May 16 / ricarda

In 2016, four friends took a train to BCN, we would sleep one night there, but we were loaded with suitcases so we could do whatever came our way. Because the truth is that we didn't know exactly what we were going for, we only had one thing clear, access to one of the most iconic houses of Spanish modernist architecture: The Gomis house by Antonio Bonet.

Sally was glued to the phone the entire train, managing suppliers as only she knows how so she could have her delicate  flowers waiting as soon as we arrived and with suitcases full of scissors and other penetrating devices required in their profession, those that jump out at any security checkpoint. I remember how the light came in through the train window at dawn through her curls, because six years later my memory is still relative to the light of the scenes experienced.

Elena and Mer were expectant, I think they slept during the trip, they had already loaded into their giant suitcases all the bags they had in stock, literally, because at that time Zubi was still a small brand, only handbags and the collections were a lot. more limited. In addition to the bags, they had styling options for whatever might arise, because the truth is that we didn't know how much time we would have, or how many photos we would take, or of what. We went with a blank canvas before us but with the certainty and excitement that something good was going to come out of there.

I was calm, because I am calm and in the face of uncertainty I always feel confident that everything will turn out well and because in 2016 I was facing cold photo sessions, without having ever been on location, without knowing what I was going to do and with the minimum and essential equipment. I had with me a camera, two lenses, a tripod and a computer that I would only use to download the photos and make backup copies before returning. 

I remember going on the train with a curious mix of excitement, excitement and with an open mind to be surprised by the place. I am the daughter of a visual artist and an architect, I grew up visiting houses of modernist architects that were museums, but also houses where my parents' friends lived that could be just as wonderful. For me, houses with everything custom designed including switches, moldings, furniture and any other construction and design detail were not something foreign to everyday life. 

We arrived at La Ricarda, without a clear route map, without a defined schedule, thinking that we would be there for about two hours and that we would leave at lunchtime, each of us started preparing our own thing, I took a walk, I fell in love with the house. It always happens to me in well-designed spaces, it is something very instinctive, I enter, I observe and I understand what the architect was thinking, how he wanted the light to move there and how he wanted those of us who would later live in that space to come across his choices of lighting. materials, heights, lighting. I felt it quickly, I knew where I wanted to take photos and I asked for a ladder to see if it would fit, because that ceiling with its curves was calling out to me. 

We were very lucky, we were able to spend hours there, we all ended up on the roof, of course, taking the photos that I knew I wanted to take since we were still approaching in the car. It was an endearing day, of letting ourselves be carried away by the magic of well-thought-out architecture, of good taste, of feeling Zubi's 2016 winter handbag collection surrounded by Sally Hambleton's incredible flowers and for me in particular, of shooting from the innocence, from not thinking, from instinct and reaction to the architecture and nature of La Ricarda. Six years have passed and we have all greatly evolved our ways of working, we have grown professionally, but now that I am getting older, I want to shoot from that place again, I ask myself for more instinct, more innocence please!

We left there fainted, our legs were shaking, we had not eaten all day and it was time to run so as not to miss the train back to Madrid, but we knew that we had done something good and that we were privileged to have been able to experience a day like that. Dear Sally, Elena and Mer, you should know that I keep that day in my memory with great affection, here's to these first ten years of Zubi and to many more adventures together in the future.

Lucia Marcano

photos: Lucía Marcano production: sally Hambleton styling: Mer Zubi

Thanks Casa Gomis