“SURFACES ADD DISTINCTION TO A GOOD INTERIOR DESIGN PROJECT”
Together with Alex, the designers form a perfect tandem at Aedificare, a studio with a 12-year track record and renowned for creating personal spaces that invite enjoyment. Innovative projects that surprise and inspire clients to go beyond their initial expectations.We wanted to know a little more about Luana García, with an overview of her career as a designer and her preferred materials.
FOR OVER 12 YEARS YOU HAVE BEEN CREATING UNIQUE SPACES WITH A DISTINCTIVE STYLE.WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE STYLE THAT DEFINES AEDIFICARE?
I really believe that the hallmark of Aedificare is being ourselves, and bringing the best of ourselves to each project: “to create personal spaces that invite enjoyment”. We try to inspire the client to go beyond their initial expectations when they enter our studio. To confound a little their preconceived ideas. It’s very satisfying when the client tells us: “it’s not what I had in mind but… I love it”.
We are not guided by any established rules or definitive style. We combine materials, incorporate aesthetic references from different eras, play with colours, textures, transparencies, light and shadow, depending on what the project calls for. Above all, we always try to be innovative, try new things and experiment. We believe our style is simply the “Aedificare style”.
YOUR PROJECTS HAVE INCLUDED HEALTH CLINICS, RESTAURANTS, SHOPS, BOUTIQUE HOTELS, BEAUTIFUL HOMES. WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE YOU HAVE EVER FACED? AND YOUR FUTURE DREAM PROJECT?
I like to face each project as a new challenge. Sometimes the challenge is the sheer size or the technical complexity of the project; other times it’s the time frame or even “to win over the mind of the client” (which is my favourite). I think this way of understanding our work means that the size of the project is not directly proportional to the size of the challenge it presents.
Our projects range from the super small, with a very limited budget, where the challenge is to rack your brain to develop aesthetic resources that are both powerful and economical, to large-scale projects with a virtually “unlimited budget” where the challenge is not to get too carried away (hahaha). We’ve also been asked to develop and manage entire buildings where the project is very complex technically.
The future I dream about, and am continuously working towards, is one where I can continue to dedicate myself entirely, body and soul, to what I do and to enjoy it with the same level of passion I started out with. For me, the most important thing about this profession is passion. True success lies in being passionate about and motivated by what you do every day.
DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST PROJECT?
When I began in Aedificare, in 2012, I hadn’t even finished my studies and Alex had a very personal and established way of doing things (now we make a great tandem). I was very introverted but my passion for design made me want to devour the world. Little by little I made a place for myself in the studio… up to now, when Aedificare is almost my middle name.
I think one of the first projects when ideas were just bubbling up and I was dying to put them into practice was a private home, “La Casa de Sara”, in 2016. I remember asking Alex to please, please let me do what I wanted, that I wouldn’t let him down… And so it was. That project was the first one to appear in AD magazine. It’s called ‘Surf & Smile’ on our website.
AT WHAT MOMENT DID YOU REALISE THAT INTERIOR DESIGN WAS YOUR THING?
I was always sure I wanted to dedicate myself to the world of art. Since I was a kid I always did well in artistic subjects: technical drawing, music, dance… I was good at those things.
I remember spending hours drawing, painting, doing crafts with my aunt in the afternoons. I made houses for my Barbie dolls out of cardboard boxes, designed them, painted the walls. I doubted between architecture and interior design but because of my family situation at the time I couldn’t move away to study and so I found a program in Santander where I could specialise in interior design. Then my grandmother told me, ‘go for it. This is your thing. This is what makes you happy’… and here I am thanks to her. Living a life beyond anything I could ever have imagined.
WHEN TRANSFORMING A SPACE, WHAT IMPORTANCE DO YOU GIVE TO THE SURFACING?
The surfacing, among many other things, is something that adds distinction to any good interior design project. Let’s say it “dresses up” the space and complements all the technical work that lies behind the project and which often goes unseen. A surfacing can be marvellous but without an excellent underlying execution it becomes completely devalued. On the contrary, you can have a perfectly executed project but, without a very careful selection of materials and finishes, it will never be more than an ordinary project.
We give a lot of importance to the dialogue between the materials and the textures within each project. We are careful to select a protagonist or a unifying theme for the project, and then we complement it with other elements that are more sedate, without overlooking the importance of lighting which, if done well, and combined with materials that have texture or depth, such as the RAW mosaic tile for example, can really accentuate their aesthetic weight. Not all the materials need to stand out, that’s the key, to find the right balance between them.
IN ALL AEDIFICARE PROJECTS, LOCAL PRODUCTS ARE VERY IMPORTANT.WHY?
We always say that “we are not married to anyone”. If we like a particular product or supplier, we don’t have to work at incorporating it into the project, it fits in naturally.
In the case of Hisbalit, we were familiar with the product, and we knew you were from Cantabria, but when we looked into it, into the manufacturing process, sustainability, and especially when we saw the importance given to design and personalisation, that it’s not a product created for mass consumption or for everyone, we loved it. This was one of the most important factors for us, and so it has become a differentiating element for our studio.
YOU CREATED A PERSONALISED DESIGN FOR THE FLOOR OF YOUR STUDIO USING OUR ART FACTORY PERSONALISATION SERVICE.WHY CHOOSE MOSAIC TILE FOR YOUR PLACE OF INSPIRATION AND CREATION?
Anyone who knows us knows we are a little “romantic”, giving new life to things, going back to the origins and turning it into something contemporary.
We were always struck by those broad entrances original mosaic tiles on the floor with really amazing designs. And considering that our studio is on the ground floor we thought it would be a great idea to create our own mosaic tile design.
We wanted something classic, with a border, but reinvented. We didn’t want anything standard or that you could find anywhere else. If we are offering our clients “tailor-made projects”, how could we not have one for our own studio? And so we got to work with the design team from Art Factory… ‘et voilà’.
YOU HAVE USED OUR MOSAIC TILES TO SURFACE FIREPLACES, FLOORS, WALLS, SHOWERS, TABLES, BARS…ANY OTHER APPLICATION IN MIND?
I love that you ask me that, hahaha. We have been toying with an idea for a while but we haven’t quite decided yet. But we can’t wait to do it. One of those Aedificare experiments, you know how it is!
FROM HISBALIT’S AMPLE DÉCOR CATALOGUE, YOUR FAVOURITE COLLECTION IS…?
I wish you hadn’t asked me that, hahaha. It’s difficult for me to choose but I think that the Black&White collection is super versatile. It can be used to make surfaces the focal point of a space or be a perfect complement for other powerful elements or textures.