BF: How did you realize that you wanted to dedicate yourself to Architecture and Interior Design?
MF: I am the daughter of an architect, growing up in a home specially designed by my father. My environment and my artistic aptitudes have always led me down the path of art and architecture. I have always liked what happens around human beings both at an urban level (I have a degree in urban planning architect), how they move, how they relate to traffic, leisure areas, green areas, the neighbor across the street; as well as what happens at a closer level, proportions of a room, height of the back of the chair, shape of sitting, setting of the room, lighting, color, mood in the home, and also in a place public, how to create a party atmosphere, or calm, as the case may be. Theming a space is a nice challenge.
BF: How were your beginnings in the world of design?
MF: I have always painted and made crafts. Every weekend of my childhood I have dedicated to trying new techniques. This has always led me to experiment with a variety of materials, to touch them, to feel them, to know them. Furthermore, I have always liked industrial design and I have wanted to innovate and experiment, I even competed by making a lamp with an ostrich egg. Since my beginnings in the working world I have had the opportunity to carry out interior design renovations and this fact has grown until today when I dedicate myself almost 100% to it. It is appreciated that both my father, as the initiator, and my later superiors have opted for my imagination. The open-mindedness of the promoters of the works has been of crucial importance, thinking that design was a point of value in their business.
Hotel Denia Marriott La Sella, Spain
BF: What have been your sources of inspiration?
MF: I get sources on many fronts. I am observant and retain a lot on a visual level. Performances, painting, photography, nature, a play, a film, a tile, a fabric, you don’t have to close yourself to anything. Each project requires a new thought, a new story, and the sources are focused on one side or the other according to its needs. In one project it could be a tack from a jacket and in another the shawl of a fallera or in another a giant kite.
BF: What do you consider characterizes you personally and helps you achieve your results?
MF: My constant work, my incessant search for new ideas, to create new experiences. I like to surprise, do something different from what we are used to. This happens to me on a personal level, I always look for new paths to reach my goal.
BF: What do you look for in each new project?
Ushuïa Tower Hotel, Ibiza, Spain
BF: What are you most passionate about when you start a project?
MF: The new, especially. Each project is a new starting point for a fantastic story. If the project is also better as a team, then we all draw on each other’s opinions and the project becomes a beautiful fight towards a common goal.
BF: What has been the project that you have enjoyed the most?
MF: I had the opportunity to collaborate in the creation of the Ushuaïa Tower hotel and the Hard Rock hotel in Tenerife. Both hotels have a client who wants to have a good time and wants to be surprised in a crazy atmosphere. It was a lot of fun and a rewarding experience on a personal and professional level.
Ushuaia Tower Hotel, Ibiza, Spain
Ushuaia Tower Hotel, Ibiza, Spain
BF: What do you consider to be the most difficult thing about Interior Design?
MF: First of all, that the promoter understands that Interior Design is one of the keys to his business, that it is not about putting up a lamp but about creating an environment. My status as an architect leads me to always think about the entire envelope, its facilities, its regulations, at the same time that you have to create an environment appropriate to each challenge. I like to treat the space in a global way, thinking from the beginning about the type of lighting, the atmosphere, the business that occurs in this space. Once the promoter is convinced, the second difficult issue is to create the right environment so that the client can feel the target experience.
What would you highlight about your experience on the jury of our InterCIDEC 2018 Competition?
There was a lot of talent in the contest, and this talent often remains hidden because there is no opportunity to bring it to light. Giving the opportunity to bring together young designers with brands of lighting, vinyl, carpets, etc., together with established designers and entrepreneurs in the sector, seemed to me to be a great contribution to our sector.
Mónica Fullana, InterCIDEC 2018 jury.
BF: What do you value most about Beltá Frajumar? MF: Its people, its workers, its good environment. I feel like a team when I work with them. I greatly value the opinion of their professionals, and the spirit and joy with which they launch themselves into a new challenge. In addition to his own furniture designs, it is worth highlighting his ability to bring to reality all the furniture created by us designers and reaching down to the last detail.
BF: How would you define in a single word the feeling you had when you were informed that your project was selected for Hostelco Awards 2020?
¡WOW!
BF: What does being awarded by Hostelco Awards 2020 mean to you?
MF: The award was given for the renovation of a Marriott hotel that we carried out together with Fraile Project, a hotel that had lost its rank, and we managed to get it to be championed by the brand again, quite a challenge. It was the first project in our solo career after having collaborated in several studios, so the joy was immense. This has put me and the studio that I form together with Antonio Albaladejo in an important position, visible, within Spanish studies.
Hotel Denia Marriott La Sella, Spain
BF: What is the next project that you are most excited about?
MF: Well, after this health and financial crisis, it seems that other new projects are starting. I would like to be able to continue in the line of fun and crazy hotels, where creativity has its maximum value and to work again with a great team where we share ideas and smiles.
BF: What do you think has made the difference during 2021 in your studio?
MF: The award was immersed in a pandemic and financial crisis, so the bombshell that the announcement of this Hostelco award and meeting people related to it at the awards party could have brought faded. This year has served to continue learning (I have already obtained my second master’s degree in interior design), to consider the future, the path to follow, to compete, and expand collaborations. It has also served to reflect on certain design themes that have now been touched by the virus: materials, routes, schedules, new experiences, confluences, coexistence. We have taken the positive side of the negative.
BF: What would you say to young people who have just started in this beautiful profession?
MF: I would encourage them to think beyond, to reflect on human beings and their behavior and to create new experiences capable of making us enjoy and open our minds.
