30/05/2018

A chat with Carol Iborra

Architect and interior designer

Carol Iborra is an architect and interior designer based in Barcelona. We got to know her through a friend and carpenter we have been working with for years, and could not be more thankful for this encounter. She has been in charge of the latest renovation and interior design project at Antiga Biblioteca Almirall and has accompanied us in a project that was scary and overwhelming for us. Her experience with her own renovation project at home, which she calls "La Nau" makes her fit with our project seem as if it were made in heaven.


What is your philosophy as an architect?

I work based on an individual analysis, I share solutions until I can create, transform, renovate or adapt one’s space.


How has your way of working changed since the start of your professional career?

When I started I collaborated and helped in creating a type of architecture that was large and less personalized. Now, based on the ideals of every individual, I create spaces, introducing all the personal details that make them one unique place.


Where and how do you look for inspiration in your creative work?

I seek inspiration in the memories of my experiences, emotions and travels, colours in nature, expositions (photography, painting, sculpture), timeless architecture sights that awaken my dreams... like Santa Sofia in Istambul.


How do you make your clients participants of the projects you help them with?

My clients are the inspiration, the reason for which ideas are awakened. They express their new wishes and their willingness to create something new: I see in them their relationship with the space and I try to accompany them till they are able to transform it.


How do you integrate different disciplines in your profession as an architect and interior designer?

I try to integrate different disciplines to make my ideas a reality, I collaborate with different professionals, and make possible their union, management and realization of the project. This way I can help the client to live the experience as an enriching experience, as a dream that becomes a reality.


Tell us about your own project at your home, "La Nau", and the similitudes you see with the renovation project at the "Antiga Biblioteca Almirall".

“La Nau” is born inside of a big container with a history rooted in textile fabrication and production of the beginnings of the Barcelona of the XX century. We wanted to transform it into a cozy and warm space that would absorb the future that we imagined: spaces and volumes that would be arranged in order to make the most of the natural light but at the same time would find their natural place in the building.
Something similar happens at Antiga Biblioteca Almirall, a space with a lot of personality and history, that today is transformed into a living place. We need to balance out the measures of all elements living inside of it by choosing the right colors and shapes, and looking for the pieces that are most attuned to the existent architecture.



What challenges have you found in the project at "Antiga Biblioteca Almirall"

The most important challenge has been to make the union of its parts possible. The strong character of the main library saloon made that all other pieces kind of revolved around it, thus losing the character of the whole set. Every single part was functional on its own and they needed a red thread that would unite and balance out the past in the present, in order to become a timeless space that would create intimacy and the magic comfort of a home, to be able to enjoy it in its totality.