The Quarterly, Madrid Issue

Introducing DLN Community Guidelines: six touchstones that express the values we live by, day to day and at the Summit.

SPEAKER

With work that captures both the fluidity of form and the discipline of structure, Calatrava operates at the intersection of architecture and art, writes Nick Mafi. 24

After decades of dictatorship, Spain found freedom not only in politics but in art. In Madrid, ceramicist

Alfredo Ruiz de Luna González turned street signs into hand-painted chronicles, history told in glazed tiles.

When the wildfires came, California’s architects responded not with despair, but with design.

Michael S. Smith

Mafalda Muñoz

Gonzalo Machado

Adam Lowe OBE

Carlos Martínez de Albornoz

issue seven – the MADRID EDITION

COMMUNI t Y DEAR DESIGN

Annual events help us mark time, and this year’s Design Leadership Summit—our 20th—feels especially significant.

A quarter century into the new millennium, we find ourselves in a moment of profound transformation. Cultural, technological, and political upheavals are reshaping the world at a pace not seen since the 1960s—perhaps longer. How will new tariffs affect our economies, businesses, and livelihoods? How will artificial intelligence redefine our work, our children’s futures, and our shared humanity? Will we spend the rest of our days tethered to our devices, or can we imagine another way of living—and leading—in the world?

Far from stray existential musings, these are the questions that have animated our conversations in the DLN all year long. They are, at their core, design questions—and deeply human ones. At the end of the day, we are a community of practice built for you: real, living design principals facing a world in flux.

Each year at the Summit, we create a supercharged atmosphere for questioning, exploring, sharing, and embracing what’s next—even when it feels uncertain. That is what makes the Summit a peak experience like no other. We don’t convene to chase trends or repeat what we already know; we come together to probe at edges, discover new horizons, spark ideas, forge connections, and change—together. Three days of collective reflection can shape the next three years of your work and life.

After more than a year spent planning every detail of this gathering with Meghan and our team, I can say with certainty that there is no better host city, in 2025, than Madrid. One Madrileño friend recently described it as a hugging city—warm, human, and brimming with creative energy. Yet it is also a global metropolis, a crossroads of Spanish, Mediterranean, and international culture. After decades of repression and recovery, Madrid has entered a new era of creative and economic vitality. In ways few could have imagined a decade ago, the future is being built here.

So, welcome to Madrid, and welcome to the future. You will be designing it, even in uncertain times, and there is no better place to imagine what it might look like. Whether you are reading this on the ground in Spain or back home, I hope you find inspiration in these pages, on our General Session stage, among our new Spanish friends, and among yourselves—the beating heart of our ever-evolving community.

Un saludo,

Michael Diaz-Griffith Executive Director and CEO

Happy fall! As you’re reading this, over 300 of you have descended on Madrid to take in the best of the city’s design, architecture, and culture alongside talks by the likes of Santiago Calatrava, Michael S. Smith, Isabel López-Quesada, and Mafalda Muñoz and Gonzalo Machado. And for those of you reading this at home—or the office—fear not: With this special edition dual Quarterly/Summit Guide , we’re bringing some of the best of the Summit to you, wherever you are. Although nothing beats the Summit experience, we’ve distilled some of its best voices into this publication, with topics ranging from Santiago Calatrava’s unique vision of architecture as art to Susana Ordovás’s sharp observation of Madrid’s transformation from a city under dictatorship to one blossoming with creativity. Miguel Flores-Vianna treats us to eye candy in the form of a collection of his photographs capturing Madrid and its environs, writer Isiah Magsino dives into the captivating story behind the city’s beloved street signs (whose lettering served as inspiration for the fonts used throughout the Summit), and leading Spanish fashion journalist Clara Courel gives a roving update on the country’s style scene today.

You’ll also find introductions to the two DLF scholars in attendance at this year’s Summit—if you’re here, be sure to say hello to Tabitha and Arya—a reintroduction of the DLN’s newly launched Community Guidelines, spotlights of our newest partners, and the announcement of a new award launching this year alongside the Design Leadership Award, to be announced on our final night in Madrid. Whether you’re joining us en España or here in spirit, we hope you find inspiration, insight, and, sure, a little wanderlust in these pages.

Happy reading!

Hadley Keller Lloyd Director of Editorial and Community Engagement

OUR FOUNDER A NOTE FROM

TWO DECADES OF THE DLN

Organizations of all kinds must evolve and respond to the world around them, yet their values must remain intact. Since the first DLN Summit 20 years ago, we have adapted to massive changes in the way we live and work. Whether we consider technology, culture, politics, economic cycles, pandemics, or any other disruption, a lot has happened during our two-decade history as an organization. And yet, at a fundamental level, our needs remain the same. We share a common commitment to a seriously professional design industry that makes a difference in the lives of all those we touch.

That first Summit in Aspen, Colorado, was an eye opener. Individualistic, independent-minded design firm founders from across the U.S. came together for the first time and found common ground in the shared challenges of running a firm, feeling valued for the work we do, and wanting to be more connected and collaborative as a community. Inherent in that common ground was an underlying value system based on the idea that we can help each other become better through sharing practices, experiences, and ideas.

Two decades later, I believe we have made a difference. I know this because so many of you over the years have said to me that your experience in the DLN has changed your lives. It has certainly changed mine. From collaborations to succession plans, from books to new ventures, and from deep friendships to new ways of leading, we have built our community one shared experience to the next and one connection to the next.

As is often the case, it’s the small things and the unexpected moments that make the difference, and it’s different for every member. The denominator is that we showed up, had an open mind, and wanted to learn and grow—and we still do that, 20 years later.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Peter Sallick Founder

DLN COMMUNITY

G U i DE li N es AT THE SUMMIT

This year, the DLN introduced Community Guidelines: six touchstones that express the values we already live by, shaped through reflection and affirmed by our leadership, and a framework to guide us—and, hopefully, creative leaders at large. As an organization comprised of leaders in the design world, the DLN strives to set an example for the industry as a whole. Putting these pillars into practice—especially during large-scale DLN events like the Summit—ensures we embody and protect the spirit of the DLN as a place of community, collegiality, and respect.

01 LEAD WITH COLLEGIALITY

Treat fellow members as peers and collaborators, including those who may be considered competitors. The DLN is not a marketplace—it is a forum for shared growth, where relationships are built on trust, not transaction.

02 HONOR EVERY ROLE

Recognize the leadership, creativity, and expertise of all community members, whether they lead design firms, partner brands, or other enterprises. Brand partners are not mere vendors, and designer members are not mere customers; all are creative and strategic leaders in their own right.

03 PROTECT THE CULTURE

Uphold the principal-to-principal nature of the DLN. When engaging with the community, do so as a leader in your field—generous, thoughtful, and present.

04 RESOLVE DISAGREEMENTS CONSTRUCTIVELY

The DLN is not a space for adversarial behavior. If conflict arises with another community member, seek respectful dialogue or mediation. Preserve the integrity of our shared community.

05 UPHOLD PROFESSIONAL INTEGRITY

Act with fairness, honesty, and discretion. Share credit generously, support the next generation, and let collaboration shine. Avoid self-promotion that overshadows it. Represent your work and your values truthfully and with care.

06 CONTRIBUTE TO THE COMMONS

Show up. Share your knowledge. Offer opportunities. Celebrate others. The strength of the DLN depends on active, thoughtful participation.

THE DLF ACROSS THE COUNTRY

01 STARKVILLE, MS

MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY, PILOT PROGRAM

In four years we have:

• Held four yearly on-campus workshops, reaching over 500 students

• Provided 56 full-ride scholarships for our summer work experiences in New York City with 27 DLN Members and Partners

• Awarded over 100 Materials & Technology Awards

02 CHICAGO

ONE MILLION DEGREES, PARTNERSHIP TO SUPPORT CITY COLLEGES OF CHICAGO STUDENTS

In two years we have:

• Had 20 mentors (16 in 2022-23 school year, seven in 2023-24 SY with three crossover) to 60 students

• Led two professional development sessions, serving 26 students

In the 2025-26 school year, we will:

• Hold two professional development events serving an anticipated 50 students

• Introduce internship program matching CCC students with Chicago-area firms

03 LOS ANGELES

SANTA MONICA COLLEGE, EXPANSION OF WORKSHOP MODEL

In two years we have:

• Held two on-campus workshops, reaching over 100 students and involving 22 professionals in the DLN community In 2026, we will:

• Hold our third workshop and reach 100 students in one day—doubling our workshop’s impact

• Introduce internship program matching SMC students with L.A.-area firms

• Introduce a Materials & Technology Award

04 DALLAS

THE DLF’S FIRST COMMUNITY-ORGANIZED FUNDRAISING DINNER, HELD IN 2024

• Produced by SHM Architects and Denise McGaha Interiors

• 52 attendees, raised over $37,000 In 2026, we will hold a similar dinner in the spring.

05 NEW YORK

In four years we have:

• Provided 56 full-ride scholarships for our summer work experiences in New York City with 27 DLN Members and Partners and local programs in development with three NYC educational institutions

06 ATLANTA

UPCOMING: FALL 2026 WORKSHOP

Anticipated impact:

• 150 students at three Atlanta-area schools supported by over 25 DLN community members

Where will the DLF go next? Let us know! We are expanding thanks to the local and regional leadership of community members like you.

Contact DLF Director Ruth Mauldin ruthmauldin@designleadershipfoundation.org to get involved.

DLF IN MADRID

The DLN will again welcome two Design Leadership Foundation scholars to this year’s Summit. Get to know Tabitha Robinson and Arya Rahmanian here—and be sure to introduce yourself to them in Madrid.

My name is Arya Rahmanian, and I am a student at Santa Monica College in the Architecture Program. I have been studying architecture since January 2024 and am currently working toward transferring into a five-year Bachelor of Architecture program. I’ve had a passion for art of all media since I was a child, and that passion has influenced me in many ways over the years, ultimately leading me to my current studies. My interest has never faded—I remain deeply passionate about photography, which I believe has also played a significant role in my decision to pursue architecture.

As a first-generation Persian-American, I have always been intrigued by design across different cultures. Growing up, learning about the diverse design languages and archi tectural styles of various regions has consistently been an interest of mine. Living in Los Angeles has exposed me to a wide range of cultures, and I enjoy designing spaces that reflect that diversity.

TABITHA ROBINSON

My name is Tabitha Robinson, otherwise, known as Tabby. I’m from Starkville, Mississippi, and currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in interior design at Mississippi State University. My passion for design began in childhood, shaped by frequent visits to the Shriners Children’s Hospital. Despite the anxiety of being in a medical setting, the comforting and engaging interiors sparked my curiosity and transformed fear into fascination. Those early experiences inspired my desire to create spaces that not only evoked those same feelings in others but are also functional, beautiful, accessible, inclusive, and sustainable.

As a professional organizer and interior decorator, I use my business to refine my skills and apply classroom knowledge in realworld settings. I am so excited for the incredible opportunity to attend the Design Leadership Summit. Connecting with international design professionals and experiencing global architecture firsthand is both inspiring and affirming of my path in commercial and residential design.

ARYA RAHMANIAN

MY Ma DR iD

By Susana Ordovás

THERE IS SOMETHING ENTICINGLY captivating about Madrid, for foreigners and natives alike. Ask any Madrileño what they think of their hometown, and they will insist it is the best city in the world. Fiercely proud, they celebrate a place that has become a thriving, fashionable, and cosmopolitan metropolis.

“Once a modest, cloistered capital bound by tradition, Madrid now hums with energy.”

Over the past decades, the city has undergone a remarkable transformation. Once a modest, cloistered capital bound by tradition, it now hums with energy, with streets meticulously cleaned, historic facades restored, public spaces modernized, and infrastructure updated. With an exhilarating new pulse coursing through it, Madrid has seen an avalanche of fine-dining restaurants, galleries, and luxury hotels— dare I say, even stealing from Barcelona the status of Spain’s most charismatic city. Renowned for its stylish boulevards, its rich repositories of European art at the Prado and Thyssen-Bornemisza museums, and the recently opened Galería de Las Colecciones Reales, which displays Spain’s royal collections, Madrid has shrugged off its parochial atmosphere to emerge as one of Europe’s most sophisticated destinations.

My personal history is deeply entwined with this Castilian city. I was born in Ireland, in the windswept coastal town of Dún Laoghaire, to an English mother and a Spanish father. I spent my early years in Spain, and when I was barely six, we moved to Africa: first to Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), where I spent the rest of my disrupted childhood, and then to Morocco when I was a teenager. My childhood memories of Madrid are like faded Polaroids. It was the early ’70s and Francisco Franco still ruled with an unyielding grip. Under the cloudy skies of dictatorship, Spain’s isolation from the world could be felt everywhere. Austerity and strict conservatism permeated society, with the Catholic Church upholding the values of morality and proper behavior.

During my childhood, we would regularly visit Madrid and stay at my grandmother’s tasteful, if somewhat stuffy, apartment in the Barrio de Salamanca, where my father had grown up. Filled with antiques, imposing portraits, creaking floorboards, and long, dark corridors,

Susana Ordovás is a writer based between Madrid and Mexico City. Her work has appeared in Cabana, The World of Interiors, and more, and she is the author of “Inside Yucatán: Hidden Mérida and Beyond” (Abrams, 2024).

it was a place where I felt at home. Her wardrobes, scented faintly with naphthalene, were brimming with delights such as mantones de Manila, mink and astrakhan coats, and silk nightgowns. She was a refined woman who applied her makeup ritualistically every morning and always wore a girdle. When I once commented on it, she smiled with quiet amusement and said, “One must suffer for beauty.” I still remember her graceful, manicured hands and large pearl earrings dangling precariously from her earlobes.

A conservative, strong-willed woman, she married into a family of famously intrepid and fearless men, daring both in the air and on horseback. My grandfather was a pioneering aviator and a colonel in the air force. Together, they raised a daughter and four sons— three of whom became Iberian pilots, while my father pursued a corporate career with the airline.

Her home was a few steps from the Parque del Retiro, an expansive park created in the 17th century as a private royal garden for King Philip IV. After Sunday mass, my siblings and I would be sent off there, smartly dressed in matching scratchy wool coats and stiff leather shoes, which we inevitably scuffed. Afternoons were reserved for walks through the quiet streets of the Barrio de Salamanca, and if we were lucky, treats awaited us: churros con chocolate (thick Spanish hot chocolate) or tortitas con nata (pancakes with whipped cream).

One toy store on Calle Goya, however, always stole our attention. It was magical—an explosion of color and excitement amid the subdued elegance of the neighborhood. We would press our foreheads against the cool glass, eyes wide, marveling at row upon row of toys, our imaginations running wild with endless possibilities. Life in Madrid then moved with measured order, its streets and routines steeped in tradition. Who could have imagined that, just a few years later, the city would erupt into a riot of vibrant, electric irreverence?

During Franco’s dictatorship (1939–75), Spain’s design scene was largely conservative and inward-looking. Furniture, interiors, and decorative arts favored classical or regional styles, while modernist and avant-garde movements struggled to gain momentum. Political and economic isolation curtailed exposure to international trends such as mid-century modernism or Scandinavian design. Public architecture emphasized monumentality and order, reflecting the regime’s ideology— most visibly in works like Luis Gutiérrez Soto’s Ministerio del Aire (1943) and Pedro Muguruza’s imposing and controversial Valle de los Caídos (1940–58).

“Suddenly, Madrid transformed into a city of color, noise, and experimentation.”

Yet traditional craftsmanship thrived in Catalonia, Andalucía, and Galicia, preserving textiles, ceramics, and artisanal techniques. By the 1960s and early 1970s, a handful of architects—among them Fernando Higueras and Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza, creator of the emblematic Torres Blancas—began to experiment with modernist ideas, blending contemporary influences with Spain’s artisanal heritage. At the same time, artists such as Andrés Nagel were also pushing boundaries. These early sparks of creativity laid the groundwork for the lively, irreverent explosion that would sweep Madrid and the country after Franco’s death.

La Movida Madrileña, also known as La Movida, was a cultural upheaval that erupted in Madrid in the late 1970s and 1980s, marking a radical break from the rigidity of Francoist Spain. Under the dictatorship, the capital had been defined by censorship, solemnity, and a muted public life. Suddenly, Madrid transformed into a city of color, noise, and experimentation. Nightclubs, underground galleries, and street performances flourished, giving rise to new forms of music, fashion, and artistic expression.

Figures such as filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, musician Alaska, the pop group Mecano, and artist Ouka Leele spearheaded the movement, leaving an indelible mark on the city. Life was effervescent and brimming with possibility—a moment of fascination and wonder of which I was fortunate to be a part. In stark contrast to the austerity of the dictatorship, La Movida was chaotic, dynamic, and unapologetically free: an urban carnival that embodied Spain’s transition to democracy.

After years in strict private schools, at 18, I chose to pursue journalism at La Complustense, Madrid’s largest public university—much against my

mother’s wishes, as she envisaged me studying at Trinity College in Dublin. After living a sheltered life until then, my arrival at the Faculty of Communication in 1987 came as a jolt. Wide-eyed—both terrified and fascinated—I vividly remember my first day of lectures: passing graffitied walls and stepping into cavernous classrooms packed with riotous students dressed in every conceivable style. I was a direct witness to Madrid’s transformation, and those years of formation had a profound impact on me.

My weekends were spent either at clubs like Pacha, Oh! Madrid, and the iconic Joy Eslava, or hopping from bar to bar, sipping cañas and tall glasses of whisky with Coca-Cola, cigarette in hand. Cinema outings were also a regular treat—I remember being reluctantly dragged by my very Spanish friend Ana to see Almodóvar’s enormously successful “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” and feeling utterly captivated. Life felt thrilling and constantly unfolding before me.

The month I graduated from university, I was offered a job at an international press agency that sent me traveling the world 11 months of the year. I left Spain in search of broader horizons and eventually married a Mexican, building a family and a life in Mexico City. Not long ago, over lunch with my father—a true Madrileño—we were talking about the pied-à-terre my husband and I bought in 2015 in Chueca, right in the heart of the city. I told him that, unlike many outsiders who gravitate toward the coveted, flashier Barrio de Salamanca, I had chosen the older, more castizo part of town.

“I want to feel like a tourist in my own city,” I explained, with the Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor, and El Rastro flea market all at my doorstep. He paused, then said, “But Madrid isn’t your hometown.” His words struck me with a visceral force, because although it is not technically where I was born, and I haven’t lived here in 30 years, Madrid will always be my home.

Favorite home stores

Author

Favorite restaurants for lunch

Where to begin? Here are just some of my favorite restaurants: Taberna La Carmencita, Casa Lucio, Celso y Manolo, Lhardy, Sobrino de Botín, and Malacatín. Long lunches are a ritual here, often ending in sobremesa!

Favorite restaurants for dinner

I love La Parra—I always return for its atmosphere. It’s been my “romantic” spot in Madrid for the past 30 years. El Landó is the place for the best traditional Spanish cuisine. Horcher is a classic Madrid restaurant—elegant, steeped in history, and serving timeless Central European dishes. Zalacaín is another Madrid institution, elegant and historic, offering refined Spanish cuisine.

Favorite bars

Taberna La Dolores is a classic spot with an authentic Madrid atmosphere and simple yet tasty tapas—don’t miss their boquerones en vinagre , or European anchovies marinated in vinegar. Casa Alberto, known for its traditional raciones , is also well worth a visit. For tapas lovers, Calle Ponzano is a great street, boasting more than 70 bars to explore.

Rue Vintage 74 offers a wide selection of carefully curated vintage and contemporary pieces. L.A. Studio showcases design-forward items with unique character. González y González features traditional objects for everyday use in the home. For high-quality fabrics, I recommend Gastón y Daniela. Sol & Luna is renowned for its handcrafted leather furniture and home decor.

Favorite antique stores or galleries

For treasure hunters, the El Rastro neighborhood is a must, with lively antique galleries and shops offering everything from quirky finds to classic collectibles— don’t miss Berenice, Le Secret, Portici, Le Bélier, and Casa Josephine. I also recommend Helena Egea, as well as La Californie, in the Barrio de Salamanca area.

Fashion stores

Spain’s fashion scene has flourished in recent years, and Madrid is home to some of my favorite labels, including María de la Orden, The IQ Collection, and Kolonaki. WOW is a concept store that’s always fun to explore. The El Corte Inglés branch on Calle Serrano is devoted exclusively to fashion and luxury goods, featuring both local and international designers. Oteyza blends traditional Spanish craftsmanship with a contemporary vision. Spain has a long-standing tradition of handcrafted footwear—be sure to visit Castañer, Castellanos, and Carmina, and for classic espadrilles, don’t miss Casa Hernanz!

Favorite museums

My favorite museum is the Sorolla Museum. As a casa-museo , it has a warm, intimate feel, showcasing Joaquín Sorolla’s light-filled paintings alongside his personal collection.

Best way to spend a free day in Madrid

If it’s a Sunday, I love to visit El Rastro flea market, browsing stalls full of antiques, vintage treasures, and quirky finds, and popping into some of my favorite antique shops. Afterwards, I head to the gritty yet delicious Bar Santurce for lunch—their fried sardines with a cold caña (glass of beer) are unbeatable. After a long siesta and to round off the day, I like to stop at the iconic Café Gijón for a drink.

Favorite neighborhood to walk

My favorite neighborhood to walk in Madrid is Barrio de Las Letras. I enjoy its charming streets filled with literary history, small plazas, cafés, and shops. Walking here feels like a step back into Madrid’s cultural past. Make sure to stop at Real Fábrica. It’s a store that offers a carefully curated selection of traditional Spanish products.

The best unsung destination

There’s a small church in the Chueca neighborhood that I recently discovered. You would never guess its Baroque interiors from its austere and understated facade. It is renowned for its oval-shaped interior, adorned with stunning frescoes depicting the life of Saint Anthony of Padua. The incredible artwork is a visual feast, often compared to the Sistine Chapel. Another favorite of mine in Madrid is the Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales. I love its quiet, almost hidden atmosphere, and the way it houses an incredible collection of Renaissance and Baroque art that feels like a glimpse into Spain’s royal history.

Where are you going for a weekend getaway and what’s on the itinerary?

I’m heading to La Granja de San Ildefonso, just over an hour’s drive from Madrid. The Royal Palace, built in the early 18th century by King Philip V, is surrounded by magnificent gardens inspired by Versailles. I’ll explore the palace, stroll through the grounds, and enjoy the fountains—make sure to check when they are on. I’ll have a meal at Casa Zaca and stay at El Parador de La Granja.

*For more Madrid recommendations, see p. 32.

WATCH WHERE YOU’RE G Oi NG

By Isiah Magsino

What does the death of a dictator and the mind of the right nepo baby offer a country? Street signs that double as historical pieces of art.

SPAIN IS AN EXAMPLE OF what can happen once the viselike grip of a dictatorship has finally loosened.

The death of Spanish authoritarian leader Francisco Franco in 1975 not only marked the country’s transition back to a democratic state, but also gave it an opportunity to reinvent itself on the cultural plane. In the ’80s, filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, along with avant-garde artists like Ceesepe and Ouka Leele, burst forth from the former oppressive state and turned Spain into an explosion of hedonism and liberation through their work. The movement was called La Movida Madrileña, and it inherently forged a runway ripe for the country to have a complete PR makeover in the decade to come.

By the ’90s, Spain was ready to strike while the iron was hot. Barcelona hosted the 1992 Olympics, and the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid opened. All the while, the World Expo took place in Seville. The country that was once associated with dictatorship was now the leading voice in culture throughout Europe.

In the center of it all was one Spanish nepo baby: Alfredo Ruiz de Luna González. At 43 years old, the third-generation ceramicist— whose family lineage is credited for reviving Talavera’s Renaissance craft at the turn of the 20th century—was tasked by the Madrid City Council to create ceramic nameplates for Madrid’s city center. The goal was simple: the beautification of the city that honored its past while pushing it to the future.

For the next 20 years, González got to work. Hundreds of street nameplates were forged in the signature Talavera technique: tin-glazed earthenware, hand-painted with a cocktail of Spanish urban life, legends, trades, and coats of arms. He expressed humor through the Calle del Codo (Elbow Street) sign by depicting a bent arm with an exaggerated elbow. He celebrated Madrid’s love for color by painting a woman in a colorful traditional dress for the Calle de la Montera sign. He honored history by painting the coat of arms on the Plaza de la Villa sign, which leads people to the city’s oldest civic square. In 2000, González was named “Artenso Madrileño Tradicional” by the Madrid Chamber of Commerce, and the Museum of History of Madrid acquired some of his pieces for its permanent collection.

The number of signs created before his death in 2013, at the age of 64, is uncertain, with some sources citing around 400, while others cite 1,500. Nonetheless, these street plates became so embedded into Madrid’s identity that tourist shops are now littered with small replicas for visitors to take home and undoubtedly stick on their refrigerators.

Today, artists across all disciplines continue to pay homage to González’s style and street signs (Have you seen the 35,000 Spanish tiles in Loewe’s Shanghai store?), and folks travel across the world to see them for themselves. When one explores Madrid and stops to admire these ceramic works, perhaps they’ll whisper to themselves: “All it took was the downfall of one man.”

SPANISH FASHION: A N ACT OF AUTHENT iC i TY

By Clara Courel ESSAY

THE CONSENSUS IS CLEAR: Madrid is in the midst of a cultural renaissance, an effervescent wave of creativity and transformation that pulses through every street corner and reveals itself at every turn. Art, design, gastronomy, music, and, of course, fashion all find vibrant stages in a city reclaiming its historic spaces and giving them new meaning: palatial townhouses reborn as boutique hotels, factories reimagined as contemporary art galleries, and landmark buildings transformed into concept stores and fashion destinations proudly made in Spain.

“Spanish fashion doesn’t just dress people, it tells stories.”

What defines what we call moda de autor —our way of crafting a distinct brand identity—is the conviction that dressing is an act of authenticity, an expression rooted in three guiding principles: craftsmanship and reverence for traditional trades; sustainability, approached through responsible production of limited editions and unique pieces to avoid surplus; and an unrelenting pursuit of excellence, both in the quality of fabrics and materials and in the storytelling. Because Spanish fashion doesn’t just dress people, it tells stories.

Today, the Asociación Creadores de Moda de España (ACME), an organization dedicated to safeguarding the interests of Spanish fashion design and promoting its economic and cultural value worldwide, brings together nearly 100 fashion houses whose combined turnover— close to one billion euros annually—sustains an industry written not just in the present tense, but with an eye firmly fixed on the future.

While capturing everything Madrid has to offer would require a book rather than an article, I hope this guide serves as an entryway into a universe where emerging voices and established masters coexist in harmony, crafting singular experiences for those who seek garments that move them. Illustrious names in Spanish couture—Cristóbal Balenciaga, Mariano Fortuny, Manuel Pertegaz, Paco Rabanne—paved the way for a new generation of creatives who, from their ateliers and boutiques scattered across the capital, invite clients to reinterpret what we now recognize as the cutting edge of fashion and culture.

It’s hardly surprising, then, that several of the country’s most iconic houses have become global benchmarks. Two Galician pioneers in readyto-wear since the 1980s set the stage: Adolfo Domínguez, whose space embodies effortless dressing from morning to night; and Roberto Verino, whose designs exude timeless elegance.

Sybilla stands as another of the essential names for understanding contemporary Spanish fashion. The mononymous creative rose to prominence in the 1980s amid the cultural effervescence of La Movida (a social and artistic movement in Madrid that, after the dictatorship, unleashed a wave of creative freedom and modernity through music, art, fashion, and nightlife). Her creations, which seem to float and play with perception, elevate design to the realm of art. Today, from her Madrid atelier, she continues to weave her ethereal “wearable sculptures” with invisible thread, ever reinventing her legacy.

Walking the luxury artery that is Barrio de Salamanca means stepping into sacred territory: Loewe . More than a brand, it is a manifesto of craftsmanship. Founded in 1846, the Madrid house has built its identity on leather, the skilled hands of Ubrique, and a constant dialogue between heritage and innovation. In April of this year, that legacy entered a new chapter with the appointment of Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, the New York duo behind Proenza Schouler, as its new creative directors, following Jonathan Anderson’s celebrated directorship. But Loewe is not about severing ties with its past; its strength lies in reimagining it. From leatherwork to embroidery and basketry, its Spanish DNA evolves into a contemporary, experimental, urban language—perfectly aligned with Proenza Schouler’s vision. Its flagship is more than a boutique; it’s an aesthetic experience, an essential stop on any Madrid itinerary.

Not far away, another powerful female voice reclaims fashion as an act of thought: Fely Campo . The Salamanca-born designer approaches couture as an artisanal exercise that rejects fleeting trends in favor of the conceptual. She works exclusively with noble fabrics and bespoke creations, her artistic discourse so captivating that one almost forgets they originally came simply to buy a dress.

Another cult favorite street among fashion insiders is Calle Claudio Coello. At number 25 sits Redondo Brand , the label that has slipped into the wardrobes of fashion editors, celebrities, and women looking for more than just a pretty dress. Its founder, Jorge Redondo, has turned his name into shorthand for intentional design: pieces defined by sharp structure, unexpected volumes, and a hint of theatricality that makes every look land like a statement. It’s no coincidence that his most loyal clients are also the most closely watched on red carpets and at private soirees.

Right next door lies a very different but equally magnetic universe: Balel Luxury Hats, the milliner who has reimagined a historic accessory and restored it to its rightful place in the contemporary wardrobe. Beyond impeccable craftsmanship—every piece is handmade with undeniable savoir faire—Balel elevates the montera to icon status, reframing it through a modern, cosmopolitan lens.

Crossing the grand Paseo de la Castellana, you’ll enter Barrio de las Salesas, Madrid’s answer to a quietly sophisticated “hip” district. Here, fashion and jewelry ateliers share streets with chic florists, concept shops, design spaces, artisanal patisseries, and rare book havens for collectors—it’s a neighborhood where style and substance are entwined.

As for menswear, two names define the conversation today: Oteyza is a Madrid- based maison rewriting the codes of classic Spanish tailoring through a contemporary vision. His atelier specializes in bespoke craftsmanship where heritage silhouettes—think the dramatic Spanish cape and the wide-brimmed hat—become cultural emblems projected onto a global stage.

Mans Concept is the creative vision of Sevillian wunderkind Jaime Álvarez, whose daring use of unexpected color palettes and avant-garde details has reshaped the wardrobes of Madrid’s coolest set. Every stitch is handmade, every fabric sourced exclusively from Loro Piana, a choice

that elevates his collections into true luxury. Meanwhile, Alejandro Gómez Palomo, the brilliant mind behind Palomo Spain, has etched a singular narrative in fashion through theatrical, boundary-defying designs that celebrate gender fluidity and cultural roots. He is now launching his first women’s readyto-wear capsule, Cocoon Resort 2026, backed by significant investment and a strategic relocation of his headquarters to Madrid. Perhaps as soon as this November, the new space may open to unveil what this visionary is preparing to once again leave us breathless.

Just steps away, Ecoalf stands as Spain’s pioneering voice in sustainable fashion, helmed by visionary Javier Goyeneche. The brand is rooted in a radical commitment: transforming discarded plastic bottles and fishing nets into covetable modern essentials.

Its latest tailoring capsule—a collaboration with the eccentric Lapo Elkann of the Agnelli dynasty—proves eco-conscious fashion can be both sharply cut and endlessly chic.

For those with a taste for couture-level femininity, Juan Vidal is a pilgrimage worth making. Vidal’s mastery lies in sumptuous fabrics, hypnotic prints, and collectible treasures disguised as shoes or handbags. His devotees include Spain’s own Queen Letizia, who is also often seen in creations by Moisés Nieto , another insider favorite. Nieto bridges artisanal Spanish traditions with refined modernity, committing always to 100% locally sourced materials. His collections embody a dialogue between heritage craftsmanship and contemporary innovation.

The Barrio de las Letras—Madrid’s literary quarter—is one of the city’s most emblematic enclaves, at once bohemian, historic, and unmistakably castizo . Its name harks back to the Spanish Golden Age of the 16th and 17th centuries, when giants such as Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Quevedo, and Góngora called it home. Their presence still lingers in the cobblestone streets, where literary inscriptions are etched into the pavement, whispering words from the writers who once walked there.

Amid historic cafés and traditional tapas bars, the neighborhood pulses with a contemporary beat: cutting-edge restaurants, design-driven cocktail bars, rare bookshops, art galleries, and fashion ateliers. Among them, Acromatyx is essential. The creative duo of Xavi García and Franx de Cristal has redefined Spanish fashion, transforming the color black into a radical declaration of style. Their space was designed by artist, designer, and architect Tito Pérez Mora, who envisioned it as a place where time leaves its trace: provisional yet essential, with mirrored surfaces

ADOLFO DOMÍNGUEZ

Calle de Serrano, 5

ROBERTO VERINO

Calle de Serrano, 33

LOEWE FLAGSHIP

Calle de Serrano, 34

FELY CAMPO

Calle de Jorge Juan, 29

REDONDO BRAND

Calle de Claudio Coello, 25

OTEYZA

Calle del Conde de Xiquena, 11

MANS CONCEPT

Calle de Fernando VI, 5

ECOALF

Calle de Mejía Lequerica, 2

JUAN VIDAL

Calle de Pelayo, 49

MOISÉS NIETO

Calle del Conde Duque, 7

ACROMATYX

Calle de Fúcar, 18

SALON 44

Calle de Valverde, 44

ANDRÉS GALLARDO

Calle de San Pedro, 8

ZARA

Calle de Hermosilla, 14

ZARA’S NEW FLAGSHIP

Calle de Serrano, 23

¿DID YOU KNOW?

Spain is the world’s second- largest exporter of bridal gowns, after China. Nearly one million dresses leave its ateliers each year (most of them based in Cataluña), with 80% of them destined for international markets.

dissolving boundaries and proposing an open, flexible, ever-changing environment. By the way, Madrid is also home to Salon 44 , the hair sanctuary that welcomes the city’s most exacting heads—from models and singers to the silver-screen elite—in a chic setting right in the heart of Chueca. This avant-garde space, founded by Acromatyx’s Xavi García and widely celebrated as one of the capital’s coolest hair studios, seamlessly fuses cuttingedge technique with personalized luxury, ensuring every visit becomes an unforgettable beauty moment.

Just next door is another name to know: Andrés Gallardo , the jewelry artist who crafts exquisite pieces by hand. His work, always in noble metals, places porcelain at center stage, turning a fragile material into bold, wearable art.

Of course, we could hardly conclude a journey through made in Spain fashion without acknowledging the Zara phenomenon. Loath to be categorized solely by its global reach and fast-fashion association, Zara is now seeking to venture into a realm where design, architecture, and lifestyle converge.

The clearest evidence of this evolution is its flagship menswear store conceived by the architecture and design studio Art Recherche Industrie, under the creative direction of the French-Moroccan visionary Ramdane Touhami who is also the mastermind behind the store’s new café and gastronomic concept, Zacaffè.

Here, precision tailoring and urban essentials coexist within an architectural setting that is luminous, serene, and imbued with the understated language of luxury.

Perhaps, by the time you arrive in Madrid, Zara’s new flagship will be complete. This project will bring to the Spanish capital the concept already realized in A Coruña and Paris: El apartamento (The Apartment), an intimate, lifestyle-driven space where fashion meets interior design. Ultimately, this Madrid flagship marks a blueprint for how a mass brand can transform itself into a destination for fashion, design, and urban life. What could be more Spanish than that?

Clara Courel is a fashion journalist with over 20 years’ experience covering fashion and style in Spain and worldwide. Her byline has appeared in ELLE, Marie Claire and Harper’s Bazaar, among others. She is the founder of content strategy agency Courel Communicatíon.

SECRET Madrid

By Liam Aldous

The best of the Spanish city is often hiding in plain sight. Liam Aldous peeks beneath the surface.

FOR FIRST TIMERS, THE SPANISH capital can sometimes come across as a brash, occasionally bewildering, Almodóvar-coded extrovert. Much of this comes down to one particularly loud talking point: This city just won’t shut up. Almost everyone has something to say, and it seems they’re not too picky about who they say it to. Strangers are greeted and farewelled in elevators. Park benches and public plazas turn into ad-hoc conversational committees. The tone is often snappy, the volume cranked up high. But beneath its outwardly chatty disposition, Madrid masks a lesser-known layer, one that remains hush-hush but is often wild, occasionally whimsical, and just the right type of naughty. Many of the clues to this mischievous underbelly are hidden in plain sight. Allow me to walk you through a few.

“Beneath its outwardly chatty disposition, Madrid masks a lesser-known layer, one that remains hush-hush but is often wild, occasionally whimsical, and just the right type of naughty.”

Sometimes, the writing is right on the wall. No stranger to historical tumult, Spain still seems rather uncomfortable unpacking its past. This may explain the small, almost out-of-sight plaque that commemorates the first official trial of the Spanish Inquisition. Hanging high and tiny on Calle de la Torrija (no.14 if you’re already wondering), just a few paces from the Royal Palace, the concise text provides a notably prudent acknowledgment that this is the site of one of the world’s most infamous witch hunts, which commenced as far back as 1478 and lasted for three and a half centuries. No big deal—just a plate-sized epithet, now please move along.

While passersby can be forgiven for walking away with more questions than answers, in Madrid, such historical reticence is the rule, not the exception. You won’t find any dedicated museums that delve into the civil war, document Franco’s dictatorship, or dare to reopen the files of the Spanish Inquisition. Anyone looking to understand some of the capital’s more sordid chapters might want to pack their gumshoes and prepare for some serious digging. The best place to start is the Reina Sofia Museum, where, alongside Picasso’s poignant anti-war masterpiece “Guernica,” you’ll find a well-curated collection of civil war propaganda that shines a wider light on one of the country’s darkest decades.

For a country so gregariously chatty, why so much selective silence? I won’t bore you with a century’s worth of intricate power play between Spain’s Catholic Church, the inner workings of Opus Dei, and the monarchy, or the delicate dance of the country’s post-dictatorship democracy, but the common thread is a tendency to sweep any inconvenient or inflammatory flash points under the collective rug, all in the interest of social harmony. Thankfully though, the country’s official carpet collection is its own majestic spectacle, one I highly recommend marveling at inside the Real Fábrica de Tapices (the Royal Tapestry Factory), where royally anointed artisans have weaved woolen magic since 1721.

But what of this city’s whimsy? Some of this intrepid spirit was best materialized by a generation of visionary architects who started subverting the capital’s skyline in the 1960s and ’70s. This was an era when Generalisimo Franco’s ailing regime was eager to prove its modern credentials on the world stage, which explains how Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza’s high-rise, the Torres Blancas, was reen-lighted back in 1961. The residential tower, which resembles an extraterrestrial tree composed of stacked concrete discs, is one of the earliest examples of organicism and remains a beacon of imagination even today.

Another pioneer during this period, architect Fernando Higueras, had even wilder ideas. He designed the forward-thinking, vinecurtained apartment complex Edificio Princesa for a community of retired generals. The spiked, sci-fi–esque headquarters of the Spanish Historical Heritage Institute was popularly proclaimed the “crown of thorns” after a two-decade struggle to complete it. But then, this occasionally cantankerous creative genius decided to bury himself in the backyard of a quiet suburb in the city’s north. Legend has it, Higueras was spooked during a tarot reading in which the death card

subterranean home, moving underground and planting a cypress tree on top. Inspired by the cave houses that skirt some of southern Andalucía’s rocky valleys, his two-level home is remarkably luminous, thanks to some well-appointed skylights. Today it houses the late architect’s eponymous foundation. Writing about the eccentric architect’s self-made underworld, a journalist coined the term rascoinfiernos (hellscraper). But it was always meant to be La Cueva (the cave), a much-needed retreat from Madrid’s cacophonous surface, a monument to the eternal predicament of finding some peace.

You won’t find any such serenity if you decide to brave Madrid’s nightlife, which is notorious around the nation as a full-spirited endurance test. Many a city mayor has tried to tame the capital’s penchant for partying—but to little avail. With dinners that stretch the far side of 11 PM, it’s understandable that dance floors don’t start filling until around 2 AM. The revelry is renowned for spilling well past sunrise— your first clue to the Spanish definition of stamina. No surprise then, that most of Madrid’s best bars and clubs have embraced stealth as a cornerstone of their survival, riffing from a near-forgotten era when fiestas also had to go underground. Right now, the hottest ticket in town is El Internacional, which self-identifies at street level as a classic

hotel lobby (bell-boy uniforms to boot), but whose sturdy, soundproof doors open onto a raucous cocktail of infectious beats, cool crowds of all ages, and Latin-flavored nights that feature a brass band. Other secret spots include Chin Chin on a quiet street of the Malasaña district, El Amante not far from Plaza Mayor, and the recently revived tiles of Candela, revered as hallowed ground in the world of flamenco, meaning you’ll probably stumble into an impromptu performance. If you’ve ever watched one of Pedro Almodóvar’s earlier films, you might be forgiven for thinking Spain’s eclectic national treasure of a film director had a way with melodrama. All those endlessly expressive characters and their outward ways masking an even more colorful, complex, and compelling world within. But, as someone who has lived, breathed, and been beholden to Madrid’s daily exuberance, its idiosyncrasies, the unnerving ease with which it glides between paradoxes, I’ve since realized that Almodóvar was more documentarian than fantasist. His films unfold like intricate moving portraits of a city that—even to this day—remains gloriously unhinged. Madrid might be typecast as an extrovert, but look a little deeper into its more suppressed side and you’ll find a whole world of outlandish tales, characters, and places— most of which won’t be signposted on any official walls.

Liam Aldous is a writer, cultural curator, and founder of ColourFeel and Another Future Festival. He has been Monocle magazine’s Madrid correspondent since 2012.

FLORES- VIANNA’S Wa NDERING EYE CAPTURES SPAIN

OVER THE COURSE OF his 20-year career as editor, author, and photographer, Miguel Flores-Vianna has captured riveting scenes from around the world. In addition to his work for the likes of Cabana , Architectural Digest , and Town & Country, he is the author of several books published by Vendome Press, including the bestselling “Haute Bohemians,” “A Wandering Eye: Travels with My Phone,” and “Haute Bohemians: Greece.” He has also contributed photography to books by Lisa Fine, Nathalie Farman-Farma, and Isabel López-Quesada. Here, he lends a selection of photographs of Spain, providing a taste of the history, design, and architecture across the country, all captured by his gimlet eye.

All photos from

“A Wandering Eye: Travels with My Phone,” by Miguel Flores-Vianna (Vendome Press, 2019)

Photographer, author, Cabana deputy editor

Favorite restaurant for lunch

Horcher

C. de Alfonso XII, 6, Retiro, 28014

Favorite restaurant for dinner

I love La Carmencita for a late-night dinner.

C. de la Libertad, 16, Centro, 28004

Favorite bar

El Cock, an old 1970s hangout that still has a lot of pull.

C. de la Reina, 16, Centro, 28004

Favorite specialty shop

I love buying dried fig cakes at the Corte Ingles in the Salamanca neighborhood.

C. de Raimundo Fernández Villaverde, 65, Tetuán, 28003

Fashion store

I love getting all my espadrilles at the Antigua Casa Crespo.

Home store

Isabel López-Quesada Studio

C. de Alfonso Rodríguez Santamaría, 22, Chamartín, 28002

Antique stores or galleries

Machado-Muñoz Gallery

C. de Justiniano, 4, Centro, 28004

Best way to spend a free day in Madrid

A short drive to El Escorial.

Favorite museum or gallery

The Prado Museum is a treasure and a joy and the Gallery of the Royal Collections newly opened in an impressive building-monument in the gardens of the Royal Palace.

Favorite neighborhood to walk

The 16th and 17th-century Madrid de los Austrias and the 19th-century neighborhood around the Museo del Prado.

The best unsung destination

I love the Islamic art collection at the unbelievable Instituto Valencia de Don Juan. Make sure you write to them to see it as they are only open by appointment.

C. de Fortuny, 43, Chamberí, 28010

I also love visiting the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, always empty-ish but full of Goyas.

C. Alcalá, 13, Centro, 28014

Where are you going for a weekend getaway and what’s on the itinerary?

Pedraza, an ancient walled town about an hour and a half outside Madrid. I stay in Casa Taverna, a favorite small hotel. With Pedraza as a base I can visit Segovia with all its marvels and the extraordinary Palacio de la Granja with its beautiful garden and fountains.

*For more Madrid recommendations, see p. 32.

a M E xi C a N IN MADRID

By Jean Porsche

On

falling in love with an ever-changing city.

In my case, I came searching for a place that would tell me, “This is home.” In Madrid, I found the perfect stage to build a life among architecture, design, and dreams. The first years were about adaptation: understanding bureaucracy, rhythms, and the Madrileño character—not to mention the long process of validating my architecture degree, which taught me patience and perseverance. But above all, they were years of discovery: the crafts, the materials, the artisans, and the light of this city that transforms spaces and inspires every project.

TWENTY-ONE YEARS AGO, THERE weren’t many Mexicans in Madrid. Nor were there so many ultra-luxury hotels, and in the bars it was puzzling to see how paper napkins, once used, ended up on the floor as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Beauty attracts, yes, but charm makes you fall in love.”

For a long time, Madrid lived in the shadow of Barcelona. Barcelona was the beautiful one, the sophisticated one, the city everyone admired. Madrid, on the other hand, was the charming plain girl— perhaps not dazzling at first sight, but the one who wins you over with her character and warmth. Because beauty attracts, yes, but charm makes you fall in love. And fall in love I did.

Today, the city once seen as less glamorous now knows itself to be beautiful, bold, and authentic. Its life, its skies, its people, its food— everything you breathe here—has lifted it beyond its provincial past. Now it stands on the same level as London and Paris. Perhaps it always did—but Madrileños themselves didn’t quite believe it.

It took stars like Ava Gardner and writers like Ernest Hemingway to come and experience it—to discover a unique city, with a vibrant rhythm, endless nights, and an unmistakable spirit that, even after a war, shined with its own energy. They were the ones who helped put Madrid on the map. And today, those of us who have arrived from elsewhere bring our stories, our perspectives, and our ways of creating to a city that has always thrived on what comes from outside— a city that grows richer with every new accent.

“In Madrid, I found the perfect stage to build a life among architecture, design, and dreams.”

And we discovered that Madrid hides secret courtyards, forgotten gardens, homes full of richness, and spaces that had long been asleep— places we are now revaluing and reinterpreting, where the style, design, and creativity of those of us who live here keep the city’s magic alive.

Madrid taught me to design with a castizo soul and an international gaze—to blend the classical with the contemporary, the elegant with the approachable. And over time, my work has grown at the same pace as the city. The interiors of homes, restaurants, hotels all reflecting a new way of living in Madrid: open, cosmopolitan, and passionate.

Today, patrons at Madrid’s restaurants no longer throw napkins on the floor—and what’s more, these restaurants have expanded to Miami, Monaco, and London. Walking along Serrano, you can hear the Mexican accent in what some now call “Little Polanco.”

You can visit the Palacio de Liria and see an exhibition by Joana Vasconcelos inside the House of Alba. Madrid has become a showcase of creativity, a city that exports style without losing its essence.

As Tancredi says in “The Leopard”: “If we want things to stay as they are, everything must change.” People change, but those who arrive want to stay. Because Madrid is no longer just a city; it’s a way of life. And that way of life cannot be explained—it must be lived.

You might arrive by chance, but you stay for love. Because in Madrid, everything changes…so it can always remain Madrid.

Jean Porsche is a Mexican architect and designer living and working in Madrid.

Visit Jean Porsche’s exuberantly decorated Madrid apartment on a behind-the-scenes tour.

ISABEL LÓPEZQUESADA’S W OR l D

In a conversation ahead of this year’s Summit, the celebrated designer and Madrileña shares her perfect Madrid day, what she most loves about her native city, and how the world can learn from Spanish culture.

We are so excited to be bringing our community to Madrid. What do you love most about your city?

I think it’s a very happy city. First of all, we have beautiful weather most of the year—only in summer is it a little bit hot. But we’re not here in summer, because, you know, the Spanish we all go on vacations for a month.

Yes, that helps the happiness; we need to learn that in America.

You have to! You only have one life. But otherwise, we have a beautiful blue sky most of the year, and we have a lot of trees. It’s a very leafy city, and we have some of the best restaurants and museums.

“The only fault of Madrid is that the sea is far away.”

Which are your favorites?

Of course, I love the Prado; I am one of the friends of the museum and once a month we visit the museum when it is closed, which is just beautiful. I am also a friend of the Thyssen Museum and the Reina Sofia, which is wonderful for modern art. As for restaurants—it doesn’t matter where you eat, everything is good! The only fault of Madrid is that the sea is far away.

And how has being in Madrid impacted your design practice?

We have a way of living that I can’t translate and I can’t teach; it’s different than the rest of the world. We live a lot outside. We love to be in the gardens, in the patios, in the terraces—and also to take advantage of our life. We make happy houses; I make happy houses. It’s an easy way of living and a happy way

of living, and very familial too. We live with big families, with a lot of daughters and sons and siblings, so we’re always together, and that’s very fun.

If someone has just landed for the first time in Madrid, how should they begin discovering the city?

Walk! Go to the Royal Palace, then the Royal Collections are right across the street. Walk through Old Madrid and to El Retiro Park and into El Rastro, which is our version of the Marché aux Puces. (You want to go on a Friday or Saturday instead of a Sunday, though, so it’s less crowded.) Madrid is a beautiful walking city, and because there are so many trees, it’s shady, so always wonderful to walk.

Tell us about your home here.

Well, I love my neighborhood. It’s an old colonia called Cruz del Rayo. It’s like a little village. And in Madrid, we all have gardens at home, so it’s very green. In all my other houses, I had my children living with me, and dogs and friends of the children—I was surrounded. Now, they are living on their own, and I live alone with my husband—so I did what I wanted. I have all my books, a big sitting room, a drawing room with a fireplace overlooking my patio, and my dressing room, which is a dream. For once, I made the house for me.

What’s one thing you think every home should have?

Two: a fireplace and a bathtub. Even better if they are in the same room.

What is it that you most look forward to when you come home after traveling?

Everything! My bed, my couch, my fire, my roses and plants. But mostly, my routine. I have my cafés and shops I visit, and my Pilates class I walk to. I love returning to that after travel. The best thing, to me, is staying at home—after traveling, a weekend home is true luxury.

And what would your perfect weekend in Madrid look like?

I would go to yoga in my neighborhood, then have brunch in one of my favorite cafés—it’s called Katz’s, like in New York. I would meet friends there, then I would have lunch with my parents and my sisters. I have seven sisters and they are all in Madrid. In the afternoon I would play golf, or maybe play cards with my friends. Then dinner with my husband. And the next day I would go to a museum, and then I would have a siesta. That is one of the very best things in Spain.

The other wonderful thing about Madrid is that we have beautiful cities to visit close by. Segovia is wonderful, and Aranjuez, where the king and queen of Spain used to have their weekend house. There are so many places just an hour away where you can spend the day.

When you think about the influence of Spain on the rest of the world, what do you hope visitors take away?

Well, the Arabs were in Spain for 800 years, and they left us with such beautiful gardens and patios—not to mention legacy in math and astronomy. Of course, we have the Alhambra, but there is so much more: the use of cypress and olive trees, the importance of gardens and water, and the scents. We inherited that all from the Arabs. I think that influence is one of the most special things that Spain has and that we have a duty to export it to the rest of the world.

And also the kitchens: We have kitchens that we use! I remember my daughter went to America and she said, “Mom, they have these big kitchens and they order delivery!” We cook at home.

What is your favorite thing to cook?

I have a recipe in my family for gnocchi with cream. It comes from Argentina because my parents spent eight years there. So whenever we are together for Christmas or any big celebration, we always have gnocchi with cream sauce.

Order Isabel’s latest book, “Town & Country,” with photography by Miguel Flores-Vianna, out now from Vendome.

I SA b EL LÓp E z-Q UESADA

El M UNDO ESPAÑOL

Over the past five years, the New York–based Hispanic Society Museum and Library has undergone both curatorial and architectural reinvention. Here, the DLN’s Michael Diaz-Griffith catches up with Director and CEO Guillaume Kientz about the Society’s renovation, its position as a celebrator of Hispanic culture, and its dual role in its local community and the world.

“Wherever there is a challenge, there is also an opportunity.”

MDG I’ve admired so much of what you‘ve done since taking on your role four years ago. To start, can you talk about what you‘ve been able to do to shed light on the work of the Society and what’s available on your beautiful campus?

GK Well, one of the most challenging things for us was that I started in March 2021, so we immediately faced closures for the pandemic. But I think that wherever there is a challenge, there is also an opportunity. I immediately sensed that we couldn’t miss that opportunity to be part of this global reopening, and we worked very hard to get a gallery set up in the east building, and to start serving our community, showing the art, and welcoming visitors. As it turned out, Lin Manuel Miranda was about to premiere his movie “In the Heights,” and we are in the Heights. So I thought, okay, that’s the first show we do. So we started working with the Northern Manhattan Alliance on the installation of murals outside of the building, and soon after that a show in the new East Gallery in 2021. Then, we were able to reopen the main spaces of the museum in 2023. That was a very important year for us because it was the centennial of the death of Valencian master Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida—the namesake of our Sorolla Gallery—and also of the birth of Jesús Rafael Soto, the Venezuelan artist, the inventor, one of the inventors of kinetic art. This double centennial was very significant to the identity of the museum, combining a Spanish master and a very important, but often underconsidered, Latin American artist.

So when we reopened our main spaces in 2023, we were able to signal the changes that we were implementing and reopen to contemporary art and living artists, reminding everyone that Sorolla was a living artist, too, when the museum opened its doors to the public for the first time.

MDG Indeed, it was such a wonderful transition. I know one topic that will be really interesting to our community is Annabelle Selldorf’s work for the museum— what has that afforded you in terms of functionality, circulation that you didn’t have in the previous organization of space that you inherited?

GK Annabelle had been appointed before I joined but I couldn’t be happier with her selection. I think what guided the appointment of Annabelle as our lead architect for the renovation is really the incredible respect she has for existing landmark buildings, and her admirable renovation of the Frick is really a testament to her skill in this regard. Because the Hispanic Society had a great chance of having almost jumped from the 19th century to the 21st century— being untouched by the 20th century— it felt like walking through the pyramid of Tutankhamen, which was totally fascinating and exhilarating. Before being a museum curator, I was a landmark curator, so I care about buildings; I care about historic buildings and I know when I see something that has been so untouched and therefore is so authentic that it makes it very vulnerable to an intervention. With Annabelle, I think we really have the right person to modernize the museum and the library and make them state of the art, as they should be, but at the same time not throw away the magic, the charm, the character.

“Some people say, ‘Oh, well, nothing has changed,’ and to that I say: ‘Exactly!’ ”

When I first met Annabelle on-site, we went to the main court, and she asked me, “Guillaume, what do you think of this orange color that had been used to paint over the walls?” (I think they were supposed to imitate some terra-cotta, but it was just cheap paint.)

And I said, “Annabelle, I think I hate it.” And she said, “Guillaume, can I hug you?” And we hugged and we knew that we would get along. We knew that we had shared a vision to elevate the architecture, to let it breathe, to let the volume speak and sing. It was all this gigantic lobster or tomato soup that was making quite an impression but was really unfair and untrue to the architectural quality. I think the limestone color that she came up with lets us perceive the architecture and the architectural quality much, much, much better.

Some people say, “Oh, well, nothing has changed,” and to that I say: “Exactly!” I mean, believe me, we spent millions on that, so that you would feel like nothing has changed. It’s like doing conservation on a painting by Goya; if you see the intervention, that means that you screwed up. It’s a delicate balance, and happily, Annabelle is one of, if not the, best at it.

MDG Tell me a little bit more about the way you’ve redefined community outreach, so that the institution is relating to the community around it, but also the dual life that the word Hispanic has in this context. How do you expand the notion of what constitutes a Hispanic object or idea or connection to your contemporary context?

GK Well, in the early 20th century, the Heights were believed to be the next hot place to live: There was better air quality by the river, it’s on your way to the Bronx, which used to be what the Hamptons are today, it was ripe for development. Then the war happened in 1917, and then the Great Depression, and with the invention of skyscrapers, New York started developing vertically and not horizontally. On the one hand, that’s when the neighborhood fell off of certain radar, but that’s also what saved it, architecturally speaking. This neighborhood is really an amazing well of architectural beauty; it’s not by accident that so many movie directors come here to shoot. So somehow this parenthesis has preserved a lot of the cultural and architectural quality of the neighborhood. The other thing is that, as a museum, we are about visitors. And guess what? Being in a residential neighborhood is an asset when you want to bring people through your door, because this is where they live.

And the serendipity is that among those many people, many, many of

them are of Hispanic descent, whether from the DR or Puerto Rico or Cuba or Mexico. All the museums in town and in the country are working very hard to reach out to the Spanish-speaking communities as a growing segment of the U.S. demographic. Well, we are at one of the hearts of Hispanic New York. So, it’s quite fitting.

We are weaving this fabric with our immediate community in different ways. One, our museum education and public program department is all focused on how to serve our community, give our community opportunities, and bridge our community as a global cultural institution. We see our responsibility to share our space, to make the space available for others, and to do joint programming. For instance, we work a lot with the Jazz Power Initiative in Harlem, and we work with Inwood Artworks for the film festival that we have every fall. So we get their people to come to our space, and hopefully at some point it becomes the same crowd. It’s just the same family that gathers together.

“My personal take is that art, painting, sculpture, decorative art—those are languages with their vocabulary, with their syntaxes, with all of it: Art is a language.”

MDG Finally, can you tell us a little bit about your experiences in Spain, representing the museum?

GK I really see one of our missions and where we can be useful as facilitating dialogue between Latin America and the U.S., between the U.S. and Spain, and between Spain and Latin America. I think with the soft culture, the soft power that a museum and a library like the Hispanic Society represent as a stage, there is a lot of good that we can do. When I go to Spain, or Latin America, or when I will go to the Philippines, I’m really an ambassador of all that they have in common, beyond myself, certainly, and even beyond the museum. I’m here to cultivate this common ground that sometimes feels abandoned. The Hispanic Society started as a library, and a library is all about language. If you are Hispanic or Latino, your language still is Spanish, so Spanish is already this common ground—and Portuguese, too—that we have and that we can build upon. It’s not about agreeing on everything; it’s about getting together and speaking. And my personal take is that art, painting, sculpture, decorative art— those are languages with their vocabulary, with their syntaxes, with all of it: Art is a language. Let’s not forget it.

MDG Final question: What are some of your favorite things to do when you’re in Madrid?

GK I always like to go to San Antonio de la Florida, which is a little chapel not very well known where Goya is buried. He decorated the amazing cupola of that chapel. Then I love to go to the Las Huertas neighborhood; I love to feel the vibe of Madrid. Of course, I do my Prado pilgrimage. I always say that in Italy, landscapes are beautiful. In Spain, people are beautiful. I just love the energy, the positivity—I love to be in Madrid.

SANTIAGO CALATRAVA: aRChiTECT aS aRTiSt

By Nick Mafi

For Santiago Calatrava, art and architecture are two parts of one expressive whole. Here, writer Nick Mafi discusses how the architect’s early art training, coming of age under Franco, and exposure to the work of Goya impact his creative expression.

WHILE SANTIAGO CALATRAVA PRIMARILY works as an architect, there has, in his mind, never been a separation between architecture and art. Indeed, from the beginning of his creative pursuits, these two powerful expressions have been inextricably linked. Evidence of Calatrava’s artwork exhibited in tandem with his architecture has been seen in the world’s top museums: New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and MoMA, Saint Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum, Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, Munich’s Glyptothek, and others. This is because both have provided him a source of nourishment, pillars to prop his imagination, and a laboratory of expressions from which he has forged a personal vocabulary of creation. After decades of work, Calatrava has found the best version of himself occurs while making art; or, in other words, art is a means of communicating at the highest level.

In defining the parameters of his artwork, Calatrava built an aesthetic vocabulary that was both elemental and common: cubes, cones, cylinders, spindles, and spheres. Within this lexicon, he filled his work with the immaterial: gravity, light, balance, and tension. It was a sparse language he recognized, one that suited his creative endeavors. From geometrical shapes and human anatomy to the realm of nature and the animal world, Calatrava’s desire was a search for a clear, even at times raw, explanation of truth.

24

This story is an excerpt from “Calatrava: Art” (Hirmer, 2024) by Nick Mafi. Mafi is the senior features editor at Architectural Digest. An IranianAmerican writer living in Brooklyn, he has produced work for Architectural Digest, Condé Nast Traveler, Esquire, GQ, Slate, The Daily Beast, Vanity Fair , and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he is also a docent.

Santiago Calatrava was born in Valencia, Spain, in 1951. In addition to receiving his primary and secondary education there, Calatrava’s first formal instruction in drawing and painting came at the age of eight when he was enrolled at a local art school. (There still survives a picture Calatrava drew of a horse when he was eight years old and domes of a city that he produced on paper when he was 11.) Eventually, Calatrava pursued 14 years of higher education, first in Valencia and later in Zurich, forming the bedrock for a lifetime of engagement with art, mathematics, urban planning, architecture, public libraries, and travel. In the late 1960s, it was not unusual for the Spanish university that Calatrava attended to close its doors for months at a time, as the country was in the waning years of dictatorship under Francisco Franco.

When classes were canceled, Calatrava began to frequent the university library, checking out as many books as his arms and backpack could handle. It was a time in which he discovered the power of the autodidactic, devouring books on Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, writing his own interpretations on architecture and the ceramics of a small nearby city called Manises. Calatrava became such a regular that he eventually befriended the librarians; decades later, during the opening night of an exhibition of his work at MoMA in 1993, one of his favorite librarians happened to be in New York City and arrived at the event to congratulate him.

As a university student, Calatrava would save what money he could for summer travel throughout Europe. These experiences opened his eyes, dismantling and reconstructing the ways in which he saw the world and his place in it. His voyages eventually landed him in Switzerland, a country where he would meet his wife and study civil engineering. It was while attending these courses that Calatrava carved out time to push himself outside of the traditional classroom to draw and sculpt, using geometrical shapes as his muses. This decade was a happy one, as Calatrava discovered the purpose of his artwork was not to find an end, but to seek a never-ending path forward.

Among Calatrava’s favorite artworks is a sketch in the Prado made by Francisco de Goya. It was done in the final years of the Spanish master’s life while exiled in Bordeaux, years after completing such masterpieces as “The Nude Maja” (1797-1800), “The Third of May” (1814), and “Saturn Devouring His Son” (1819-23). The sketch, completed between 1825 and 1828, is a self-portrait as an old man, using knotted fingers to hold two sticks assisting him to walk. At the top corner, Goya’s over arching philosophy can be found, written in black chalk: Aún aprendo, “I am still learning.” This unwavering desire for personal growth, which drove Goya to never settle on a subject or topic for too long, drives Calatrava still.

Through his years of work, Calatrava found his output to be enhanced by a singular method: that of rigor. Calatrava discovered virtue in deep patience. It allowed his artistic endeavors to begin in the elemental. Formulations that contained the raw materials of something greater would now have the opportunity to transform, not unlike a seed transforming into a tree.

After years of study, he began sculpting abstract works in the mental confines of an analytical path. Step by step he moved forward, introducing cubes into his work, then plunging back into his formal education only to resurface with the addition of cones and spindles for a new series of sculptures, wires for another, diving back into his academic training again only to emerge and remove those very wires in the work that followed. Over time, his rigorous methodology allowed Calatrava to grow with more freedom, to better rationalize his artistic approach, to spin his work into variations, eventually adding movement into his sculptures, then gravity. Calatrava ventured into the animal world, drew live nudes, worked with ceramics, designed stage sets for ballet productions, harnessed the dematerialization of light, and transformed the interior of a once derelict church in Naples into a singular display of how nature provides a scent of the sacred. Throughout this whole transformation, Calatrava drew on his formal academic training as nourishment, fueling one metamorphosis into the next, until he could finally flourish, the seed evolving into a tree.

Calatrava’s artistic output is akin to messages in a bottle. Imagine that you are stranded on an island and all you can do is think about life: the transience of it, the comedy, the tragedy. You mull it over on paper, expressing your deepest thoughts and feelings and passions. Then you place the page inside a corked bottle and toss it to sea, hoping that someone may find it.

PIXEL P ERFECT

By Wendy Moonan

Factum Arte and its preservation-focused foundation use cutting-edge technology to re-create and safeguard cultural heritage, from tapestries to tombs.

REPLICATING A CAVE IN BRAZIL covered in Indigenous petroglyphs that tell a tribe’s creation story after the original was horribly vandalized. Creating a facsimile of Veronese’s masterpiece “The Wedding at Cana” (where Jesus miraculously converted water into wine) for its original setting in Venice, from whence Napoleon’s troops stole the painting in 1797 and sent it to the Louvre, where it remains.

Installing an exact, full-scale facsimile of King Tut’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings for the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, who were concerned tourists were destroying the original site with their hot and humid breath and bodies. These are but a few of the many projects undertaken on behalf of Indigenous tribes, governments, museums, and cultural foundations by Factum Arte (“made with skill” in Latin) and its sister nonprofit, the Factum Foundation for Digital Technology in Preservation. They are revolutionizing the way we preserve cultural heritage. “Over 25 years, Factum Arte has dedicated itself to documenting, monitoring, studying, and re-creating the world’s cultural heritage,” says Adam Lowe, who trained as a painter but is also a visionary.

In 2001 he, along with two partners, founded Factum Arte as an art conservation company based in London and Madrid, where it now employs over 50 technicians and conservators in an 8,000-square-meter studio.

Today, it helps contemporary artists such as Anish Kapoor and Marina Abramović fabricate technically difficult pieces and also promotes the use of state-of-the-art technologies for 3D digitization to record art and objects that may be at risk or are inaccessible. Factum Arte has collaborated with dozens of museums, including the Louvre, the British Museum, the Ashmolean, the Mauritshuis, the Rijksmuseum, and, in the United States, the Met, Morgan, and Frick.

Lowe oversees teams of technology wizards, who employ the most sophisticated digital scanning and 3D printing methods, along with a squad of craftspeople with diverse skills: architects, engineers, software engineers, molders, casters, welders, artists, printers, machine operators, photographers, filmmakers, scanners, typographers, digital and physical sculptors, carvers, and gilders. Together, their range of accomplishments is vast and varied.

The firm was founded after Lowe was asked by Egypt’s minister of antiquities if he could replicate the tomb of Seti I in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. The ambitious project took years and involved developing entirely new technology, including designing a 3D laser scanner, writing software, and modifying photographic equipment that could record the walls of the tomb at a resolution of 100 million measured points per square meter to capture the smallest details, even brushstrokes. Photogrammetry was employed to capture the high relief surface of the tomb.

After recording the surface and colors of a 16-square-meter section of the tomb, Lowe’s team returned to Madrid to fabricate a facsimile for the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities. “It was essentially identical,” Lowe recalls. The Factum Foundation and the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities have provided their 3D virtual

model of the tomb to the public, via an online portal.

In 2014 Factum Arte installed a King Tut tomb facsimile in the Valley of the Kings for tourists, thereby relieving the pressure on, and ongoing damage to, the original site. As Jonathan Jones, the art critic for The Guardian , has noted: “It is now possible to replicate not just images but places.” Sometimes Lowe’s team creates a reproduction of an artifact that no longer exists.

One such example involves the Wauja, an Indigenous group in Brazil who live in the Xingu Indigenous Territory, a protected area in the state of Mato Grosso. Their sacred cave—its petroglyphs depicting the Wauja creation story—is no longer accessible, as it now lies on private land occupied by a soybean plantation. Allowed only occasional visits, the tribe, in 2018, was stunned to see the cave had been horribly vandalized, the petroglyphs hacked out. “The rock is our history book,” explains Akari Waurá, a singer, historian, and leader of the Wauja. “It includes the teachings of our ancestors, where our rituals originated, even the rules of society. The destruction of the petrographs felt like losing our family.”

Additionally, the cave records the good deeds of the mythical hero/ancestor Kamukuwaká, who is said to have rescued his people in ancient times. The engravings are also examples of the tribe’s traditional graphic repertoire, geometric forms still seen in ritual body painting, contemporary pottery, and basketry. The team at Factum Foundation recorded the vandalized cave digitally and then blended their 3D images with historic photographs of the cave to create an accurate reconstruction. Then, with support from People’s Palace Projects, a research center at Queen Mary University in London, Factum built a full-scale polyurethane replica of the cave, complete with its original markings. To celebrate the facsimile’s completion in 2019, the Factum Foundation hosted an event in Madrid for the Brazilian tribe, inviting Akari Waurá, other tribal members, and Shirley Krenak, an activist for the Indigenous tribes of Brazil, to see the facsimile.

The men wore macaw-feather headdresses and leopard-claw necklaces, and covered their torsos with traditional body markings. They performed ritual dances and songs to awaken their ancestors. “There were 50,000 Wauja people in Brazil before World War II,” Lowe says. “Now there are about 500.” After the tribe embraced the reproduction of the cave, the Factum team sent it to Brazil, where last October it was installed in the new Cultural and Territorial Monitoring Center in Upper Xingu. For Chief Waurá, the replica stands for the original. As he put it, “The spirit of the ancestors now inhabits this place.” Adds Lowe, “The reconstructed cave is the object that carries the original meaning. The original is a relic of itself.”

Some projects seem particularly serendipitous. In 2006 the Giorgio Cini Foundation, in Venice, commissioned Factum Arte to make a facsimile of “The Wedding at Cana” (1563), which Paolo Veronese painted for Andrea Palladio’s refectory in the Benedictine San Giorgio Monastery. The painting had been plundered by Napoleon’s army in 1797 and sent as war booty to the Louvre, where it remains today in the Salle des États, ignored by the crowd straining to see the “Mona Lisa” on the other side of the room. “We had not yet done the replica of a painting, and ‘The Wedding’ is huge—over six meters tall and almost 10 meters wide,” Lowe says.

“First we had to get the permission of Henri Loyrette, director of the Louvre.” When Loyrette was first contacted, Lowe and his team received no reply. Luckily, one of Lowe’s collaborators bumped into Loyrette at the opening of the Quai Branly Museum in Paris and secured approval for the project. The lengthy process included laserscanning the painting, photographing it in sections, doing a white light scan to record the relief of the brushstrokes on the surface, stitching together digital files, then programming a purpose-built printer to

deposit pigments on a canvas coated with a gesso much like the one Veronese would have used.

The installation of the replica in the refectory was “a turning point,” Lowe says. “Up until then, everyone was against the idea of facsimiles. Then they realized that ‘The Wedding’ in the Louvre hangs at the wrong height, out of context, and in the wrong country. Experiencing the copy in the refectory for which it had been intended, where the monks once gazed upon it daily, in silence as they ate, visitors to Venice now concede their experience with the replica is more real than viewing the original. They can see the dialogue between Palladio and Veronese.”

Sometimes Lowe’s team re-creates artifacts that previously existed only as designs on paper. In 2014 the Factum Foundation collaborated with the Giorgio Cini Foundation in Venice and Sir John Soane’s Museum in London on an exhibition at the Soane titled “Diverse Maniere: Piranesi, Fantasy and Excess,” exploring the connections between Soane (1753-1837), the architect of the neoclassical Bank of England, and Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-78), the Italian architect, printmaker of fantasy buildings, and antiquarian.

Factum, using digital modeling, 3D printing, and traditional fabrication processes, produced a group of never-realized objects derived from Piranesi drawings. These included a life-size golden grotto chair adorned with scallop shells, snails, satyr masks, and swan necks; a silver seashell-shaped coffeepot with a tortoise base and a bee-shaped spout; and a gilded bronze helix tripod with rams’ heads that was inspired by an antique Roman model. The exhibition’s curator, Jerzy Kierkuc-Bielinski, sought to illustrate how Piranesi studied the ancient world and its elements in order to invent new “modern” designs.

“Factum is a playground for artists,” Lowe says. With only drawings to work from, they can create realistic, authentic 3D images. Lowe is asking the public to think outside the box.

“We tend to put objects on plinths so they can be appreciated for their artistic qualities,” he says. “Maybe the objects need to be seen in context, to speak to audiences in a new way.”

Embracing technology and collaborating with the stewards of these original objects, Factum seeks to not only tell their stories, but expand their reach.

This story originally appeared in the May/June 2025 issue of The Magazine Antiques , guest-edited by DLN CEO Michael Diaz-Griffith.

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EXCERPT

S ta GE STRUCK

By Susana Ordovás

Design studio Casa Josephine’s recasting of a Madrid apartment resonates with dramatic touches. Gifted an open brief, they scripted a range of metaphors for inspirational prompts, ranging from a merchant ship laden with luxury goods to the radiant interior of a jewelry case.

CALLE DE SAGASTA IN MADRID is a wide, tree-lined avenue of elegant but uniformly anonymous neoclassical buildings that reveal nothing of the people who live behind all the balustrades and wrought-iron balconies. One utterly discreet facade in particular conceals something wholly unexpected: an airy apartment that transports visitors from this, a neighborhood developed in the late 19th century when the Spanish capital was following the example of Haussmann’s Paris, to the piano nobile of a Venetian palazzo. It is the work of Casa Josephine, a homegrown design studio founded by Iñigo Aragón and Pablo López Navarro, who have built a reputation for conjuring interiors full of rich detail.

The partners’ easy charm belies a quiet intensity, not to mention considerable cultural knowledge. The latter is on full display across all 200 square meters of this apartment, which was but a shell devoid of anything to distinguish it when the client, Adrián Toquero, a young property developer and investor, handed over the keys and that rarest of things—full creative freedom. The two men spied an opportunity to orchestrate what’s perhaps their most ambitious project—a work of total conception, akin to a Gesamtkunstwerk, where architecture, materials, furniture, and light collaborate symbiotically. “We started with an empty box,” says Navarro, “and built everything from scratch—from the plumbing to the last detail.”

Here, as elsewhere, Aragón and Navarro began proceedings by imagining a fictional inhabitant—one with a cultivated eye and a desire for retreat—and let this character shape the unfolding narrative. Their modus operandi typically takes them from the abstract to the concrete (or rather travertine marble in this case). Only once they have defined the tone and storyline do they even think about selecting any furniture. “It’s closer to scenography than decoration,” says Navarro. “We write a script and then design the set.”

The first challenge was the long, narrow floor plan. Their solution was to structure the apartment like two arrows radiating from a central round dining room. One of these leads to the social spaces—the kitchen, conservatory, and living rooms—while the other points toward the private quarters, including two en suite bedrooms and a study. “We wanted to eliminate the idea of passageways,” explains Aragón.

“Every space had to be meaningful.”

Lighting played a critical role too. While the facade receives direct sunlight, most of the apartment is bathed in soft, natural light from an internal patio. Rather than treat this as a limitation, the studio embraced it. They looked to Venetian interiors, where low winter light bounces off polished surfaces, creating a sense of shimmer and depth. “We wanted the light to travel—to reflect softly from stucco to silk, from brass to mirror,” says Aragón.

This poetic approach led to a sumptuous yet cohesive palette of materials: walnut travertine, gray and black granite, onyx, wild silk, lacquered wood, hand-cut Roman mosaic designed in house, velvet moiré, aged mirrors, and gleaming metals—brass, chrome, bronze, and steel. Walls and ceilings were finished in stucco, and textiles were selected for their ability to shift chromatically in the changing light. The effect is a space that seems to glow from within—its quiet glamour unfolding gradually, like the gentle opening of a bijou box.

Optical illusions are woven throughout the apartment to elongate perspectives and heighten spatial drama. Ceilings seem to extend beyond their limits, mirrors hint at depth where there is none, and a central conservatory becomes a theatrical pause in the sequence.

The decorative concept draws from a constellation of references and metaphors. One was that of a 16th-century merchant ship crossing the Mediterranean laden with luxury goods—silk, lacquer, gold leaf— a floating archive of East-meets-West aesthetics. Another was the image of a jewelry case: lacquered on the outside, silk-lined within, its golden inside luminous in the half-light. The designers also played with the idea of cultural reinterpretation—how one civilization imagines another. The objects reflect this fascination: a Korean vase made for Japanese export, a pair of French lamps with chinoiserie motifs, a Spanish-style cabinet—a bargueño —inlaid with bamboo and carved canoes. Throughout, harmony and contrast work in tandem. Antiques, largely sourced in Paris and the South of France, coexist with contemporary pieces and custom furniture designed by Casa Josephine. Every item, down to the cutlery, was chosen not for its pedigree but for its ability to serve the room’s mood. The fabrics, predominantly Italian silk from Milan, shift tonally from one space to another: Venetian reds and pinks in the living areas, echoing the depth and richness of Titian’s palette, soften into greens, grays, and silvers in the bedrooms, a progression made seamless by the continuity of reflective surfaces and gilded accents.

One of the more subtle threads running through the design is the interplay between gold and silver. Brass and chrome, gilded and silvered mirrors, bronze and nickel are juxtaposed—echoes of Art Deco, of 1980s interiors, of a certain bourgeois sophistication. The tension between warm and cool metals adds drama without shouting. “They’re strong elements,” points out Navarro, “but combined with subtlety.”

Executing a project of this complexity was not without its challenges. Coordinating artisans and tradespeople, many of whom had to learn how to implement unconventional ideas, proved the greatest hurdle. “We had to design the method of construction itself,” Navarro explains. “And we believe that correction and iteration are part of true craftsmanship. The best result rarely happens on the first attempt.”

Realized between January 2023 and January 2025, the project has pushed Casa Josephine stylistically and technically into new territory. Although more opulent and urban than their Mediterranean-rooted work, the design remains unmistakably theirs: narrative-led, finely tuned, and utterly transportive.

In this apartment, nothing feels accidental, nor overdesigned. It is luxurious without being ostentatious, rigorously marshaled without feeling stiff. Perhaps most remarkable is how it could be anywhere— a home in Madrid that feels as though it might belong in Milan or Paris or floating quietly along a Venetian canal.

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l E a DING WITH INTEGRITY

By Lindsey Shook

“AS A HERITAGE DESIGNER AND cofounder of Save Iconic Architecture (SIA), I instinctively went into solution mode,” says Jaime Rummerfield, reflecting on her immediate response to the recent wildfires in Los Angeles. “It became clear that people needed more than generic tract homes or soulless spec builds. They needed thoughtful options—homes that honored California’s architectural legacy.” Rummerfield and her fellow SIA board members quickly mobilized to offer the community a vision for rebuilding rooted in design integrity. “When we began engaging with residents, we heard a recurring theme: Most people simply wanted to re-create what they had lost,” she recalls. “But the trauma and overwhelm left many without the bandwidth to consider design.”

At the same time, Michael Diaz-Griffith—president and CEO of the Design Leadership Network—was working swiftly to organize support from network members for fellow California colleagues in need. “Michele Trout (a DLN advisory board member) and Heidi Bonesteel of Bonesteel Trout Hall called with the concept of developing a design resource of some kind,” Diaz-Griffith recalls. “We formed a rebuilding committee in January and activated immediately with regular Zoom meetings. In order to be efficient and create real impact, I decided to form three action groups within the larger committee. Heidi chaired the best practices group with a goal of determining how and what designers should charge for their services during the rebuilding process, while May Sung led the emergency response group that would track code and policy changes week by week.”

Rummerfield was tasked with chairing the design vision action group consisting of 30 DLN members who convened for a two-day charette at Shannon Wollack’s office, where they collaboratively sketched, ideated, and developed content to shape a comprehensive architectural guidebook that would help lead rebuild efforts. “The DLN is home to the most talented design minds in the world,” Rummerfield says. “In this moment of crisis, the community’s response was nothing short of extraordinary.”

Since January, the group has worked tirelessly to craft the guide that celebrates California’s rich design heritage while offering practical templates for resilient rebuilding. “This initiative speaks directly to the DLN’s core purpose: convening the design community to lead with intention, creativity, and care—especially in moments of uncertainty and crisis,” Diaz-Griffith notes. “The designs, details, and ideas in this guide were born from that creative marathon.” The result is “The Golden California Pattern Book,” featuring the New California Classics essential resource that showcases seven enduring architectural styles—Spanish Revival, Cali Cod, Colonial Revival, California Craftsman, Storybook Cottage, California Modern, and California ranch. Through meticulously curated images, references, and original drawings, the guidebook serves as both a visual reference and a practical playbook for rebuilding. “We wanted to distill the authentic architectural DNA of the Pacific Palisades and Altadena and present it in a way that’s accessible and inspiring,” says Rummerfield. “Our team even

developed modern architectural designs within these styles, incorporating resilient landscape solutions from Patricia Benner to address fire safety and climate readiness.”

Beyond style inspiration, the pattern book serves a larger mission: fostering intentional design leadership in rebuilding efforts. “In the wake of natural disasters, neighborhoods often lose their sense of place,” says Diaz-Griffith. “Our goal is to help communities reclaim that identity. This isn’t about nostalgia—it’s about designing forward with context, character, and climate resilience in mind.”

Each architectural direction in the book includes recommendations for enhancing durability and sustainability, ensuring that future homes are not only beautiful but also better equipped to withstand environmental challenges. The coalition is now seeking partnerships with builders and product manufacturers developing innovative, climate-responsive solutions that align with these timeless styles. “The guide is not prescriptive; it does not tell people exactly what to build,” Diaz-Griffith explains. “Instead, it offers a starting point—a set of vernacular styles, details, and streetscape cues that reflect the architectural DNA of a place like Pacific Palisades. Ultimately, this project is a model: It shows how a design community can rally around a shared cause and produce something lasting, meaningful, and generous.”

California Home+Design is proud to support this transformative initiative. In collaboration with Marvin, we are thrilled to present an exclusive, special-edition summary of “The Golden California Pattern Book.” Together, we are committed to easing rebuild efforts and championing the thoughtful preservation—and evolution—of California’s iconic architecture. For more information or to be involved with the guidebook, visit siaprojects.org.

This story originally appeared in California Home+Design.

Scan here for more information on the New California Classics and to get early access to the pattern book.

THE BEST OF MADRID

Think you know the Spanish capital? Not like this. The DLN has spent the last year and a half scouring the city—and conferring with its locals—to find the very best places for eating, shopping, exploring, and discovering Spanish culture. Here, our friends and insiders share the very best of Madrid, beyond the tourist attractions.

Food drinks

H ORCHER

C. de Alfonso XII, 6, Retiro, 28014

“A classic Madrid restaurant—elegant, steeped in history, and serving timeless Central European dishes.” –Susana Ordovás

S U p ERCHULO

C. de Fuencarral, 74, Centro, 28004

“ CASA N EUTRALE for brunch.” –Maria Ovelar, writer, translator, and performance artist multiple locations

L OS pORF i ADOS

C. de Buenavista, 18, Centro, 28012

“ CASA bEN i GNA for arroz.”

–Fernanda Loyzaga, DLN member

C. de Benigno Soto, 9, Chamartín, 28002

M UDRá

(plant-based dining and great cocktails)

C. de Recoletos, 13, Salamanca, 28001

L AM i AN

Pl. de los Mostenses, 4, Centro, 28015

TA b ERNA LA CARMENC i TA

(a favorite of Miguel Flores-Vianna, Susana Ordovás and the DLN Team)

C. de la Libertad, 16, Centro, 28004

L A pARRA

C. del Monte Esquinza, 34, Chamberí, 28010

bE k ER 6

C. de los Hermanos Bécquer, 6, Salamanca, 28006

E S ti MAR

C. del Marqués de Cubas, 18, Centro, 28014

E L pESCADOR

C. de José Ortega y Gasset, 75, Salamanca, 28006

bASCOAT

P.º de La Habana, 33, Chamartín, 28036

C UENLLAS

C. de Ferraz, 5, Moncloa - Aravaca, 28008

L ANA

C. de Ponzano, 59, Chamberí, 28003

H ERMANAS A RCE

C. Marqués de Monasterio, 6, Centro, 28004

T RAMO

C. de Eugenio Salazar, 56, Chamartín, 28002

CA jA DE C ERi LLAS

C. de Donoso Cortés, 8, Chamberí, 28015

L HARDY RES tAURANTE

Cra de S. Jerónimo, 8, Centro 28014

“They have the absolute best consommé, but all the food is good.” –Isabel López-Quesada

C HARRúA

(rustic-chic Uruguayan steakhouse)

C. del Conde de Xiquena, 4, Centro, 28004

LOS 33

Pl. de las Salesas, 9, Centro, 28004

SACHA

C. de Juan Hurtado de Mendoza, 11, Posterior, Chamartín, 28036

“For dessert, I like to go to áLE x C ORDO their iconic cheesecake; it’s perfectly creamy with a buttery crust.”

–Susana Ordovás C. Velázquez, 60, Salamanca, 28001

bAR COCk

–Marta de la Rica, Miguel Flores-Vianna C. de la Reina, 16, Centro, 28004

SALMON GURU

(an inventive cocktail bar with great bites)

C. de Echegaray, 21, Centro, 28014

LA VENENCiA SHERRY bAR

–Susan Whalen

C. de Echegaray, 7, Centro, 28014

1862 DRY bAR

C. del Pez, 27, Centro, 28004

SAVAS

C. de la Sombrerería, 3, Centro, 28012

“Having a drink at the café of EL MUSEO ROMáNTiCiSMO is the perfect way to spend a day.”

–Maria Ovelar

C. de San Mateo, 13, Centro, 28004

DEL DiEGO

C. de la Reina, 12, Centro, 28004

GOTA

(modern wine bar)

C. de Prim, 5, Centro, 28004

“bAR MANERO on Ponzano: a perfect spot for drinks and their irresistible bikini sandwich.”

–Fernanda Loyzaga

C. de Claudio Coello, 3, Salamanca, 28001

s hopping: Fashion

CA pAS S ESE ñA

C. de la Cruz, 23, Centro, 28012

E COALF

C. de Mejía Lequerica, 2, Centro, 28004

A NT i GUA CASA CRES p O (espadrilles of all varieties)

C. del Divino Pastor, 29, Centro, 28004

O TEYz A

C. del Conde de Xiquena, 11, Centro, 28004

pE z multiple locations

R OMUALDA

C. del Almirante, 18, Centro, 28004

M ALA bA bA (leather goods and accessories) multiple locations

C ORTANA

C. de Jorge Juan, 12, Salamanca, 28001

See fashion journalist Clara Courel’s picks on p.12.

s hopping: design & a ntiques

“For treasure hunters, the EL RAS tRO neighborhood is a must, with lively antique galleries and shops offering everything from quirky finds to classic collectibles.” –Susana Ordovás

N UEVAS GALERi AS DEL RAS tRO

ANTiQUE MARk ET

–John Danzer

C. de la Ribera de Curtidores, 12, Centro, 28005

bi NGUTti

(antique and design store in a 19th-century townhouse by designer Maria Santos)

C. del Príncipe de Vergara, 5, Bajo Izquierda, Salamanca, 28001

bERENi S

C. de la Ribera de Curtidores, 29, Centro, 28005

CASA jOSEpH i NE

C. de Sta. Ana, 15, Centro, 28005

L OS GUASANO

C. de Justiniano, 10, Centro, 28004

GALERí A M ARiTA SEGOVi A

C. de Lagasca, 7, Salamanca, 28001

L A OFiCi AL CERá M iCA

C. de Pelayo, 43, Centro, 28004

A NTiGUA CASA TALAVERA

(handmade ceramics)

C. de Isabel la Católica, 2, bajo, Centro, 28013

bERENi S

C. de la Ribera de Curtidores, 29, Centro, 28005

Ti EM p OS MODERNOS

C. de Arrieta, 17, Centro, 28013

pORTUONDO GALLERY

Calle Castello 85

pí A RU biO

(porcelain, glass, and tableware)

C. de Padilla, 18, Salamanca, 28006

M ATARRANz

(luxury bedding)

C. de Lagasca, 21, Salamanca, 28001

á bAT tE

C. de Villanueva, 27, Salamanca, 28001

jAV i ER SáNCHEz M EDi NA

C. de El Escorial, 28, Centro, 28004

HijO DE EpiGMENiO

C. de la Puebla, 13, Centro, 28004

Museu M s & g alleries

E S pAC i O Mí N i MO

C. del Dr. Fourquet, 17, Centro, 28012

“ T HE C ERRAL b O M USEUM is a private palace turned museum, where time seems to have stopped in Madrid’s belle époque.”

–Fernanda Loyzaga

For more museum recommendations, see those featured on Summit tours, p. 46.

a ctivities

“A day trip to L A V ERA . Think: wild swimming in natural pools, freshly picked figs, writing next to a goat that stares at you funny.”

–Maria Ovelar

pARQUE DE E L CA p Ri CHO

P.º de la Alameda de Osuna, 25, Barajas, 28042

“Visit S E pú LVEDA , a medieval town in the province of Segovia. It’s worth the hour drive!”

–Marta de la Rica

“ S EGOV i A is a jewel, its historic charm and the magnificent R OYAL pALACE OF L A G RAN jA DE SAN I LDEFONSO are a must.”

–Fernanda Loyzaga

n eighborhoods F or wandering

Op ERA

L AT i NA

“A stroll through the streets of the jERÓN i MOS neighborhood has my favorite buildings.”

–Fernanda Loyzaga

“ CRUz DEL RAYO (residential, West Village vibe), bARRiO DE LAS L ETRAS (cultural and shopping), L A L AT i NA (bars), jUS ti C i A (shopping).”

–Marta de la Rica

*Check the Summit app for official departure times.

Madrid’s contemporary side is on display at La Imprenta, a onetime printing house renovated using inspiration from Madrid’s Moorish history, featuring rounded arches and handcrafted tile floors. Much of the building’s design and furnishings were carefully chosen and restored with sustainability in mind, and La Imprenta’s owners are working

to turn it into a fully sustainable, net-zero emissions facility in 2025. Skylights, glass ceilings, and floorto-ceiling windows let plenty of light into the range of plants and trees gracing every room. It’s a fitting decoration, given that Madrid is considered a “Tree City of the World,” awash with greenery along its grand boulevards and charming parks.

Set along Madrid’s elegant Paseo de la Castellana, Rosewood Villa Magna blends contemporary European refinement with subtle Spanish references in a serene, designforward retreat in the heart of the city. Thoughtfully reimagined by BAR Studio and Ramseyer Wurst, its architecture and interiors balance material richness with understated sophistication.

NOVEMBER

6, 2025

s u MM it g eneral s ession

METROPOLITANO STADIUM

Home to the UEFA Champions League football team Atlético Madrid, Metropolitano Stadium is a beacon of contemporary urban design. The building was first opened as Vicente Calderón Stadium in 1994, before Madrid’s unsuccessful bid to host the 1997 World Athletics Championships. In 2017, it underwent a significant, transformative expansion under the direction of Antonio Cruz Villalón and Antonio Ortiz García of Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos, who expanded the main stadium and incorporated

dining, entertaining, and auditorium spaces. Instead of altering the existing structure, Cruz y Ortiz unified these new spaces underneath a soaring, elliptical roof canopy, engineered to float with geometric precision while delivering both shelter and a striking visual identity. A study in modern stadium design, the Riyadh Air Metropolitano Stadium embodies a seamless integration of architectural clarity, structural innovation, and user experience.

CALATRAVA: A CAREER OF BOLD ARCHITECTURAL VISION

Santiago Calatrava in conversation with Paul Goldberger

Known for his bold fusion of art, architecture, and engineering, Santiago Calatrava has transformed skylines around the globe with works such as the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York, the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, and bridges that have become modern icons from Dallas to Jerusalem. At the Summit, he takes the stage with Pulitzer prize-winning critic Paul Goldberger to reflect on a career that has redefined the language of architecture.

Architect, artist, and engineer Santiago Calatrava was born in 1951 in Valencia, Spain. He attended primary and secondary school in Valencia, and, from the age of eight, he also attended the Arts and Crafts School, where he began his formal instruction in drawing and painting. Upon completing high school in Valencia and following a period spent in Paris, he enrolled in the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura in Valencia, where he received a degree in architecture and took a post-graduate course in urbanism.

After completing his studies, he opened his first office in Zurich in 1981 and took on small engineering commissions. He also began to enter competitions with his first winning proposal in 1983 for the design and construction of Stadelhofen

Paul Goldberger, cited by The Huffington Post as “the leading figure in architecture criticism,” served as the architecture critic of The New Yorker from 1997 through 2011. He is the author of numerous books including “Ballpark: Baseball in the American City;” “Building Art: The Life and Work of Frank Gehry;” “Why Architecture Matters;” and “Blue Dream and the Legacy

Railway Station in Zurich. In 1984, Calatrava designed the Bach de Roda Bridge in Barcelona. This was the first of the bridge projects that established his international reputation. Calatrava established his firm’s second office in Paris in 1989 when he was working on the Lyon SaintExupéry Airport Station (1989–94). In 2004, following Calatrava’s first building in the United States—the expansion of the Milwaukee Art Museum in 1994—he opened an office in New York City. Further projects in the United States include the Sundial Bridge in Redding, California (his first bridge in the United States), the bridges over the Trinity River in Dallas, and the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York City.

of Modernism in the Hamptons.” He also holds the Joseph Urban Chair in Design and Architecture at The New School in New York City and was formerly dean of the Parsons School of Design at The New School. He began his career at The New York Times, where, in 1984, his architecture criticism was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism, the highest award in journalism.

SantiagoCalatrava

PaulGoldberger

GESAMTKUNSTWERK AND THE POWER OF NARRATIVE DESIGN

With Pablo López Navarro

For Madrid-based Casa Josephine, founded by Iñigo Aragón and Pablo López Navarro, a design project is a holistic, narrative, and deeply thoughtful affair. The duo approaches each interior as a work of film or theater, writing a script for characters real or imagined, and unfolding its plot long before embarking on furniture or materials selection. Then, deploying myriad collaborators in craft, they build a complete scenography, leaving no square inch of a space unaffected by their unique vision. In this session, Navarro will pull back the curtain on Casa Josephine’s process, reflecting on the power of storytelling to create spaces that excite, envelop, and enrich their clients.

Pablo López Navarro is one of the two founders and directors of Casa Josephine Studio. Trained in university in art history and cinema, he and Iñigo Aragón joined forces professionally 15 years ago, leading a design studio and showroom that has been listed as one of the Top 100 World Best by Architectural Digest Spain, France, and China. Named Spain's Best Interior Design Studio by Architectural Digest in 2024, the studio has ongoing projects in Madrid; Marbella, Spain; Sicily, Italy; and Beijing.

NOVEMBER

SHARING KNOWLEDGE: FUSING THE PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL AROUND ARTICULATE OBJECTS

With Adam Lowe OBE

There are few places where you might encounter a cutting-edge digital art installation, a full-scale replica of King Tut’s tomb, and a sculpture by Maya Lin—Factum Arte is one of those places. Established in 2001, Factum Arte operates at the intersection of design, technology, and cultural heritage, fabricating new works for leading artists and collaborating with institutions on sophisticated reconstructions. Its 800-square-meter Madrid campus is a playground of makers whose diverse skills bridge traditional craftsmanship and emerging technology. In this session, founder Adam Lowe OBE elaborates on Factum Arte’s unique position at the intersection of art and technology and the physical and digital world, exploring the process that has enabled its collaboration with the likes of Marina Abramović, Maya Lin, Shezad Dawood, Julian Schnabel, Sarah Sze, Ahmad Angawi, Anish Kapoor, and more.

Adam Lowe OBE is the director of Factum Arte and founder of the Factum Foundation for Digital Technology in Preservation. In 2009, Lowe founded the Factum Foundation to channel bespoke pioneering technologies toward the preservation of cultural heritage. His work includes the facsimile of Veronese’s “Wedding at Cana,” the digital reconstruction of the sacred cave of Kamukuwaká in Brazil, and the creation of a full-scale replica of Tutankhamen’s burial chamber, installed in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. An internationally recognized leader in the field of design and cultural preservation, Lowe was named a Royal Designer for Industry in 2019 and received an OBE in 2025 for his outstanding contributions to the arts.

GEOARCHAEOLOGY AND IMMERSIVE NARRATIVES: AN ARCHITECTURAL SEDUCTION

With Charlotte Skene Catling

London and Madrid-based architect Charlotte Skene Catling defines her practice through a conceptual approach known as geoarcheology, which excavates meaning through layers of cultural and geological context to shape architecture with deep narrative resonance. In this talk, she will explore her work on three projects that exemplify her unique approach: Flint House, Waddesdon Estate, Aylesbury, a building designed for Jacob Rothschild as a “geological extrusion” of the surrounding Buckinghamshire landscape; the Dairy House, part of Somerset’s Newt Hotel, based on the 18th-century architectural treatise “La Petite Maison—An Architectural Seduction”; and the Grade I listed St. Pancras Hotel in London, where she endeavors to redefine “luxury” through immersive narrative.

Charlotte Skene Catling is an architect and cofounder of Skene Catling de la Peña, a design practice based in London and Madrid that works at the convergence of architecture, landscape, history, and technology. Skene Catling collaborates regularly with Factum Arte and Factum Foundation and has designed major exhibitions for institutions such as the Royal Academy in London and the Antikenmuseum in Basel, Switzerland. Beyond practice, she contributes to critical design discourse through writings in The Burlington Magazine, Domus, The Architectural Review , and ARCH+ , championing a future for architecture that is as intellectually rich as it is materially resonant. As part of her ongoing interest in architectural narrative, she co-launched the Architectural Film Festival, ArchFilmFest, in London in 2017. She ran a post-graduate architecture unit at the Royal College of Art, and taught at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany. Skene Catling de la Peña’s work has won many awards and been extensively published internationally.

Pablo López Navarro

Adam Lowe

CharlotteSkeneCatling

NOVEMBER

6, 2025

SECRET MADRID WITH FASHION DESIGNER AGATHA RUIZ DE LA PRADA

Agatha Ruiz de la Prada with Tristán Ramírez

Over the course of her storied career, Madrid-born fashion designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada has maintained a clear creative vision and unmistakable exuberant style—all while constantly reinventing her practice and process for an ever-changing market. Her openness to various product and licensing types while maintaining clear self-expression has made her one of Spain and Latin America’s most recognizable designers. With her son, Tristán Ramírez, at the helm of her company as CEO, her brand continues to expand. In this candid conversation, the mother and son collaborators will discuss their process, vision, and the power of curiosity, self-expression, and ceaseless evolution. furniture, theme parks, murals, gardens, restaurants, event signage, cars, and more.

Madrid-born Agatha Ruiz de la Prada is one of Spain’s most successful fashion designers. After studying at the Barcelona School of Arts and Fashion Techniques, she began working as an assistant in the Madrid studio of designer Pepe Rubio. A year later, she presented her first collection at the LOCAL design center in Madrid.

She signed her first license in 1986, and since then she has signed commercial agreements with more than 100 companies offering fashion accessories, ceramic tiles, household goods, perfumes, stationery, and many other products, which are distributed through the designer’s exclusive stores and multi-brand stores around the world.

Through collaboration with various companies and government agencies, she has designed uniforms, costumes, and stage sets for theater, opera, and dance performances, playgrounds and street

Her contribution to the image of Spanish fashion has been recognized by the National Fashion Design and Fashion Industry Awards, granted in 2017 and 2018 respectively, in addition to the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts awarded in 2008. Since 2011, the Agatha Ruiz de la Prada Foundation, which houses a significant collection of her life stories, has been tasked with cataloging, preserving, and disseminating her impressive documentary legacy spanning nearly 40 years in the world of fashion and creativity.

Tristán Ramírez is Agatha Ruiz de la Prada’s son and CEO of her eponymous company, where he oversees the strategic direction involved in the brand’s numerous licensing deals, commercial agreements, and special projects.

AN AMERICAN IN SPAIN: DIPLOMACY AND DESIGN IN MADRID

Michael S. Smith in conversation with Andrew Ferren

In 2013, after completing a much-lauded overhaul of the private quarters of the White House for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, Michael S. Smith left the U.S. for Madrid when his partner, James Costos, was appointed ambassador to Spain and Andorra. While there, the celebrated American designer immersed himself fully in Spain’s design tradition and architectural heritage, deeply intrigued by the layers and patina of its history. In the decade since, he has continued to call Madrid his part-time home, splitting time between California and a 6,500-square-foot apartment in the Almagro neighborhood where he and Costos entertain Spanish and American friends alike. Here, in conversation with Andrew Ferren—who authored his most recent book—Smith will reflect on his life in design and diplomacy as an American creative in the Spanish capital.

With an international roster of high-profile residential, hospitality, and commercial clients, Michael S. Smith is known for an effortless blend of all-American modernism and European classicism. His numerous accolades include being named to the ELLE Decor A-List and the AD100 Hall of Fame. From 2008 through 2016, Smith worked with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama on the design of the private quarters of the White House as well as the refurbishment of some of its State Rooms. The Hispanic Society of America honored Smith and his partner, James Costos, the former ambassador to Spain and Andorra, with the organization’s Sorolla Medal in recognition of their extraordinary support of Spanish art and culture.

An art historian by training, Andrew Ferren worked at museums such as LACMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art before moving to Madrid in 2002. A frequent contributor to The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Architectural Digest, ELLE Decor, Veranda, and other design publications, he has collaborated on several books about Spain. In 2024, he co-authored “Classic by Design” (Rizzoli) with Michael S. Smith.

Agatha Ruiz de la Prada

Andrew Ferren

Michael S. Smith

Tristán Ramírez

2 PM – 4 PM VARIOUS LOCATIONS

casa de a MÉ r I ca

Madrid’s neoclassical tradition is on full display in the stately Linares Palace. Although the palace itself dates back to the 19th century, Casa de América—an organization that aims to strengthen Spain’s ties with its Latin American counterparts— was inaugurated inside the Palacio de Linares in 1992. Today, it offers film, music, art, photography, and other cultural events and exhibitions highlighting the connection between Spain and the new world. Its design, though, is wholly old world: Set on the famous Plaza de Cibeles, the neoclassical space is awash in carved marble, Parisian furnishings, Belgian glass, Iberian tapestries, wall and ceiling frescoes, as well as artistic masterpieces from Spanish artists like Alejandro Ferrant and Francisco Pradilla.

hotel brach

Inspired by the Hausmannian streets of 19th-century Paris, King Alfonso XIII of Spain devised Madrid’s Gran Vía in 1910. Now a bustling tourist center, the street is full of early 20th-century buildings, including the current Hotel Brach, which was completed in 1922. The building’s seven stories once served as design ateliers, and, in a nod to the area’s Francophile origins, it was also the residence of young Victor Hugo. Fast-forward a century, and it’s now the Philippe Starck–designed Hotel Brach. The 57-room hotel nods to its layered history with mixed materials, 1920s light fixtures, and bold modern art. The rich, nostalgic design evokes café society of yore with a distinct Spanish bent.

7 PM – 10 PM VARIOUS LOCATIONS

desde 1911

real acadeMI a de bellas artes de san F ernando

Built in 1720 by architect José Benito de Churriguera as a residence for financier Juan de Goyeneche, Goyeneche Palace has housed the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, an art-academy- turnedmuseum whose history is deeply entwined with some of Spain’s most luminary creative minds, since 1773.

Inaugurated in 1752, the academy famously turned down Francisco de Goya for numerous scholarships, though he went on to become its director of painting in 1780. It was during his time at the Academia that Goya proclaimed: “There are no rules in painting.” His ferocious commitment to artistic freedom is something the academy still champions today. More recent graduates include the lines of Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, and Oscar de la Renta.

The space is now a cultural center, academy, and museum open to the public. Its permanent collection includes thousands of pieces from artists such as Goya, Zurbarán, Picasso, and El Greco: paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints, ceramics, jewelry, and traditional Spanish abanicos (handheld fans).

You might not associate Madrid, a landlocked city, with having exceptional seafood, but the city’s location in the very center of Spain means it receives the best catch from every inch of the country’s coast daily. At Michelin-star restaurant Desde 1911, led by chef Diego Murciego, the historic, familyowned Pescaderias Coruñesas seafood company sources ingredients that are transformed, often tableside, into some of the most delectable dishes you will ever sample.

Fittingly, designers Laura Muñoz and Cecilia Moretti looked to Madrid’s history as a port city for the restaurant’s design, which uses organic materials to create a serene sanctuary in the midst of the bustling neighborhood. Nordic-inspired light wood tables and cane chairs rest on polished concrete floors under a soaring ceiling in the main dining area, which opens to an interior patio of exposed brick. Like many buildings in the city, the restaurant has a specific and quirky history: It was once an industrial space used for manufacturing electric coil pumps.

club M atador

Frequented by Madrid’s well-heeled residents, Matador is a private member club in the upscale Salamanca neighborhood conceived by the team behind Matador magazine, an independent travel publication. The club’s focus, beyond socializing and gastronomy, is connection through culture. Spanish heritage is at the forefront of this: Monday nights feature live flamenco, and the size of the club’s 200-plus bottle sherry collection (overseen by the club’s winemaker president Telmo Rodríguez) is mind-boggling. International delights are also prized here, with frequent jazz concerts, a fully stocked book and film library, temporary art exhibitions, and diverse workshops. And just when you thought you’d experienced it all, the hidden speakeasy, aptly dubbed Clandestino, may have you staying for another nightcap.

s u MM it g eneral s ession

METROPOLITANO STADIUM

THE ECONOMICS OF DESIRE: TURNING HUMAN ASPIRATION INTO BUSINESS VALUE THROUGH DESIGNPRADA

How does a creative leader bring value to their business? This is a fundamental topic of discussion within the DLN, and one that Madrid-based thinker Francisco Javier López Navarrete explores through business programs specifically targeted to the design industry. In this session he explains how, with a keen understanding of changing cultural context and deft communication skills, leaders can better understand their clients in order to deliver better results and secure their value in the marketplace. Over the course of a 20-minute lecture, attendees will come away with a clear model for positioning their businesses in an evolving market.

With Francisco Javier López Navarrete

Francisco Javier López Navarrete is the founder and CEO of Mindway, one of Europe’s leading schools of design and innovation, and president of ELLE Education. López Navarrete studied public affairs and social sciences as well as international protocol and later pursued graduate studies in marketing and persuasive communication at the Complutense University of Madrid and electoral marketing at ICADE. He published his first business book at the age of 24 and is among the youngest participants of Harvard Business School’s Presidents Management Program. An expert on the impact of design and innovation on business models, particularly in the luxury and consumer goods industries, López Navarrete has developed two programs at MIT in collaboration with Mindway: Innovation and Leadership for Luxury and Consumer Goods and Innovation and Digital Disruption. In 2021, in partnership with the United Nations, he launched the first of the ELLE Education Seminar Series, a nonprofit initiative designed to foster personal and professional development through academic excellence and expertise.

THE ART OF INTERIORS, THE ART OF LIVING

Mafalda Muñoz and Gonzalo Machado in conversation with Elsa Fernández-Santos

Casa Muñoz was born from a shared passion for the human side of architecture—the way interiors reflect lives, traditions, and aspirations. The husband-and-wife duo behind the firm run a practice grounded in proportion, scale, and harmony, blending respect for the past with a pursuit of fresh, enduring ideas. Operating under the axiom that they “design not just spaces, but the settings for life itself,” Muñoz and Machado reject staid notions of how a home should look, reimagining each project specifically for its client and their lifestyle. In this fireside-style chat, they reflect on how their unique approach produces work that constantly redefines the context of home and the standards of design within it.

Mafalda Muñoz grew up immersed in the world of design, the daughter of Spanish design pioneer Paco Muñoz. She studied interior design at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid and, at the age of 23, assumed part of the direction of her family’s historic firm, Casa & Jardín. In 2014, together with Gonzalo Machado, she cofounded Machado-Muñoz, a gallery dedicated to experimental and limited-edition contemporary design in Madrid. They also established Casa Muñoz, their interior design studio, where they develop projects that merge tradition, craftsmanship, and modernity. Muñoz serves as a lecturer in the master’s program in Interior Design at the School of Architecture of Madrid.

Gonzalo Machado began his studies in industrial design at the Istituto Europeo di Design in Madrid but soon redirected his path toward photography. He trained under the renowned Peruvian photographer Mario Testino. Following this formative experience, Machado developed an independent career, with his photography published in leading magazines such as Vogue, AD France, and GQ. Parallel to his work behind the camera, he has cultivated a distinctive approach to interior design, characterized by a strong sense of spatial proportion and conceptual clarity.

Elsa Fernández-Santos is a leading voice in Spanish cultural journalism. Since 1993, she has been a member of El País, where she currently serves as a film critic. Her incisive writing earned her the prestigious Paco Rabal Journalism Award in 2015. She is the author of “Entrevistos [Interviews] Manolo Blahnik,” a book-length conversation with the celebrated designer. Her collaboration with Blahnik continued in “Fleeting Gestures and Obsessions,” an intimate dialogue between the shoemaker and filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar. Her forthcoming book, “Última Sesión” (Last Session), to be published this fall, revisits Spain’s vanished movie theaters through the lens of Javier Campano’s evocative photography— an elegy to the spaces where collective dreams once flickered to life.

Francisco Javier López Navarrete

Elsa Fernández-Santos

Gonzalo Machado

Mafalda Muñoz

NOVEMBER 7, 2025

BEYOND BOUNDARIES: RETHINKING THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN DESIGN AND CONTEMPORARY CRAFT

Anatxu Zabalbeascoa in conversation with Spanish creatives, organized by the Loewe Foundation

As the design industry ushers in a new craft renaissance, with burgeoning movements from Spain to Mexico to Scotland, the lines between handcraft and collectible design continue to blur in intriguing, thought-provoking ways. In this panel discussion comprised of Spanish creatives convened by the Loewe Foundation and moderated by celebrated design writer Anatxu Zabalbeascoa, participants will offer fresh takes on the age-old “art versus craft” question, positioning Spain’s current craft movement in the context of the luxury design market.

Anatxu Zabalbeascoa studied journalism at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and art history at The Art Institute of Chicago. She has been writing about architecture and the city for El País for 30 years and has conducted in-depth interviews for El País Semanal for 15 years; many of these are compiled in the books “Gente que Cuenta” (People Who Count) and “Más Gente que Cuenta” (More People Who Count) (Círculo de tiza). She is also host of the design podcast La Gran D (Podium).

Founded in 1988 by Enrique Loewe Lynch, a fourth-generation member of Loewe’s founding family, as a private cultural foundation, the Loewe Foundation endeavors to promote creativity and educational programs and to safeguard heritage in the fields of poetry, dance, photography, art, and craft. In 2002, the foundation was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts, the highest honor granted by the Spanish government. Today, the foundation is under the direction of Enrique’s daughter Sheila Loewe. As president, Sheila Loewe oversees the foundation’s key projects, including prestigious international prizes for craft and poetry, collaborations with leading arts festivals, and patronage in the world of dance.

ART, DESIGN, MANUFACTURING, AND A SINGULAR VISION

Jaime Hayon in conversation with Emma Roig Askari

Multihyphenate creative Jaime Hayon considers himself a “modern archaeologist,” uncovering and reframing themes from nature, folklore, and ancient civilizations in a style that is simultaneously approachable, intriguing, and instantly identifiable. His trademark blend of playfulness, irony, and sophistication spans work on large-scale installations, restaurant interiors, and objets for the likes of Baccarat and Lalique. Spanish collector, author, and designer Emma Roig Askari will dive into Hayon’s unique style and singular creative vision, exploring his myriad influences, connection to craft, and his position within contemporary Spain’s—and for that matter, the global—design lexicon.

Jaime Hayon is a Spanish artist and designer celebrated internationally for his distinctive and multifaceted creative practice. He is deeply committed to craftsmanship, seamlessly blending traditional techniques with modern innovation, and works with a wide array of materials, including ceramics, wood, glass, metals, stones, and textiles. His portfolio includes acclaimed installations like the largescale chess set “The Tournament” for the London Design Festival, the whimsical “Tiovivo” sculptures at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and the glittering Swarovski Carousel in Austria. He has also designed interiors for prominent hotels, restaurants, and museums including The Standard Hotel in Bangkok and the Moka Garden in Seoul, South Korea.

After a distinguished international career in journalism, Emma Roig Askari shifted her focus toward the creation and decoration of homes in cities such as London, Madrid, New York, and Ibiza, Spain, where she has shaped a style defined by Mediterranean light, cultural memory, and comfort. Her most recent project, the book “Inside Ibiza” (Vendome Press, 2025), takes readers on a journey through 22 unique houses that reveal the island’s true essence. At present, she combines her work as an author and designer with collaborations for Vanity Fair Spain and her role as an ambassador for Christie’s in London.

Anatxu Zabalbeascoa

NOVEMBER 7, 2025

MADRID TO THE WORLD

Isabel López-Quesada in conversation with Maite Sebastiá

A native Madrileña , Isabel López-Quesada has operated her Madrid studio since she was just 20 years old; since then, she has become one of the world’s most celebrated designers, completing projects worldwide and earning recognition on the AD 100 and ELLE Decor A-List. Maite Sebastiá, meanwhile, built her journalism career interviewing the likes of Rem Koolhaas, Richard Rogers, Jonathan Anderson, Giorgio Armani, Paloma Picasso, Olafur Eliasson, and Stella McCartney before taking the helm at AD Spain in 2021. Onstage, the two will discuss Madrid’s design sensibility amid the larger context of creative conversations in Spain, Europe, and the world.

IsabelLópez-Quesada

Isabel López-Quesada opened her first studio in Madrid at age 20. Her passion for interior design was precocious and self-taught, a vocation whose strength continues undiminished 40 years later. While maintaining her base in Madrid, she has executed projects worldwide, showcasing her ability to comprehend and enhance spaces of all kinds, imparting them with a unique character. She has been acknowledged in Spain and beyond, listed in the AD100 and ELLE Decor’s A-List, among other distinctions. She published her debut book, “At Home,” with Vendome in 2018 and is at work on a second monograph.

Maite Sebastiá has led the Spanish edition of Architectural Digest since 2021 following an extensive career in journalism. She served as deputy editor of Vogue Spain in 2015 and was previously editor and coordinator of several special supplements. She studied fashion and public relations at Central Saint Martins and the London Fashion School and also worked in digital art projects at Sotheby’s. She is a frequent speaker at conferences and hosts the podcast Mi Casa en AD, which has reached number 30 on the most-listened-to Spotify podcast list in Spain.

2 PM – 4 PM

7 PM – 11:30 PM

The 300-year history of the Liria Palace is a look into the story of modern Spain—and a showcase of great architecture across centuries. Commissioned by James Fitz-James Stuart, third Duke of Berwick, and Liria, in 1770, the palace was built by architect Ventura Rodríguez in a style often compared to the Spanish capital’s Royal Palace. In the early 19th century, the building passed into the House of Alba, whose dukedom still owns it today.

But much has happened in the years since: The building suffered a fire in 1833, and it was confiscated at the start of the Spanish Civil War and bombed and looted in 1936, destroying everything but the facade. Following the war, Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, 17th Duke of Alba, and his daughter Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba, commissioned British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens for the palace’s restoration. Though Lutyens himself died before its completion, the palace was rebuilt according to his plans.

The family opened the house to the public in 2019, allowing visitors to enjoy the architecture and immense art collection including Goya, Velázquez, Zurbarán, El Greco, Murillo, and Rubens—all successfully hidden during the war—as well as furnishings, jewels, and other historical objects. Its 18th- and 19th-century gardens opened for tours in 2024.

REMARKS: CARLOS MARTÍNEZ DE ALBORNOZ

Carlos Martínez de Albornoz is a partner at Tuñón y Albornoz Arquitectos, who most recently completed the much-admired Royal Collection in Madrid. He graduated from the Technical School of Architecture of Madrid in 2004. He completed part of his studies at the Bartlett School of Architecture in London, during which time he collaborated with David Chipperfield Architects. In 2004, he joined the studio Mansilla + Tuñón Arquitectos, and in 2012 he founded Tuñón y Albornoz Arquitectos with Emilio Tuñón as a natural evolution of Mansilla + Tuñón Arquitectos. He has been a guest lecturer at the Barrié de la Maza Foundation in Vigo (2005), at ETSA Barcelona (2009), at the seventh Ibero-American Biennial of Architecture at La Casa Encendida in Madrid (2011), and at the University of Architecture of Hasselt in Belgium (2015).

Maite Sebastiá

BEHIND THE SCENES

t o urs

BEHIND THE SCENES

teatro real

Enjoy a backstage look at Madrid’s most famous and iconic opera house. Formally opened in 1850 by Queen Isabella II, the theater was commissioned by her father, King Ferdinand VII, and designed by the Chief Architect of the Villa de Madrid, Antonio López Aguado in a unique hexagonal shape with interiors by Raphael Tegeo, ceiling frescoes by Eugene Lucas, and a dramatic curtain by HumanitéRené Philastre.

A NEW HOME

FOR SPAIN’S

ro Y al

collect I on

Opened in 2023, Madrid’s newest museum showcases the exceptional collection of the Spanish royal family. Over 25 years in the making, the eagerly anticipated institution showcases 650 incredible works in a building by Luis M. Mansilla and Emilio Tuñón, which you’ll explore on a guided tour.

WITH AT HOME MI chael s.

This elegant apartment in Madrid’s Chamberí neighborhood once belonged to artist Manolo Valdés before enjoying new life as the personal home of AD100 and ELLE Decor A-List designer Michael S. Smith and his partner, onetime U.S. Ambassador to Spain James Costos. With inspiration drawn from traditional Spanish architecture, the flat’s interiors showcase a mix of antique and modern pieces, including a lacquered screen that once belonged to Coco Chanel and late 18th-century portraits of King Charles IV and Queen Maria Luisa, by Francisco Goya, which you’ll take in on an intimate visit.

s MI th

In 2000, celebrated designer Isabel López-Quesada transformed a 1930s wax factory in the El Viso neighborhood into a combined residence, design studio, and showroom, which you’ll explore on a private visit. The studio, situated at the front of the property, features an open-plan layout that fosters creativity and collaboration. It showcases a curated mix of antique furnishings, contemporary pieces, and natural materials, reflecting López-

Quesada’s eclectic style. Adjacent to the studio is her residence, characterized by French doors that open onto a courtyard designed by landscape architect Fernando Caruncho. This integrated space not only serves as a testament to López-Quesada’s design ethos but also functions as a living portfolio, illustrating her ability to create environments that are both functional and aesthetically compelling.

M arta de la r I ca's

AND HOME STUDIO

Visiting Marta de la Rica’s Madrid studio means discovering a creative universe guided by an eclectic, vibrant, and highly personal aesthetic. Marta’s home, too, is a striking reflection of her eclectic and soulful design vision. Spanning eight floors, the house blends antique charm, contemporary craftsmanship, and playful elegance with effortless coherence. Anchored by an 18th-century tapestry that inspired its color palette and mood, the home tells a story through layered textures, bespoke pieces, and bold yet poetic choices. With fluid architecture, natural light, and a family-friendly layout, it’s a space where beauty meets emotion—inviting, expressive, and deeply personal.

EXPLORING

LEGACY spa I n 's I nter I or des I gn

Housed in a 19th-century urban palace, the former summer residence of the Duchess of Santoña, Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas is more than a museum—it’s a journey through centuries of interior design, decorative craft, and spatial storytelling. The museum’s interiors exude period elegance with grand staircases, marble floors, ornate ceilings, and classical architectural detailing including Talavera ceramics, regional fabrics, and elaborately carved furnishings.

exper IM ental art AND

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE AT SOLO CSV

SOLO CSV is the newest cultural space from Colección SOLO, housed in a striking contemporary structure in Madrid. Under the direction of Irene Gayo, SOLO CSV invites public engagement with experimental practices, reinforcing the collection’s commitment to innovation and global cultural dialogue, which you’ll experience in a private visit.

unearth I ng span I sh h I stor Y AT THE

NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

Located in the heart of Madrid’s Salamanca district, the Museo Arqueológico Nacional is one of Spain’s most important cultural institutions. Founded in 1867 by Queen Isabella II, the museum offers a sweeping narrative of human history on the Iberian Peninsula, from prehistoric times through classical antiquity to the early modern era. Housed in

a neoclassical building shared with the National Library, the museum underwent a major renovation in 2014, transforming its galleries into a sleek, modernized space with interactive displays, natural light, and thoughtfully curated artifacts, which you’ll explore in a guided tour.

FI ne art and e M erg Ing technolog Y WITH FACTUM ARTE

If you’ve ever been convinced by a shockingly good replica of a touring masterpiece while visiting the likes of the Louvre, the British Museum, or the Prado, it’s likely been the work of Factum Arte, a forward-thinking art company that uses ever-evolving technology to support the creation, restoration, and responsible replication of fine art. Go behind the scenes at its expansive headquarters in this tour.

JEAN PORSCHE’S PENTHOUSE APARTMENT

Fantastical

AGATHA RUIZ DE LA PRADA

Agatha Ruiz de la Prada’s bold, expressive creations have positioned her as a singular voice in international fashion. Since launching her first collection in Madrid at age 21, she has presented her work on the world’s most iconic runways—from Paris and Milan to New York and Florence. But Madrid is her home, and she’ll give attendees a taste of her city through visits to her home, studio, and shop.

ELLE Decor Spain called architect and designer Jean Porsche’s apartment in the Salamanca neighborhood “an English palace, an Italian villa, a Hollywood mansion, and a curiosity bazaar” all in one. Visitors will get a personal look into his imaginative world on this intimate tour of a space that was inspired in equal parts by David Hicks, Italian palazzos, and mathematics. (You’ll understand when you see it.)

A

Set on a grand plaza overlooking Madrid’s western horizon, the Royal Palace anchors the historic Austrias district with Baroque splendor and ceremonial scale. As the largest functioning royal residence in Europe, it combines opulent interiors, richly layered architectural influences, and expansive courtyards, which you’ll explore on a private, all-access tour.

José Antonio Llorente and Irene Rodríguez view contemporary art as a catalyst for dialogue, empathy, and social reflection. Their collection—housed in a beautifully designed 19th-century apartment— features activist and interactive works that invite engagement with pressing cultural and political issues. They will be on hand to discuss the works in this private visit.

art , arch Itecture , and landscape AT THE

LÁZARO GALDIANO MUSEUM

Situated along the elegant Calle Serrano in Madrid’s historic Salamanca district, the Lázaro Galdiano Museum occupies a stately early 20th-century mansion, whose architectural grandeur, beautiful landscaped gardens, and permanent collection will be wholly explored in this curator-led tour.

portuondo galler

Y WITH

HUGO PORTUONDO

Living between London and Madrid, Hugo Portuondo operates, with his brother, Diego, Portuondo Gallery, a leading gallery of 20th-century European and American art and design with locations in his two home cities and New York. Follow along as he shows you his gallery space in Madrid’s Salamanca neighborhood.

STUDIO, GALLERY, AND HOME VISIT WITH

BY CASA JOSEPHINE

Between its lush velvet upholstery, radiant brass cabinets, and expansive travertine surfaces, it’s hard to imagine this apartment in a neoclassical building on Madrid’s Calle de Sagasta was a sparse shell when Iñigo Aragón and Summit speaker Pablo López Navarro of Madrid-based Casa Josephine were first tasked with its design. The duo touched every surface with resplendent attention to detail—all of which Navarro will enumerate during a private visit.

ARCHITECTURE

past, present , and F uture AT THE NORMAN FOSTER FOUNDATION

An ornate, Beaux Arts palace may not be what you’d first associate with Norman Foster, but inside a 1912 building by noted Spanish architect Joaquín Saldaña in the heart of Madrid’s Chamberí district is the Norman Foster Foundation, home to a range of interdisciplinary

programming around arts, culture, and technology as well as the Norman Foster Archive and Library. Explore the historic building and Foster’s modern additions, including the glass-walled pavilion and a courtyard canopy by Spanish sculptor Cristina Iglesias.

casa M u Ñ o Z

Founded in 2014 by husband-andwife duo Mafalda Muñoz and Gonzalo Machado, Casa Muñoz creates residential and hospitality interiors that blend heritage with contemporary design, emphasizing proportion, scale, and harmony. See inside their design process in this visit to their Madrid studio.

HOME AND STUDIO VISIT

candela Á lvare Z de soldev I lla

WITH ART PATRON WITH AT HOME

ol I va arauna

A NEO-GOTHIC HOUSE MUSEUM

WITH A

treasure trove collect I on

Tucked within Madrid’s stately Chamberí district, the Instituto Valencia de Don Juan is housed in a neo-Gothic mansion that reflects the scholarly and historic character of its surroundings. Located near the elegant Almagro neighborhood, the institute offers a rich repository of medieval and Renaissance art, rare manuscripts, and decorative arts set within a residential enclave known for its cultural depth and architectural distinction.

AND COLLECTIONS 3

PRIVATE HOMES

Visit the private collection of artist Candela Álvarez de Soldevilla, whose practice studies the representation of the head across mediums including painting, sculpture, and video. Divided between her residence and a contemporary studio, the collection bridges 20th- and 21st-century works.

From 1985 to 2015, Oliva Arauna championed contemporary art through photography, video, and installation work at her Madrid gallery. Now, as an active collector and collaborator with cultural institutions, she displays art in an exhibition area adjacent to her art-filled home in the Tetuán district, which attendees will explore on this visit.

RASTRO WALKING TOUR

WITH

susana ordovÁ s

Best known for its bustling Sunday flea market, the Rastro neighborhood is rife with vintage and antique shops—and a favorite destination of author and design journalist Susana Ordovás, who will lead a group on a tour of her top spots. Expect to find everything from mid-century lighting to exquisite Spanish ceramics.

Italian architect and interior designer Teresa Sapey is known for her bold use of color, playful spatial concepts, and emotionally engaging environments—all themes that also connect her impressive art collection. Join her for a private viewing at her newly renovated apartment followed by a trip next door to visit her neighbor, Italian collector Nicoletta Negrini, whose collection reflects her passion for culinary culture and her Italo-Spanish life. Finish the afternoon with a visit to the home and office of Summit speaker Francisco Javier López Navarrete, who purchased the residence from fellow speaker Agatha Ruiz de la Prada and has just finished a sympathetic renovation.

PAST HONOREES

LEADEr S HI p AWARD

THE DESIGN LEADERSHIP AWARD recognizes an individual in the community who reflects the mission of the DLN. This person seeks to contribute to the growth and professionalism of the design market through their work, mentorship, innovation, entrepreneurial spirit, and academic or philanthropic endeavors.

SEDONA,

JAMIE

MEXICO CITY

Inc.

OUR TEAM

The Design Leadership Network champions community, collaboration, and growth in the high-end design industry. Our members represent firms of all kinds, from architecture to interiors, and from media partners to corporate leaders. Together, we pursue best practices and invest resources in developing the future of the design industray.

OUR LEADERsHI p bOARD

ANKIE BARNES BarnesVanze Architects

MATTHEW BERMAN Workshop/APD

DAVID CALLIGEROS Remains Lighting Co.

DAVID J. COHEN I-Grace

ELIZABETH DINKEL Elizabeth Dinkel Design Associates

JOHN EDELMAN Heller

MARC APPLETON Appleton Partners Architects

PAMELA BABEY BAMO

JINNY BLOM Jinny Blom

CRIS BRIGER Studio Gusto

BILL BROCKSCHMIDT Brockschmidt & Coleman

MARTIN BRUDNIZKI Martin Brudnizki/Design Studio

NINA CAMPBELL Nina Campbell

JESSE CARRIER Carrier & Company

COURTNEY COLEMAN Brockschmidt & Coleman

GLORIA CORTINA Gloria Cortina Studio

MICHAEL COX MC Interiors

ILSE CRAWFORD STUDIOILSE

JAMIE DRAKE Drake Design Associates

MARK FERGUSON Ferguson & Shamamian Architects

CHRISTINE GACHOT Gachot

LISA KRAVET Kravet

ANDREW LAW Andrew Law Interior Design

JAMIE METRICK Elte

FRANK PONTERIO Frank Ponterio Interior Design

DEBBIE PROPST MillerKnoll

MAGD RIAD

Marmi Natural Stone

STEVE RUGO

Rugo/Raff Architects

TIM SLATTERY

Hart Howerton

MICHELE TROUT

Bonesteel Trout Hall

BETH WEBB

Beth Webb Interiors

OUR F E LLOWS

KEN FULK Ken Fulk

BRAD FORD Brad Ford ID

ALEXANDER GORLIN Alexander Gorlin Architects

VEERE GRENNEY Veere Grenney Associates

WILLIAM HEFNER Studio William Hefner

MICHAEL IMBER Michael G. Imber Architects

TONY INGRAO Ingrao

SUZANNE KASLER

Suzanne Kasler Interiors

CELERIE KEMBLE Kemble Interiors

DAVID KLEINBERG

David Kleinberg Design Associates

THOMAS A. KLIGERMAN

Kligerman Architecture & Design

VICTOR LEGORRETA Legorreta

MARA MILLER

Carrier & Company

LEE MINDEL SheltonMindel

RICHARD MISHAAN Richard Mishaan Design

JANICE PARKER

Janice Parker Landscape Architects

BEN PENTREATH

Ben Pentreath Ltd.

THOMAS PHEASANT

Thomas Pheasant

ALAN RICKS MASS Design

BRIAN SAWYER Sawyer Berson

PAMELA SHAMSHIRI

Studio Shamshiri

STEPHANIE STOKES

Stephanie Stokes

MATTHEW PATRICK SMYTH

Matthew Patrick Smyth

MADELINE STUART

Madeline Stuart

SUZANNE TUCKER

Tucker & Marks

PAUL WHALEN

Robert A.M. Stern Architects

BUNNY WILLIAMS

Williams Lawrence

PAUL WISEMAN

The Wiseman Group

OUR NEWEST Pa RTNER s

ClaRk COnS tRUC�ON

With a team of 70 skilled craftspeople adept at balancing old-world detail ing with modern methodologies, Clark brings artistry and ingenuity to construction projects across New York City, working in tandem with today’s most talented archi tects and designers (many DLN members). The company excels in subcontractor negotiations, estimating, scheduling, and value engineering, making it a go-to outfit for high-end residential and commercial projects alike. At Clark’s helm is Erhan Secilmis, whose two-decade career with the company has seen him transition from self-described “coffee boy” to president, where he is involved in every phase of development, from conceptual design to final execution.

DEDAR

NEW MOON RUGS

Second-generation family-owned New Moon Rugs has been a pioneer in creative innovation and ethical production in Nepal for over 30 years. As one of the first Tibetan rug producers in the region, New Moon has a legacy of empowering women through high-skilled job creation and providing safe, fair working environments. Crafted exclusively with Tibetan wool, Chinese silk, and natural nettle fibers— never synthetics—New Moon rugs honor the art of handcrafting with distinctive textures, luxurious pile heights, and extraordinary designs.

FIREClaY TILe

Fireclay Tile has been making tile in California since 1986—long before sustainability became a buzzword. As a B Corp and employeeowned company, they’ve built a reputation for thoughtful design, environmentally responsible production, and deep respect for craft. From recycled materials to made-toorder glazes, their process supports both creativity and conscience, giving designers the tools to build something truly lasting.

Founded in 1976, Dedar is a familycontemporary collections that express a distinct style. Located near Como in the heart of Italy’s textile orates closely with master and specialists to pursue product excellence through ongoing innovation. Characterized by rich color palettes and unexpected patterns, Dedar’s fabrics combine luxurious yarns with advanced technology to create timeless solutions for curtains, upholstery, and wall coverings.

TRUNkS COMpANY

Founded in 2011 by Paritosh Mehta, Trunks Company blends Jaipur’s cultural heritage with contemporary design, redefining the art of trunk-making. Each piece begins as a spark of inspiration, evolving through months of research, design, and development before passing through five specialist craft studios—an intricate process totaling over 2,800 hours. Fewer than 100 trunks are produced annually, each meeting Mehta’s exacting standards for artistry and function. From bar and watch trunks to game and dressing pieces, these creations are modern collectibles that merge meticulous craftsmanship with imaginative design.

HOUSE OF ROHL

House of Rohl is a portfolio of luxury kitchen and bath brands— including Perrin & Rowe, Rohl, Emtek, Victoria + Albert, Schaub, Shaws, and Riobel—united by a shared commitment to craftsmanship, materials, and detail. From handpoured fireclay sinks to solid brass fittings, each brand brings a distinct point of view shaped by its origin, whether rooted in the UK, North America, or South Africa. Together, they offer designers a wide range of architectural hardware, faucets, sinks, and tubs that balance technical performance with considered design.

zIp WATER

Zip Water brings highperformance hydration to beautifully designed spaces. The company’s signature HydroTap system delivers instant boiling, chilled, and sparkling water—all from a single sleek tap. The design combines appliance-level functionality with a clean aesthetic, while Zip Water’s MicroPurity Filtration removes 99% of PFAS and microplastics. It’s smart sustainable design—on tap.

ReALOCItY

Founded to streamline operations for real estate professionals, Realocity delivers a comprehensive software platform that integrates listings, client management, marketing, and transac tracking into one intuitive system. Designed with a deep understanding of the industry’s pace and complexity, the platform enables agents and brokers to work smarter— reducing administrative burdens while enhancing client service. Realocity’s tools are adaptable for boutique agencies and large brokerages alike, with a focus on real-time data, mobile accessibility, and customizable workflows. By merging technology with industry expertise, Realocity helps real estate businesses operate with greater efficiency, insight, and ease.

Artorius Faber is an independent stone specialist known for transforming British and European stone into bespoke surfaces of exceptional quality. Founded on traditional masonry skills and a passion for innovation, the company works closely with architects, designers, and contractors to create everything from precision-cut paving to intricate interior finishes. Each project is approached with meticulous attention to detail, from sourcing and selection through fabrication and installation, ensuring the stone’s natural character is celebrated. Combining craftsmanship with modern technology, Artorius Faber delivers timeless, durable solutions that bring depth, texture, and authenticity to spaces worldwide.

The European Company blends heritage craftsmanship with modern sensibility, offering a curated collection of surfaces that span from French oak and limestone flooring to luxury vinyl plank and premium artificial turf. A team of skilled craftspeople revives and refines traditional European methods, ensuring each product meets the highest standards of workmanship, quality, and visual appeal. Whether rooted in centuries-old design or inspired by contemporary architecture, every piece is chosen for its ability to make a lasting statement— transforming interiors and outdoor spaces alike with refined elegance.

ARTORIUS FABER

THE EUROpEAN COMpANY

pHOLIO CO

Pholio Co is a light and nimble to-the-trade showroom representing a curated collection of high-end textile and furniture lines for hospitality, commercial, and residential designers. Known for exceptional service and a discerning eye, the company helps designers tell stories through the artistic assembly of luxury products that bring immediate character to any space. With thoughtful consultations, flexible scheduling, and an intuitive online booking system, Pholio Co makes it easy to source the right products, palettes, and timelines for every project.

Founded in 1820, Samuel Heath is a British manufacturer renowned for exquisitely crafted taps, showers, bath room accessories, and architectural hardware. Handmade in Birmingham for over two centuries, the company continues to uphold its founding principles of craftsmanship and integrity while blending heritage with innovation. Its signature brassware, defined by timeless design and meticulous detail, adorns some of the world’s most distinguished homes— offering designers fittings that embody both tradition and modern refinement.

CRES tRON

For over 50 years, Crestron has set the standard in whole-home automation, delivering seamless control of lighting, climate, entertainment, shading, and security through one intuitive platform. Designed with both elegance and functionality in mind, Crestron Home integrates advanced technology into everyday living. The system combines sleek design with robust performance, enabling homeowners and their design teams to create highly personalized environments that adapt effortlessly to lifestyle and mood. Behind the innovation is Crestron’s legacy of engineering excellence, trusted by architects, designers, and technology professionals worldwide. Their ecosystem extends beyond residential spaces into commercial and cultural landmarks, always with an emphasis on reliability, security, and timeless design integration. By merging cutting-edge solutions with a deep understanding of how people live and work, Crestron transforms smart home technology into an art of modern living.

jAMeSTOWN

Jamestown is a global real estate investment and management company with more than four decades of experience shaping landmark destinations. With $14.4 billion in assets under management across the U.S., Europe, and Latin America, the firm is known for a designdriven, hospitalityinspired approach to development that fosters community and innovation. Headquartered in Atlanta and Cologne, Germany, with 11 offices worldwide, Jamestown’s portfolio includes some of the most recognizable mixed-use projects—among them One Times Square and Chelsea Market in New York, Industry City in Brooklyn, Ponce City Market in Atlanta, and Groot Handelsgebouw in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

HYDE pARk MOULDINGS

Hyde Park Mouldings specializes in the design, fabrication, and installation of molded plaster ornament, from traditional fibrous plasterwork to advanced GFRG applications. Operating from a 30,000-square-foot workshop in New York, the company serves projects nationwide and internationally with a team of over 100 designers, artisans, plasterers, installers, and project managers. Known for embracing innovative design, seamless collaboration, and efficient project management, Hyde Park Mouldings consistently deli residential, institutional, and commercial projects on or ahead of schedule.

MUNDER-SkILES

Munder-Skiles is a design company rooted in research and collecting, craftsmanship and sustainability. Founded more than 35 years ago by John Danzer, MunderSkiles focuses on the historical references of outdoor furniture, not as an exercise in nostalgia but as a mission to identify the finest examples created through time—in craft, style, utility and proportion—and ensure they are not lost to history.

SaMUEL HEATH

Paint that painting experts trust .

Specify only Benjamin Moore paint for unmatchable color and luxury performance.

©2025 Benjamin Moore & Co. Benjamin Moore, Regal, and the triangle “M” symbol are registered trademarks licensed to Benjamin Moore & Co. 9/25

Wall: Indi Go-Go CSP-565, Regal® Select, Eggshell

Trim: Indi Go-Go CSP-565, Regal® Select, Satin

A NEW ERA in Lighting

Handcrafted in Italy by master artisans— shaped from translucent alabaster, pristine marble, and Murano glass.

Kravet, established in 1918, is the industry leader in to-the-trade home furnishings, offering fabric, wallcovering, furniture, trim, and carpet. With over 40 showrooms worldwide, Kravet provides a one-stop resource for all interior design needs. Room design by DLN member Melanie Turner.

ralphlauren.com

Artwork by Sarah Becker. Courtesy of Galería Quetzalli

OFF iC i AL PARTNERS

M EDi A PARTNERS

DESIGN LEADERSHIP NETWORK the quarterly – issue seven

PETER SALLICK Founder

MICHAEL DIAZ-GRIFFITH Executive Director and CEO

HADLEY KELLER LLOYD Director of Editorial and Community Engagement

MEGHAN BUONOCORE Director of Events

BETH FUCHS BRENNER Director of Partnerships

RUTH MAULDIN Director of the Design Leadership Foundation

AMANDA OPPENHEIMER Membership Manager

ELLIE BROWN Digital Media Manager

MICHAEL DIAZ-GRIFFITH

HADLEY KELLER LLOYD Creative Direction

STUDIO SAMUEL Art Direction and Graphic Design

OKTAY SÖNMEZ Graphic Design

ANNE CALANDRE Illustration creative team

The Design Leadership Network is a membership organization serving principals of architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture firms, as well as leaders of related creative fields.

Through a slate of educational programming, digital resources, tailored experiences, and targeted discussion-based networking, the DLN champions community, collaboration, growth, and best practices in the high-end design industry.

We are supported by dedicated partners, who represent top brands both within and outside of the interior design industry with a shared passion for supporting creative business. 11 East 44th Street, Suite 1206

To learn more about DLN membership and begin your application, visit us online.