“Clothing as Celebration.” Reyes Castellano
presents
Reyes Castellano, a talented Spanish interior designer who loves rust mud silk in perfect sync with the color of her hair. Reyes celebrates the passing of time at the Botanical Garden in her beloved Madrid as seen by photographer Juan Baraja.
1. Who is Reyes Castellano?
Interior designer, founder together with the architect Juan Carlos Fernández, of Ventura, an architecture and interior design studio. Madrilenian and Galician by adoption. Owner of two whippets (Colin and Guillaume).
2. What is the Madrid that Reyes likes?
I have lived in Madrid all my life, the last 20 years in the Barrio de las Letras and I have seen first-hand how the city has changed, at an unusual speed. Today Madrid is a cosmopolitan city full of events, with cutting-edge gastronomy, large hotels, art and design fairs,…. However, it is still a city where you can walk everywhere and where you continue to greet your lifelong neighbors and I love that.
3. How is the Spain that Reyes loves?
If I am not in Madrid, I am in Galicia. My husband is from there and we have a house in Ulloa, surrounded by forests of oak and chestnut trees. It is my connection with nature, my favorite landscape.
4. Favorite places:
In Madrid, the studio of photographer Juan Baraja in Carabanchel. My favorite store, Tado, in the Barrio de las Letras, where Sylvie selects wonderful pieces from the best Spanish potters. Magasand, a space where you can enjoy healthy and quality food. In addition, Ventura Estudio has designed its premises on Calle Columela and Delicias. In Galicia, the Ulloa forest and the Loxe Mareiro restaurant in Carril.
5. Favorite plants?
How difficult! I like them all! I go crazy in nurseries.
6. Colors? Materials? textures?
Earthy and clayey colors, warm, slightly saturated. Natural materials and matte finishes.
7. Food?
Not too much. Good ingredients, not very elaborate and, if possible, local.
8. What is in your “travel bucket list” ?
I have an obsession with Scotland, and seeing the Northern Lights.
9. A “very Ventura” space is…
A beautiful space, visually clean, rational, that works, that ages well and that remains in time.
10. Something to throw away, something to keep…
Lately I'm learning to throw away less and repair or reuse more. Is not easy.
11. Books on your nightstand...
Less Is Enough by Pier Vittorio Aureli
12. If you didn't live in Spain…
I would live in Portugal.
13. A house you would like to visit:
John Lautner's Schaffer House
14. A wine to recommend…
Meridiano Perdido (a white wine from Cádiz, made from the Palomino grape, by winemaker Joaquín Gómez Beser)
15. Tell us about Ventura Estudio
A small studio in Madrid that seeks excellence in every project. Half of the team are architects and the other half are interior designers and the design is done as a team, so that the client can enjoy a tailor-made project that takes care of every little detail. Our best projects have been with clients with whom we have been able to develop total trust and who have allowed us to design and choose with them and for them not only the spaces but also the furniture, the art, even the crockery and cutlery!
Last year we opened a new work space in the Casa dos Portugueses building, between Canalejas and Gran Vía, an area of Madrid that is undergoing a wonderful and accelerated transformation. We are in love with our new neighborhood!
16. Modern or timeless?
Both at the same time! Timeless modern. I don't think they are mutually exclusive.
17. For Reyes, luxury is…
To dedicate time to what makes you happy
18. For Reyes, clothes is..
An instrument of expression of personality, a state of mind and also a way of reflecting certain values (respect for craftsmanship, original and lasting design, sustainability, the search for quality,...). In any case, my way of understanding fashion is closer to fun than reflection.
19. Reyes celebrates…
The passing of the years and wrinkles.
20. For Reyes, paradise is...
Paradise is in my house, with my husband and my dogs.
