Overlooking Barcelona, a visit to Lievore Altherr

Modern wooden sculpture and art pieces on display at Noorth.

Cluttered office workspace with stacks of papers and books, bright natural light, and wooden furnitu.

Urban cityscape with historic buildings and busy streets in downtown Madrid, Spain.

Modern office workspace with two people working at computers in a bright, airy room.

Modern minimalist clocks and picture frames arranged on a white shelf, showcasing contemporary home.

Business professionals having a discussion in a modern office setting.

View of historic city buildings through a large window in an urban setting.

23.03.17

It’s the beginning of January and coming from a snowy Venice, the blue sky and the striking sun are quite a pleasant relief. We’ve just got off the 8am flight and we’ve made our way from El Prat airport to what we then discover is the Barrio Gotico district of Barcelona. We’ve arranged to meet designer Alberto Lievore and Jeannette Altherr in their studio in Plaza Berenguer, in the late morning.

Historic Gothic cathedral towers in the heart of a European city skyline.

Historic city building with ornate architecture in a busy urban street scene.

It is about 12 o’clock when we get to their door. Someone lets us up. Jeannette Altherr is the one opening the door as we reach the last floor of the building, a luminous attic.

Brewed coffee in a white cup with a spoon, black coffee maker, and cookies on a tray on a sunny outd.

Group of diverse people having a meeting in a bright, modern sunroom.

Senior man and young woman having a discussion in a bright office environment.

A woman sitting at a table with a cup, enjoying a moment indoors with natural light and greenery out.

A cozy workspace with a desk lamp, notebooks, and office supplies in a well-lit room.

Group of people enjoying outdoor garden conversation in sunlight.

We all step outside to a lovely tiled floor terrace overlooking the city. A view both to the sea and to the Catalan mountains. Quite enviable. Olive trees and rosemary in bloom increase the architectural fascination.

A woman working at a desk with a computer in a bright, modern home office.

Modern minimalist shelf with decorative items and photo frames on white background.

Bright modern home office with large windows and workspace setup.

Mr. Lievore is a charismatic and communicative person, with great cultural baggage. He tells us he moved to Barcelona in the 70s, a fertile period due to the cultural revolution, perfect for him to take roots to his design visions. He describes the architecture of the studio and the several renovations they made over the years.

Bright sunlit indoor space with large glass windows overlooking a garden with potted plants.

Desk with architectural plans, glasses, and smartphone for design work.

A comfortable home office workspace with a person working on a computer, surrounded by natural light.

He shows us around. A vivid white and mild wooden-tones environment. White crackling wooden floors. A bright light coming from big windows. The studio is full of remnants from past projects: scale models, excess materials, drawings, all arranged in a tidy disorder.

Creative workspace with design sketches, tools, and mood boards for innovative projects.

It’s always curious to perceive by intuitions life and personality of people by getting a glimpse of their working space. It’s something extremely fascinating. It is rather difficult to picture the wrong portrait. Jeannette Altherr and Alberto Lievore are two passionate, cultural, pleasant individuals, that’s what joins them.

And there we were, talking about form, the essence of design, capitalism, food, and Majorca.