The Unlikely Hero of This Colorful Barcelona Apartment Is Its Bathroom
Photo by Roberto Ruiz
Only a few hours passed between when architect Andrea Serboli toured his apartment and when he signed the forms to buy it. “In recent years, the real-estate market in Barcelona has gone crazy, so it forces you to make quick decisions,” he says. “But from the first moment, this apartment made me realize that we liked each other.”
Maybe sparks flew fast because of the setting. The apartment is perched above a tree-lined passageway leading to the Sagrada Familia; the church's spires can be seen from the balcony. Plus, the building itself was built in 1914, and reflects the city’s famed Catalan Art Nouveau architecture. These details made it easy for Andrea to look past the home's classic modernist layout, which divided the property into six rooms, as well as the years of neglect that had allowed most of the historic elements to crumble. To Andrea, this apartment was an opportunity to create something new—and to take up the interesting role of being his own client.
