打击模型总部丨西班牙巴塞罗那丨Isern Serra

In what appears to be an homage to the Instagram feed, the Blow Models website is a colourful patchwork of video clips and pictures of all the models the agency represents. Rather than studio shots and non-personal imagery, we get a sense of each model and what they’re about, simply done on the white wallpaper of the website.

In the same vein, the balmy beige walls of Blow Models HQ in Barcelona act as a similar canvas for the body of models that walk through its doors. Designed by Isern Serra, one can almost hear Spooky by Dusty Springfield bouncing against the brick-battered walls, an energy echoed by the sunken white lounge submerged centre stage.

Vibes are high.

This catwalk canvas was born out of the idea of an interior garden, a greenhouse of sorts where talent is nurtured and lighting is en pointe. Existing walls and false ceilings had to be knocked down to reveal what was already there and let in the light.

Adjoining a ground-level warehouse in Sant Marti, Barcelona, the building dates back to the 1920s and carries with it a patina of a bygone era, but not as you know it. It draws on the Roman courtyard in its light simulation through the skylight and open-plan approach. In this sense, the space is not complex, and it does not ask much of its occupants, other than maybe a pose or two, as it acts as both a studio and office for this modelling agency.

The architecture has been set up to encourage photography. With its range of textural backdrops and level changes, models are invited to utilise the natural light streaming in or lounge in the sunken spaces inserted throughout.

The custom-designed stainless steel bar acts as the welcome foyer to the space, where models are greeted and first introduced to the team. This play on volumes dances between the reflection of light from a material that presents as rather heavy. It is repeated later in the space via the custom stools and further enhanced by the large mirror adjacent, mimicking its reflection but without distortion. This further contributes to the space’s identity and purpose as a live runway and studio for all who enter, as every surface presents an opportunity and moment to capture. The exposed services further comment on the paired-back nature of the space and its purpose of not interfering with the activities within. In addition, using a lightweight curtain to separate the studio space for shoots to take place generates a sense of informality that can be read as welcoming too.

It might not be very ‘lights, camera, action’, but it is light-filled, camera friendly and encouraging of action, all the while demonstrating how beauty can be found in simplicity.

[Images courtesy of Isern Serra. Photography by Salva López.]