Inspiration through material
Aesop Diagonal store interior, Mesura, Barcelona, Spain, 2024 • © Maxime Delvaux
At first glance, we feel as if we’ve come across an archaeological site. This anachronistic trompe-l’oeil is the work of Mesura Studio, the designer of Aesop’s second location in Barcelona. Right from the start, Mesura and Aesop worked hand in hand, with the brand defining its new site with three terminologies: social, timeless and local. To this, Mesura Studio added the concept of sustainability. “To create a sociable ambience, we dove into the history of public fountains in Barcelona. To ensure the timelessness of the project, we re-examined our research on materials and decided that stone was the option. Lastly, we were committed to using local stones only,” explain Mesura’s founders.
Thanks to their research, the studio discovered an old quarry run by the Barbany family, who have been stone cutters in the city for 130 years. Having worked on the construction of many buildings in the city, they have also salvaged fragments of demolished monuments, gathering quite an impressive collection. “We found pieces of structures from the Gothic Quarter, such as antique fountains, arches and pedestals. Just one visit was enough to realise we’d found what we were looking for.”
One of the major concepts guiding the designers’ work was genius loci, or the pervading spirit of a place, which tends to create a space that could only exist in one precise location. Here, the raw material is found in the city itself, thus contributing to the notion of sustainability, while also giving the shop a unique identity. “In a sort of life cycle, the pieces were considered to be transitory elements with past lives that have landed in the new Aesop shop. In a radical way, the project also accepts that if the shop closes one day, the pieces will be returned to their original owner, the Barbany family, who have generously provided them to Aesop,” explain the creative team from Mesura Studio. The shop’s space is like a blank canvas, whose neutrality the designers wanted to preserve in order to highlight the raw materials. Thus, the ceiling and the walls are made of stucco, while the floor has a smooth finish for contrast, further accentuated by touches of stainless steel.
By choosing the use of pre-existing elements, Mesura had to rethink and upend its creative process. It all began with the selection of the 78 stones to be used in the space. This was done directly at the Barbany family quarry, where the designers experimented with their arrangement. “This led us to abandon traditional design methods in favour of a trial-and-error approach on site,” the designers point out. The studio calls this reverse method Creative Anastylosis, borrowed from ancient Greece and alluding to the construction of new buildings from the ruins of old ones. Thus, instead of starting with an idea, Mesura based its entire project on the material, its availability, and its locality. “The project is precious because it shows how forgotten pieces can be recycled and reused in the future. It demonstrates the value of existing resources and stands in opposition to the loss of identity in the retail world.” The result is a shop that couldn’t be anywhere else. •
Year: 2024
Address: Av. Diagonal, 594, Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, 08021 Barcelona, Spain
Space design: Mesura Studio
Materials: Stone, stucco and steel
Surface: N/A
