Metropolis
Francesc Rifé Designs a Headquarters for Power Electronics
The Catalan designer, well known for hospitality projects, applies his signature style to a workplace focused on solar power. Courtesy David Zarzoso
My design philosophy is based on spatial order and geometric proportions. So says Francesc Rifé in the eponymous tome about the designer’s work (2011, Loft Publications). Born in the region of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, the epicenter of Catalonia’s winemaking industry, Rifé’s style is reflective of his rural-industrial environment; rational, austere, precise in function and reductive in order, but with a strong eye for craftsmanship. It’s an approach that goes against the grain of the flashier, more colorful cohort of ‘Mediterranean Design’ practitioners but has found widespread admiration and high-profile hospitality clients along with showrooms for design companies such as Vibia and Roca. The new offices and headquarters for Power Electronics, a ma