Architect Paula Herrero transformed the run-down space with a pop-out bedroom and a sculptural staircase for a designer who turns fire hoses into furniture.
For Marcela Lozano, reinvention comes naturally. As she was growing up in Argentina, her family had a common refrain: ¿Para que podrá servir esto? Or, What could this be used for?
“It’s a phrase that we said all the time,” recalls Marcela. For instance, if her father bought a new washing machine, he would keep the pieces and parts of the old one for future repairs. For him, and Marcela, it’s not about saving money, but the creative exercise of reuse, and the satisfaction of giving an overlooked object new life. (She still remembers her first project as a child, crafting mouse figurines from cocoa beans, which she sold to neighbors up and down her block.)
More recently, Marcela launched Füür (“fire” in Swiss German), a design studio that produces durable products from salvaged fire hoses sourced in Switzerland and Barcelona. So far, the line includes indoor/outdoor rugs, garden chairs, and pet accessories, like harnesses and collars, some with Bombers de Barcelona (the name of the city’s fire service) still stamped on the yellow rubber.
Based in Switzerland and Barcelona, Marcela Lozano’s company Füür creates durable products from salvaged fire hoses.
Marcela Grassi
In her Barcelona live/work space, Marcela experiments with racks of salvaged fire hoses to create prototypes for new products. For design and fabrication, she collaborates with local industrial designers and leather artisans in southern Spain.
Marcela Grassi
Marcela shows a pet accessory fabricated from salvaged fire hose from Bombers de Barcelona, the city’s fire service.
Marcela Grassi
See the full story on Dwell.com: Before & After: A Surprising Home Springs Up in a Basic Barcelona Storefront
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