Eating well is more or less a tradition in Basque Country. For decades, the Northern Spanish region’s festive calendar has been jammed with dates on which food and drink take centre stage, and mind you, there are even special events dedicated to delicacies such as grape harvest, beans and sea bream. It isn’t very surprising that eventually a generation of chefs emerged which have become veritable culinary superstars on home turf and abroad. Keeping this legacy alive, albeit in a broader creative context, is the newly opened Espacio PEN. Concepted first and foremost as a social where creativity, interior design and industrial design converge for the sake of new cultural experiences, founding partners Borja Garmendia and Aurora Polo Santamaria of creative project Pensando en Blanco aim to nurture a forward audience with a novel form of both experiential and interdisciplinary communication, and obviously, new content.
Espacio PEN occupies a large, redeveloped chicken coop on the rolling hills of the Jaizkibel mountain range in Hondarribia, a small coastal town in the east of Basque Country. The interior design, created by the aforementioned duo, is the result of a series of artisanal processes and traditional techniques. The material palette is modest yet very effective in creating a harmonious, nurturing atmosphere that’s suitable for a wide variety of events—the walls are covered in hemp, the bamboo ceiling is covered in Quiklime and overlaid by cedar beams, and the floor is crafted from alabaster plaster and plaster of Paris. Recent events held at PEN Space include JUNO, an Omakase pop-up restaurant seating 25 guests, and a presentation of graphic designer and typographer Stefan Sagmeister‘s new publication Now is Better. © superfuture.com
Espacio PEN
Arkolla Kalea 70
20280 Hondarribia
Publishers Note
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