When Spanish architect Carmello Zappulla was tasked to create the first ever store for experimental jewellery brand La Manso in Barcelona, what lay ahead of him was the challenge to represent a brand that considers itself a girl. A personality embedded in contradictions: of being basic and elevated, trendy and old-fashioned, ordinary and extraordinary. The space located in the Eixample district of the city boasted challenges and opportunities in equal measure. A 25 square metre space at the corner of a busy street flaunted stone-carved floral ornamentation like an elaborate umbrella onto the store’s head. To express the ethos of a brand committed to recycling plastic to create luxurious wearable pieces, in a city that savours the magnanimous art of Catalan architecture, Zappulla’s practice External Reference found a middle path to tie the two worlds. A concept was born that melded the "floral elements of the modernist façade with the contemporary plasticity of the brand’s products." Meticulous interpretations of the old and the new gave rise to an inventive design—be it the façade’s décor that became large glitch-induced rosettes or the 3D-printed furniture made from biodegradable cellulose in patterns that resonate with mutating designs of La Manso jewellery.

La Manso is the brainchild of Barcelona-based creative, Adriana Manso. It all started with Manso’s fascination for her grandmother’s dazzling acrylic jewellery, its glossy sheen, bold colours, and absurd forms. From a young age, she found herself chasing the maddening thrill of scouring vintage shops in Spain for forgotten plastic elements that she would tinker with and turn into curious pieces—reminiscent of her childhood days. Before she knew it, a global business was born. La Manso store is only a few metres away from the self-taught designer’s house.

The idea for the retail space was to invite users to transcend the digital realm and immerse themselves in a physical space where they can personally contemplate the products. Organic forms, conceived as an extension of the retail store's exteriors, were crafted exclusively for the project using 3D-printed technology. External Reference studio’s longtime collaborator La Maquina, a Barcelona-based 3D printing workshop, created furniture within the store that provided coherence to the overarching spatial narrative. A homogenously sandy palette permeates the interiors, dotted by abstract shelving, mirrors, a centre table, and window display consoles. The shelving system, enhanced by futuristic glitches and bas-reliefs, has shifting heights—ranging from 90cm to 1.70m. The mirrors create a sense of visually expanded space whereas a neutral tone for every element inside the store achieves an understated (yet equally dramatic) backdrop for the jewellery.

A combination of hand drawing and computational techniques helped translate ideas from the store’s exterior ornamentation into a mutating geometry of the shelves. The digital model was further refined and optimised for 3D printing before the form was split into desirable parts that were physically extracted through a machine’s robotic arm. Sinuous striations on the 3D printed surfaces create a subtly tactile synergy with the brand’s artisanal jewellery pieces that also boast eccentric forms inspired by the marine world.

Illumination within the store goes along with the spatial thematic—of keeping things light and lyrical. Spotlights, on the ceiling and slotted within the shelving system, create an intimate and deliberate atmosphere that spurs discovery and exploration. External Reference made sure the space became both a retail destination and a canvas of intriguing digital experiments.

On the exteriors, atop the corner bay windows, the brand’s logo—its type design and the materiality—features a similar transmuting style that appears indoors. The detail of the sign, as per External Reference studio, embraces the surrounding streets with its decorations and creates a coherent visual connection between the interiors and the urban environment.

Like a human body undergoing a metamorphosis of some kind, elements within the store have a provocative bent that catches the eye. The design has been quite cohesive in expressing the ‘inexplicable’ spirit of a brand (read girl) which allows her to mutate and has her days full of anecdotes.