Today we show you the work done by Wanda Barcelona,they make incredible things in paper; i know from a long time to Inti Velez, one of Wanda members, and he has always had an special hability for this kind of works, and working with Dani and Iris, the result is great !!!

How did you start making these types of temporary installations? Did you see it clearly to dedicate your work to manual origami?
It all started by chance… In a bar over a beer… a girl was looking for someone to make origami for the opening of MUJI and found me in a bar at 3 in the morning;). It is easy to find the opportunity… it is difficult to make it well and to remain well known. We never had it clear, in fact at first, we didn’t want to be pigeonholed as origami people… but little by little we found that origami was only a micro universe of a vaster one without boarders…. The world of paper. It was when we discovered this that we decided to specialise in this noble and beautiful material.

Did you know where you wanted and could get to? Have you come much further than you imagined?
As creative birth… I suppose our dream since university is to live by making what we are passionate about, creating non stop, we said that it was where we wanted to and could get … to risk everything (well what little we had) and make a studio in a time of crisis… It was not easy, but we didn’t have a point of reference of “good times” so we assumed it was normal and never stopped believing.
We got to where we wanted… to live off our creativity, making things that we like and creating non stop.

How does the idea come up for each exhibition? Is it heavily based on the client’s idea or do you convince them of an idea once you have seen the space?
Each project is different, sometimes we design everything from the concept to the final details, and in some cases the client comes to us with a vision in their head and we give them the form. We move in a very corporate world, which means that there are many brand values, colours and markings that sometimes complement the design.

The site is fundamental, for each project we try to personally see the space… Of course when you cannot… a good 3d and voila!

Did you have a learning process for this type of installations from the start? Was it hard?
It is pure “trial and error” we learn from our mistakes, none learned to make this at university. Everything is little by little and comes from our pervious experiences… We have certain laws that help us in all designs, for example: Better to over structure than destroy… we usually respond to our doubts with this type of law and so we heal them.

Do you have a team that do all the manual work?
We are lucky to be in a group of excellent suppliers. We are a small group surviving in a world of titans… we have to stay together and support ourselves if we don’t want to disappear. As for the manual work, we do everything at home. We always have a scholarship that help us in everything and when things are blown out of proportion we have a freelance team who help us with everything that is necessary.

Eight years ago, could you imagine yourself doing what you do today?
Not for a moment…

What is the creative process from the moment you have an idea to the day the project is launched?
We always participate in a close communication with the client to avoid wasting time and going to the wrong direction… many briefings of general ideas, colour palettes and intentions until it takes us to 100% satisfy for both the client and ourselves. Once at that point, we start the design process, the true form only comes once the path has been studied.

What do you do with the installation once the exhibition is finished?
We photograph it and recycle it.

Can you make a living from it?
Maybe not from it… you can make a living from selling it.

Have you thought about selling smaller products like this poster and not only at exhibitions?
We are in a country that sells to China, and what we all think is that it is not possible to compete with China. We already had two lamps, The Lotto Lamp and the Brunna Lamp, in our investigation, both turned out to be very expensive to produce locally so the solution would be to produce them in China. And Wanda Barcelona DO NOT produce in China. It is against the philosophy of our studio.

We believe that this is what is slowly bleeding out Spain, and even worse it is causing creative minds to migrate and give their talent to other counties, leaving Spain full of mediocre designers and hundreds of Chinese products round every corner. In our opinion, it is these small gestures that make the designer regain their status today, and it is completely undervalued.

What is the installation that you enjoyed making the most?
All of them are like our children… and we gave birth to them all and so they are loved. However, we can highlight FANtástico… working with the Ministry of Foreign Buildings representing Spain in New York design week was quiet rewarding for two Colombians.

What have been the worst and the best moments of your professional life up until now?
The worst… to have to live month my month for more than 4 years…. and the best… all the months of making nice things!

What would be the perfect project you would like to make?
One without the word “budget” around it.

Is there anything you would not do again professionally?
Work for free, we do not agree with it, we do not encourage it and we do not do it. We believe that it devalues our profession.

Is there anything you would repeat even though it has been a crazy thing, only for the experience?
Restart the process.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to pursue this?
If you are already sure that this is what you want to dedicate to… you already have 80% of your work done…. Pursuing it is not difficult, what is hard is knowing what you want. Never give up and above all do not be timid, be bold (if you have lots of talent) and know how to sell yourself… Otherwise it will be to no avail.