Catalan-Japanese contact lines
Located near a heritage-rich neighbourhood filled with Antoni Gaudí buildings and tiles as well as the Catalan-vaulted constructions of the nearby Gothic quarter, Kuma references local traditions as well as creating subtle links with his native Japan. The use of ceramics plays an important role both here and there. However, while roof tiles are glazed glossy in Japan, they remain largely untreated and raw in the Mediterranean, which makes their structure and the craftsmanship of their production stand out. “It’s exciting to use an old traditional material and find new ways to produce, design with and combine it,” explains Kuma. To this end he collaborated with the Ceràmica Cumella workshop founded in 1880, whose tiles adorn the Sagrada Família and the Casa Battló. At only 1.7 cm thick and about 44 cm wide the ceramic module pushes the boundaries of the material in its final iteration. On its underside a tapered extension measuring approximately 2 × 4 cm slides into a wall-mounted u-channel of the same shape. The elements are fixed in uninterrupted rows from wall to wall so are stabilised and require no additional securing. Magnetically mounted light rails with LED spots ensure uniform illumination, while selective omissions of the modules create spaces for larger items such as boots or bags. At the rear of the shop, the simple structural principle used elsewhere is cleverly varied. Here the elements are halved into quarter circles and turned 90° to form an elongated bench that connects to a cash register area.
