西班牙设计师 Jaime Hayon 的创意艺术家居

By his own admission, Jaime Hayon is ‘like a bullet’. An artist as well as a product and interior designer, the Madrid-born creative has an imagination that fires rapidly and in myriad directions. It should be no surprise, then, that the pandemic didn’t slow him down at all.

Instead, forced to stay in Valencia, the city which he now calls home, he funnelled his energy into a new project: this atmospheric artistic residence. We found a few moments in Jaime’s hectic schedule to discuss the ideas behind his unique guesthouse…

What first inspired you to design an artist’s residence?

Yves Drieghe

I thought, my goodness, if he takes it over, he’s going to ruin it! I felt a responsibility to do something. I restored the apartment and tried to conserve as many of the original details as possible – such as the tiled floors.

When I had finished (it was a very slow process that took more than two years) I thought, ‘well what do I do with it now?’ I had this idea that I could inspire people to come to Valencia, enjoy the city, produce some work and join the creative community. We’ve had photographers [Yves Drieghe, who took these photographs, was the first guest], writers working on scripts for short movies, cooks. It was all an accident, but it’s been an amazing one.

How can we secure a stay?

Yves Drieghe

I am also taking the opportunity to invite people whose work I admire – artists I appreciate, designers whose work I have loved for many years, musicians, film-makers, journalists. There are all types of people that have been interested in this project and that I have been interested in. I love everyone, but we don’t want it to be somewhere everyone can come. I want people to really want to be here.

When it comes to the design of the apartment, what were you influenced by?

Valencia – the tiles, the architecture, the energy of the sea and the beauty of the light. I really got into the guts of the home, trying to bring it back to life. I uncovered the beautiful 1920s tiled floors, which had been hidden beneath layers of linoleum and cheap wood, and knocked down some walls to change the distribution of the rooms a bit.

Yves Drieghe

The palette comes largely from the tiles – their many colours can be found in the furniture and on the walls. I wanted to create somewhere calm and Mediterranean, with a combination of vintage furniture and things I have designed.

For me, it’s got to feel comfy, like a home. It’s a way to give a little of my soul to people. I moved to Valencia because it is so full of light and good energy. I want people to feel that.

How did you select the furniture for the apartment?

I did it all myself. I like to go around, cycle, search through skips on the street to find things people have thrown out that I can recycle. I found one of the chairs in the apartment [the green lacquered one in the dining room] in a bin. It was totally destroyed, full of termites.

Yves Drieghe

Putting these new and pre-loved things together with my own designs, as well as pieces by companies I have collaborated with [Jaime has worked extensively with Danish brands &Tradition and Fritz Hansen, among others], was always in my mind since day one. I’ve been like a kid, totally, totally enjoying doing this, little by little.

What is it about your home city that you think will spark people’s imaginations?

Valencia is a creative city with a great tradition of craftsmanship. You can tell from the history of the Falles festival – every year in March, artisans work together to create sculptures that are then burned in the city centre. It’s quite crazy and shows we have a lot of interesting creatives here!

Yves Drieghe

Even when I was living in England, before moving here about 11 years ago, some of the companies I was working with would look to Valencia for ceramics, porcelain or even sometimes woodworking. I have always thought Valencia was going to have its moment in the spotlight. It’s the World Design Capital in 2022, so this year there are a lot of events happening – including my retrospective [on show at the city’s Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporánea for six months from 6 October].

Where has your own inspiration led you recently?

Related StoryA design lover’s guide to Valencia