A Tour of Vibia’s New Headquarters Through the Eyes of Lighting Design Students

This spring, Vibia unveiled a new showroom, factory, and headquarters in Gavà, Barcelona. Intended to serve as much as the brand’s office as a gathering spot for visitors and designers, the expansive space regularly plays host to a range of guests. Among some recent visitors were a group of master’s students enrolled in the Architectonic Lighting Design programme at UPC, the Barcelona School of Professional & Executive development: BarcelonaTech. Together with their programme director, the renowned lighting designer Maria Guell, the students toured the headquarters and shared their impressions and favourite lighting designs.

Alexis Fuentes, from Puyo, Ecuador, was impressed by the overall “spacial light” and cited Meridiano by Meritxell Vidal and Jordi Vilardell; Break by Xuclà & Alemany; and Algorithm by Toan Nguyen as noteworthy fixtures.

 

© Alexis Fuentes

 

Alejandra Kuri, from Monterrey, Mexico, spoke of how the showroom “reveals Vibia’s essence in a high-end, fluid space, with precise lighting accents to catch the viewer’s attention.” Among her favourites were the Guise and Origami pendants designed by Stefan Diez and Ramón Esteve, respectively.

 

© Alejandra Kuri

 

Celeste Mazzucco, a student from Córdoba, Argentina, described the space as one of “no beginning and no end.” She was particularly drawn to Diez’s Guise pendant.

 

© Celeste Mazzucco

 

Also naming Guise as a favorite was Estefi Marti of Barcelona. She called his tour of the headquarters as an “encounter with light.”

 

© Estefi Martí

 

From Quito, Ecuador, student María Isabel Ceballos poetically summarized her impressions of the space as “one lamp and the magic of light.” Among her preferred designs were Algorithm as well as the Rhythm and Wireflow fixtures by Arik Levy.

 

© Marí­a Isabel Cevallos

 

Juan Felipe Ortiz, who hails from Bucaramanga, Colombia, declared the headquarters “a space that lights creatively.” Ortiz selected Musa by Note Design Studio and Duo by Ramos & Bassols as two standouts.

 

© Juan Felipe Ortiz

 

Describing Vibia’s headquarters a “warm and innovative place,” Ricardo Fonseca from Quito picked Algorithm and the Palma pendants by Anoni Arola as his favourites.

 

© Ricardo Fonseca