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Barcelona has never struggled for visual drama; what it does particularly well is creative tension, where heritage and young ideas fuse with ornament and restraint. Modernisme curves brushing up against rationalist lines with the ease of a well-practised flirt. A considered edit of Barcelona’s most compelling design-led shops, studios and cultural stops. Less souvenir, more substance and a rally of creativity in the Catalan capital.
Gràcia continues to operate on its own frequency. AOO remains one of the clearest expressions of that rhythm. Contemporary objects, lighting and small furniture are curated with a confident local bias. The focus is on designers working thoughtfully with material, form and function rather than trend.
The Outpost - A menswear store shaped by architectural thinking. The timber interior keeps the tone grounded, allowing clothing and accessories to feel intentional rather than decorative.
SIESTA arte y objetos sits comfortably between gallery and domestic space. Furniture, sculptural objects and photography are allowed room to breathe. The edit is calm, considered and quietly international without losing its grounding in Barcelona’s creative ecosystem.
Not a concept store, but essential. Raima is where designers, architects and artists actually shop. Paper stocks, pigments and tools fill multiple floors. A reminder that design culture begins long before it is styled or photographed.
A newer addition to the city’s design fabric. Wo! balances playful product design with a disciplined curatorial hand. Graphic objects, small maker collaborations and limited runs make it a useful stop for contemporary design without excess.
Mar de Cava - The project of architect and designer Mar Gómez remains one of Barcelona’s more intelligent design spaces. Furniture and objects are presented with architectural sensitivity. Everything earns its place. Nothing is rushed.
Disseny Hub Barcelona - Barcelona’s design backbone. The museum provides essential context across graphic, industrial and fashion design. The shop is one of the city’s best edited retail spaces for understanding Catalan design without nostalgia.
Poble Espanyol - Approached selectively, it remains a useful lens on Iberian craft traditions. Ceramics, glass and wood workshops rotate regularly. Less spectacle, more living archive if navigated with intent.
Nau Gaudí Mataró - Gaudí’s first realised building and an early study in experimentation. The contemporary art programme housed within keeps the structure active rather than preserved, allowing history and present day practice to coexist.
Gorgeously flamboyant, Casa Vicens is a riot of colour and fantastical architectural detailing - bearing the hallmarks of Barcelona hero, Antoni Gaudi.
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A think tank for the bold, the curious, the creators of tomorrow. Where minds collide, conversations spark, and urban life gets redefined. If you shape the future, you belong here.
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When dealing with one of the oldest buildings in Salzburg, it takes the architect’s clever manipulation of architecture and design to create an exciting, inspiring atmosphere that coverts the old and the new to extreme yet complimentary dimensions.
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A city of effortless cool & pioneering Scandi design Copenhagen has long been at the heart of the world’s ceramics stage, from practical to the performative.
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Lisbon, Portugal's legendary capital simply bursts with heritage, azulejo tiles, Pastéis de Nata & art - this is a design guide you can shop, see & drink.
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Director of internationally acclaimed Vienna Design Week, Lilli Hollein had never yet turned her eye to interior design until Vienna's Hotel Altstadt came knocking.
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Browse our unique Vienna Art Guide below for all there is to know about Austria’s art and culture capital. Once the epicentre of the longstanding Habsburg empire, Vienna is awash with galleries, artists, museums and odes to moments of age-defining culture, as well as a new generation of creatives call this city home, once again.
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Architect and interior designer Roland Nemetz designs 'his' suite at the boutique Hotel Altstadt Vienna - part of a series of creatively inspired interiors that capture the soul of artsy Wien.
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Peek into our Hotel Altstadt Vienna interior design series at room 64, this time designed by celebrated Viennese architect, Adolf Krischanitz.
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Porto for culture seekers - we explore the Serralves Foundation comprising of a dusty pink 1930-40s’s Art Deco villa designed by Porto architect José Marques da Silva, a landscape-specific contemporary museum designed by Álvaro Siza.
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Creativity at Otto Wiesenthal’s iconic Altstadt Hotel Vienna is never in short supply. The new United Nations Suite is a fantastic design narrative related to the UN, John Lennon, Le Corbusier to 'Make carpets, not war'.
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The Pavilion Le Corbusier, located in Zurich, pays homage to an architect who was the forerunner of urban design, a pioneer of sustainability, and a leader of modernism.
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Get the insider news and lowdown on what we've been up to, where we've been, and who we've met along the way. Be the first to discover new places and get the scoop on our favourites.