Cool Travel / Barcelona’s Cuines Santa-Caterina

October 22, 2009 | Cool Travel | by Katrina Whitehead |

When Barcelona’s ‘it crowd’ are hankering for some good tucker, I’m pretty sure they head straight to Cuines Santa-Caterina. And why wouldn’t they? Located inside the actual Mercat de Santa Catarina (a fresh produce market) this hip restaurant/bar serves up tasty cuisine from breaky right through to dinner. Ranked as one of Barcelona’s top places to eat and be seen, it’s got several open grills — and you can either sit at the bar, peering into the kitchen, or at large communal tables. Head there early for a tapas-style breakfast, or choose from three oddly grouped cuisines for lunch or dinner: Vegetarian/Sushi, Mediterranean and Asiatic. Thanks to the Scandinavian-inspired decor, you feel like you’re inside a giant warehouse, surrounded by giant shelves topped with boxes, wine, olive oil and vinegar. The prices are surprisingly reasonable, the staff are welcoming, and if you’re there for breakfast, you can hit the market with a full tummy afterwards. Read more

Cool Travel / The Take It Easy experience in Barcelona

October 19, 2009 | Cool Travel | by Andres Colmenares |

Two months ago, a very special and unique place opened in Barcelona: TAKE IT EASY, an anti-stress space. Inspired by The Eagles song, Ramón Regada created a comfortable area in the district of L’Eixample in which people can unplug and take a short nap in hi-tech massage chairs. It is aimed at workers with only short time after lunch to take the famous siesta. And all for just five Euros. Regada asks each customer to write down a phrase or word after taking the nap and each week he selects one as a banner in the front window of the space. Read more

New Music / Exxasens

October 5, 2009 | New Music | by Gerry Mak |

I can’t really get into bands like Pelican and Isis, but somehow Exxasens, an epic, post-rock outfit from Barcelona (how would you say their name in Spanish?) rub me the right way. They’re much more uptempo, with interesting harmony lines and counter-melodies weaving in and out. I guess the closest comparison is Mogwai, but they sound more like space than the rolling highlands.

New Food and Packaging / Delishop

August 13, 2009 | New Food and Packaging | by Caitlin Zaino |

Delishop is where Barcelona’s gourmands go to get their fix of international specialities. Founded by two well-travelled foodies, the brand is a lifestyle and food-based concept that offers basic local and regional foodstuffs from five continents. The impressive range of international products available means that Barcelonese can now cook up specialities from Thailand, India, and Latin America all in one night. Even more noteworthy though is Delishop’s award-winning packaging. Designed by Enric Aguilera, the imagery ironically puts the normally designer-dreaded barcode at the center of attention for a cool, clean look.

New Art / Misako Mimoko’s Dolls

July 2, 2009 | New Art | by Ilana Kohn |

Barcelona crafter Misako Mimoko makes the most impossibly adorable little dolls, known as her Dolis ey Dolos. Her croissant and Grandfather Clock headed dolls are so cute, even more so in their classic toy-store packaging.

New Trends / Chic and Basic Hotel product packaging

June 27, 2009 | New Trends | by Zolton |

The beautiful, minimalist and slightly irreverent design aesthetic that Barcelona’s Chic & Basic Born Hotel sets up with its stunning interior layout is carried through perfectly into its product packaging, which features cheeky, bold messaging in large, unadorned fonts. Read more

Cool Travel / Barcelona’s Hotel Omm

June 9, 2009 | Cool Travel | by Zolton |

There’s something to be said for staying in a hotel room that’s bigger than your Brooklyn apartment. Yup, it happens so rarely that when you come across it, you kinda want to hang inside, bask in the space, and imagine that this really is your life. 365 days a year. Ah ha, then you wake up. Anyway, I stayed recently at the beautifully designed Hotel Omm in the Eixample district of Barcelona, surrounded by the glitzy, sparkling shops that dot the landscape and by the disarmingly original Gaudi buildings that tower spectacularly above the skyline. It’s quite a sight. [photo by Alison Zavos] Read more

New & Cool Architecture / Barcelona’s Chic and Basic Born Hotel

May 30, 2009 | New & Cool Architecture | by Zolton |

My wife and I have just returned from a week lapping up the culture and exploring the long winding alleyways that run off the main streets in the center of Barcelona. What a magnificent city! The seamless blend of old and new in the architecture, food, and sounds, which float out of the bars and cafes, combine with a very distinct design aesthetic, which permeates the stores and hotels to create a thriving modern city with one eye firmly on the future and the other on the artifacts of its past. While in Barcelona, we spent a few nights staying at the sublime Chic and Basic Hotel [photographed above and below], located in the Born area. This hotel symbolized so much of what we considered Barcelona to be about. Read more

New Design / Alex Trochut to speak at AIGANY

January 8, 2009 | New Design | by Casper Johansson |

Renowned for his technically exquisite type creations, Barcelona-based illustrator and designer Alex Trochut attributes his love of typography to his grandfather, Joan Trochut, a typographer and the creator of a modular typographic and ornament system built in the 40s. Trochut’s philosophy is that ‘more is more’, and this is reflected in his commissions for The Guardian, Nike, The Rolling Stones, British Airways, Budweiser and Diesel. He’s speaking on January 15th as part of the AIGANY Small Talks at New York’s Bumble and bumble. You can register to attend via their website. Read more

January 7, 2009 | New Film | by Xavier Toby |

Over the past twenty years, Woody Allen has churned out mediocre efforts, especially compared to his early work. Vicky Cristina Barcelona, though, is a standout riddled with social satire and excellent comic timing. It follows Vicky and Cristina, two young American friends who share similar interests but opposite morals. They spend the summer in Barcelona, and the cast, including an in-form Penelope Cruz, Javier Bordem and Scarlett Johansson, all revel in a script that boasts some of Allen’s best lines. For years Allen doggedly stuck to his beloved New York, a city he shot with care and consideration, and that same touch has been brought to Barcelona. He takes us to the villas, islands and other standout tourist locations, the setting for each scene a different postcard. Most the major landmarks are represented, along with picturesque villas, restaurants and streets, although none of it is overdone and provides the ideal background to this meditation on love that is insightful, but still manages to keep the light, playful tone of a holiday romance.

New Illustration / Oscar Gimenez

November 25, 2008 | New Illustration | by Zolton |

Says Barcelona-based illustrator, Oscar Gimenez, of his beautiful line drawings: ‘I used to be a big fan of fashion illustration. When I started illustrating, that’s what everybody was doing, at least in Barcelona. But I get so easily distracted and bored with trends that I quickly came off it. However, it looks like a few people out there thought I had to pay off for my contempt, and they decided I had to do it this year. Hence all the work on fashion I’ve been doing lately. Lots of vain people posing just for beauty’s sake! Luckily, I got distracted by a couple of conceptual jobs that came in between and temporarily woke my brain up. One of them, a short animation for the Audi Q5 Generis, has given me the chance to see for the first time my work in motion’.

New & Cool Architecture / Barcelona’s Santa Caterina Market

November 3, 2008 | New & Cool Architecture | by Snell |

This organic form, revealing itself from the sprawling metropolis of Barcelona via the marauding eye of Google, is the Santa Caterina Market. Designed by the late architect Enric Miralles it has a floating ceramic roof that drapes the bustling market below in a parental way. The coloured ceramics, of course, represent the smorgasbord of fruit and vegetables on sale within and enable a majestic view, not only for Google, but also to its immediate neighbours overlooking the site.

Cool Travel / Bar Oviso

July 31, 2008 | Cool Travel | by Huna Amweero |

On my recent visit to Barcelona, my love for Animal Farm led me to the Plaça de Geroge Orwell. There I discovered Oviso. The tiny café features hand painted walls and low wooden benches, where inhabitants enjoy great coffee for €1 and discuss music, beer, photography and the hordes of tourists that bustle just beyond the quiet square.

New & Cool Architecture / Cardillo Music

June 27, 2008 | New & Cool Architecture | by Snell |

Italian architect Antonio Cardillo is of the opinion that architecture is only still in pictures, as in its real life it is in a state of transition with man and light moving through it. Read more

Cool Travel / Deathbowl to Downtown

June 24, 2008 | Cool Travel | by Derrick Stembridge |

Along with San Francisco and Barcelona, New York is arguably the modern street skating city, both in reality and image. Because of the unique background, experience and perspective of the film’s creators and the decision to “cast” the city of New York as one of the main characters, Deathbowl to Downtown promises to be an unprecedented, seminal film. Read more