Architecture

Nowness In Residence: Xavier Corbero

OCT 2023

I am excited to finally present a film by Nowness, one of my favorite companies that I even had the opportunity to intern for a few years ago. I think that all their work is incredible, but I especially enjoy their “In Residence” collection. In the series, you can find the most beautifully shot houses and architecture from around the world. While I was working in production, I looked towards a lot of these short films for inspiration. Recently, I came across Xavier Corberó. In the video below, you get to see his home, which must be, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most spectacular ones on this planet. It is fantastically surreal, which is why I wanted to share it on Funga.

Considered by many to be the most significant Catalan artist since Gaudi, the sculptor Xavier Corberó has built a home that befits his reputation: an expansive estate in the Barcelona suburb of Esplugues de Llobregat, which reveals the work of a mind that is as much artistic as architectural.

“Corberó was old friends with Salvador Dalí and the surreal undoubtedly plays a lingering part in this casa sublim”

Some 40 years in the making, Corberó’s residence has been a tireless exploration: nine pre-existing and dilapidated industrial structures have been brought back to life, forming a labyrinth composed of studios, living areas, artist residences, gallery spaces, and a subterranean workshop.

Throughout the house, Corberó’s own monumental works, often cast in marble and basalt, loom large, as they do in prominent collections around the world, including those of the Met in New York and the Victoria & Albert museum in London. Corberó was old friends with Salvador Dalí and indeed, the surreal undoubtedly plays a lingering part in this casa sublim, where the unexpected always seems to lurk behind a closed door, emerge from an unnoticed corner, or appear out of thin air. (text by Nowness)