Folklore Meets Contemporary: Verbena Lounge by HANGHAR and Estudio DIIR.

Hanghar has collaborated with Estudio DIIR on the design for this year’s Guest Lounge at the ARCO Contemporary Art Fair in Madrid. Inspired by the fair’s core theme ‘The Mediterranean: A Round Sea’, the two local practices blended Spanish folklore with the contemporary in a bold installation.

With a large red marquee overhead, the space taps into the nostalgic feeling associated with popular festivities and celebrations. The primary colours continue with a boxy arched yellow frame and a monochrome blue dining room furnished with a long curvy family-style table.

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In the centre, a large conversation pit with lounges and beanbags is designed to foster interaction between guests whether they be new or old friends.

A direct reaction to our collective covid confinement, Hanghar and Estudio DIIR elaborate that the installation was created as “a space that finally escapes restrictions and that is filled by means of a series of devices that combat the recent isolation to which our society has been subjected.” Building on this, the design captured the energy of a festival, like a gathering space and meeting point between sets.

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Elevation drawings of the installation seen from all sides. Courtesy of Hanghar. Above: Architectural model of the installation.

The space also offers places of contemplation, “this invitation to pause and reflect is what this space pursues,” they continue. “The desire to build a coherent and respectful future goes through the dialogue of its participants, and it is in this temporary experience, where the celebration of life acquires meaning.”

The layered design is no surprise from the two studios who consistently present high-concept projects that have more to them than meets the eye. Just like the Mediterranean festivals, they were drawing from this installation may be temporary but certainly memorable. We love.

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[Images courtesy of Hanghar & Estudio Diir. Photography by Luis Diaz Diaz.]