GUILLERMO
the cacophonic space. Santomà turned the
dwelling, an example of novecentismo, inside
out and into an exuberant, imperfect but
in its entirety a totally perfect mille-feuille,
its functional and decorative layers spar-
kling with energy, love and fun. Its playful,
three-dimensional form would easily win
first prize in The Great British Bake Off. Not
so much because the traditional methods
displayed have been enforced to an excellent
standard, but because the baker, well-trained
and with a far-reaching interest in other art
forms, has given the ‘layer cake’ concept a
new flavour and significance by lumping the
rules together and personally adding, while
experimenting, things that increase the value.
The result is a house that seems to speak. »GUILLERMO SANTOMÀ LIKES to work
with everyday materials and push them to
the limit. Or so it seems. ‘I don’t differenti-
ate between the material and its limit, the
material is its own limit and the limit has its
own materiality.’ Naivety about approaches
and materials is the real constant and this is
exactly why the Catalan expanded his team
with ex-prisoners at the outset of his career.
Trained architect and designer Santomà
considers ‘not knowing what’s expected’ to
be an added value. Neither the behaviour
of a material nor the way one is supposed
to work with it really matter. ‘I’ve learned
more about materiality by reading and writ-
ing than by using materials for construc-
tion.’ He quickly adds: ‘My primary material
is thinking.’
The designer’s portfolio – Is he an
artist? He shrugs – is eclectic to say the least:
the designs vary in material, shape and style,
but are always appealing and the portfolio
lacks vaguely formulated justifications.
Whether it’s a Forexpan table that he has
partly burned, plastered and lit on fire again
- a performance piece with a social compo-
nent, thanks to the many untrained, work-
roughened hands that joined in the plastering - or one of his many deconstructed chairs,
the real work is the dialogue that arises
from or underpins the work. ‘It’s not about
experimentation, but about choosing the
specific moment to say something. Material-
ity is merely the structure that allows you to
establish new dialogues.’
‘I don’t see any difference between an
object and a space. Are we objects or spaces?’
In the living room Santomà, knees raised,
leans against his own, custom-made, deep
green velvet sofa. From the adjacent rooms,
the colour pink playfully makes eyes at me
around the corner. More than a design, this
interior is a provocative, totally immers-
ing experience. Casa Horta, his Barcelona
dwelling – and his most published work – is
a mix of a colourful maze and an immersive
architectural installation in which walls,
ceilings, furniture, light and colour, each in
their own way, contribute to the creation of
During the 2018 Chart Art Fair in Copenhagen,
Santomà presented Complete Toilet
(pictured), Gresite Bathtub and Hammock
with UVA Lamp for Etage Projects.Jo
séHevia72 PORTRAITS