FOCUS ON HUMANIZING SPACES AND CONSCIOUS DESIGN

Villalón Studio’s projects center on taking care of the life that is generated both within the designs and outside of them, with a particular emphasis placed on construction processes, materials, and their impact on the world around us.

Interior designer María Villalón, born in Santander in 1990, is relaunching her first solo venture which she began five years ago with a multidisciplinary female team of professionals with one shared objective: to design with a more human focus.

“The studio has evolved in a natural, organic way in that each of us brings our own input to the table, even when that means expressing our reservations when we’re developing a design. What’s clear to us when we work is that we like to know what lies behind every step, to look at things from a different angle before executing them,” says María.

Villalón Studio is thus entering a stage of maturity in which the studio’s projects center on taking care of the life that is generated both within the designs and outside of them, with a particular emphasis placed on construction processes, materials, and their impact on the world around us.

In this regard, the studio draws inspiration from natural elements, clean lines, and the organic movement of human beings to create spaces designed to last. “We must strive to ensure our designs are high quality and that they endure over time. This is something that both society and our clients demand of us, which is why we are selective when it comes to choosing suppliers; we look to surround ourselves with like-minded professionals with a similar ethos, whose processes we can learn from.”

A CONSOLIDATED PROPOSAL

Learning, experimentation, and dialogue. Channeling a fresh, innovative approach to design, Villalón has over 80 projects under her belt, comprising restaurant spaces, offices, market stalls, pop-ups, and residential commissions.

Practically since the start of her career in 2016, María Villalón has attracted critics’ attention with projects for the likes of hip restaurant venues Pointer, Chow Chow, and Pomerania, subsequently, Roostiq, Hake Mate, and Lettera, not to mention a series of projects for apartments in Madrid, the Balearic Islands, Asturias, and Cantabria.

“In spite of how different they may be, what all projects have in common is that our process is always the same. We undertake very thorough background research on the client, the space, and the conceptualization. The concept needs to be embodied in all phases and scales of the project.”

Villalón has also just finished designing the boutique and wine bar space at the Bodegas La Rioja Alta headquarters in Haro, La Rioja. The viticulture process itself serves as her main inspiration – from the vines themselves being nourished by the soil right through to the finished product on our table – incorporating materials such as wood, iron, and brick, crafted using traditional methods.

Building on this experience, in this new chapter Villalón Studio will seek to take on projects with a positive impact, sensitive to the real needs of individuals and the planet: “We are gearing towards a new type of client who appreciates more sustainable and conscious actions. The design has always been a tool for solving complex problems, but now, we feel that when it comes to any project, this collective dimension cannot be overlooked. As early as the initial concept development phase, this entails evaluating the social and environmental impact that our designs may have.”

Owing to this, one of Villalón’s obsessions is studying materials and their provenance, the waste they generate, and their regenerative properties, with a view to reusing them in the future, analyzing the fuel consumption associated with their transportation, maintenance, and cleaning requirements, as well as their durability.

This has led the studio to work with local suppliers and to experiment with sustainable clay finishes, textiles made from recycled plastic, and explore the different possibilities created through using materials such as wood – a construction material for which María Villalón herself has a self-confessed soft spot. “I like it because it is a living material which evolves just as we evolve. It’s wonderful to see how it ages and changes over time – for us, it lends an added dimension to spaces.”

THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIPS

Born out of a desire to foster collective prosperity, the studio promotes the creation of collaborative networks and partnerships with all contributors at every stage of a project’s lifespan, who in turn share the same values and responsible practices. As such, the studio often collaborates with artisans and craftspeople such as the sculptor Fernando Oriol, a blacksmith who creates handmade pieces out of his workshop in Seville, as well as with Pablo Yubero who creates striking bowls and vases entirely of wood.

What’s more, Villalón Studio has begun collaborating with NGOs such as ASION (The Children’s Oncological Association of Madrid), helping to decorate two floors that function as a dedicated space, provided by the association, for children undergoing treatment and their families. “We try to humanize these spaces for those who are going through an extremely tough time – to make them more homely, more welcoming. It’s a way of working with interior design as an element that can help to improve our society”.