated the second floor, it is the large central armchair-pouf in the club room. Converted into one of the protagonists of the inauguration —where many visitors stopped to sit, stretch or photograph themselves before continuing the tour—, this volume can be transformed into a stage-track. Designed by L35 Architects for the singer Queralt Lahoz —who also welcomes visitors through her songs—, the room functions as a multipurpose space prepared for intimate and acoustic concerts.
Inhabiting design
As the exhibition is conceived as an inhabited house, in Ecléctica Barcelona the rooms are not only visited: they also come to life through workshops, conferences and show-cookings that complement the tour during the festival days. From the gastronomic creations of Raurich and Jubany in their respective spaces to an intimate concert by Queralt Lahoz in the club room, the building fills with life like a house in use.
Although this is the first edition of the festival, with which the organizers expect to gather more than 10,000 visitors, Ecléctica has already made it clear that "it's here to stay", with the will to consolidate itself as an essential event in Barcelona's creative calendar.