LABYRINTH
CORBERO HOUSE
Xaviér Corberó began acquiring land outside Barcelona in 1968 to build there a house of his dreams, the Corberó house, his ‘casa sublime’. Today his home has about 4500 square meters, and consists of 9 interconnected buildings, dozens of courtyards and approximately 300 archways.
It is a surrealistic labyrinth with tall arches and octagonal windows, where all the angles creates light reflections and shadows thrown on the walls. When you walk in, each frame exposes unexpected compositions of Corberó works, a retrospective through all his projects and pieces, everything he has ever made. The perfect installation of any artist work.
“Sometimes they ask me about what I wanted to do when I began this structure. Well, when its possible, what I always attempt to do is poetry. Whether it’s sculptures, building, or spaces the outcome of what I do has to be poetry which I believe is the measure of all things.”
“For me a house is like an agenda. And here, every object has it’s own personal story.”
To get the best sense of this magical project watch a nowness.com video from series “In residence” by Albert Moya here. The pictures are taken from editorial series created for Wall Street Journal, by photographer Salva Lopéz, who guides us around the house through his lens.
Photos: Salvaro Lopez for Wall Street Journal
Text: by me
Text below from nowness.com
Considered by many to be the most significant Catalan artist since Gaudi, the sculptor Xavier Corbero 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. Some 40 years in the making, Corbero’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, Corbero’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. Corbero 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.
Stats from the set:
Square footage of house: 38,750ft².
Number of beds/baths: 10 beds, 10 baths.
Year house built: 1990.
Main building materials: Concrete and wood.
Oldest item in house: Chinese small sculpture.
Most treasured possession: Sense of humor.
Most unusual artifact or architectural detail: Awareness.
What stocked in the bar: Champagne, old Armagnac and old Porto, and Vega Sicilia.
A monochrome black kitchen in bamboo by Ask og Eng.