Dezeen Magazine

The installation was painted blue

Clap Studio designs modular studio that takes cues from the Mediterranean Sea

As part of Valencia's programme as World Design Capital 2022, local firm Clap Studio has created a modular installation for a television studio that was informed by the ocean and made from gridded mesh boxes and illuminated spheres.

The installation, titled The Sea, is located in the David Chipperfield-designed Veles e Vents building and will be used as a meeting point and television studio for filming content around different World Design Capital events.

The installation used gridded metal boxes to create seating
Top: the installation was created as part of World Design Captial Valencia. Above: the studio used modular gridded boxes for its design

The David Chipperfield-designed building that the installation sits in informed its design from the beginning.

"The inspiration came the first day we visited the space and the building 'Veles e Vents'," Clap Studio founder Angela Montagud told Dezeen.

"The building 'Veles e Vents' is located in 'La Marina de Valencia', the historic dock of the city. It is physically and visually connected to the sea. We thought about the user's experience, the journey they make to get to the space."

Spherical lights are placed within installation by Clap Studio
The gridded mesh was layered to create variating opacities

Informed by the shape of waves and the nearby Mediterranean Sea, the installation took shape as a collection of gridded modular mesh boxes.

Clap Studio used three modular boxes in varying sizes to stack and build volumes that could be used as audience seating for the space to fulfil its function as a television studio.

The modular boxes were stacked by Clap Studio
It has a blue finish

The firm explained that through layering and stacking the modules, it was able to achieve a layered opacity that created a range of depths and opacities.

Illuminated spheres were placed within and around the gridded volumes, further adding depth to the hyper-functional structure.

Clap Studio strapped grey recycled foam to the seat
Seats were fitted with acoustic foam for comfort

"To conceptualise the sea we thought of an electro-welded mesh with which, by superimposing one mesh on another, we managed to generate different opacities and depths, as it happens with seawater," said Montagud.

"We created a light installation that accompanies The Sea and provides a magical atmosphere. With these illuminated spheres we conceptualised the jellyfish floating in the interior of the sea."

A row of mesh chairs sits on a stage by Clap Studio
Seating is formed using the gridded boxes

The modular mesh boxes were fitted with recycled foam that create comfortable seats, but also aids the acoustics of the space.

On stage, the seating took a more traditional form. Here, the gridded mesh volumes were used to create forms that reflect the traditional silhouette of a chair and were similarly fitted with a foam seat and backrest for comfort.

The studio explained it wanted to create a space that was both versatile and hyper-functional.

Its lightweight material palette means The Sea can be easily disassembled, assembled, transported and reconfigured into an endless number of solutions.

Detail shot of the gridded mesh
Layers of the mesh form a deep blue

"We imagine the space changing its shape and configuration, adapting in form to its function," said Montagud.

"We understood that it had to be a space with a life of its own that would grow with World  Design Capital Vienna throughout 2021 and 2022. That is why versatility was one of the most important points of the project. "

Clap Studio pictured sitting on the installation
The installation can be reconfigured and changed

The studio explained that it hopes to see the installation live past the interiors of the Chipperfield building, stating that it could be used within any context.

"When we designed the installation we were very conscious of the World Design Capital's idea of changing space, so we would like to see all or part of the installation in another context, surrounded by another landscape," Montagud said.

"We imagined seeing The Sea in the middle of the city, surrounded by buildings and living perfectly in a more urban space."

A blue hue reflects around the space
The space will function as a television studio

Clap Studio is a creative studio that works across the creation of experiences through interior design, products and installations.

Other works by the design studio include these terracotta interiors for a fashion cafe in Hong Kong and also these playful interiors for a children's shoe store.

Photography is by David Zarzoso.