We, as the Designer Interviews ("DI") had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to interview award-winning, most creative and innovative Paula Rosales ("PR").

Paula Rosales is an architect and designer with a wide experience in Madrid and New York City, where she has completed widely published branded commercial interiors and residential projects. Paula considers design as a tool to respond to client’s needs and resources with creativity, and above all, to improve people’s lives through her spaces. She believes that we are what we eat, but also what we touch, smell, see and hear. Thus, careful and inclusive design and construction can and should enhance wellbeing, care for oneself and the environment through all our senses.

Paula Rosales Designs

We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by Paula Rosales.

Designer Interview of Paula Rosales:

DI: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?

PR : Since I can remember I enjoyed beautiful and intelligent objects and spaces. They had an impact on my mood, that I didn´t recognize then. Now I know how design can influence emotions. My parents had a taste for good design and architecture. My stepfather is an architect and I followed his steps. In architecture school and through its practice I was able find the tools to approach design at different scales.

DI: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?

PR : My company more&co is an boutique architecture and design office, focussed on custom designs for private and commercial projects. We are 3 to 4 architects inhouse, and collaborate with independent multidisplinary consultants when necessary. I find it very stimulating to bring in new professionals and talents to enrich our work and give us new perspectives.

DI: What is "design" for you?

PR : For me design is an operative system, a tool to respond to client’s needs and resources with creativity, and above all, to improve people’s lives.

DI: What kinds of works do you like designing most?

PR : My taste for design is more about the challenge and the freedom, than about the type of work. Usually commercial projects have a less restrictive approach, but crazy time schedules. Residential projects are very personalized to the client preferences, but give us more time to develop ideas. Each type has its advantages and disadvantages. What we try in every case, is to learn and experiment with something new and stimulating. It can be a concept, a material, a construction detail…anything that help us grow.

DI: What was the first thing you designed for a company?

PR : My first design for a company was an office space for Aldeasa (now Dufry). We designed the layout of the whole staff, the meeting rooms, and the graphics that defined the different areas.

DI: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?

PR : My favorite materials are natural: wood, stone. I like when technology allows the use of natural materials in new ways, as in thinner layers, or unusual applications.

DI: When do you feel the most creative?

PR : When I am under pressure, and I can share ideas with my team. I like brainstorming, revising other projects, looking for inspiration in other fields (nature, art, gastronomy, etc)

DI: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?

PR : It depends on the scale of the project, the budget, and the client needs. But I try to keep the “big picture” always in mind. Not to get lost in the details. These are important, and we keep track of all details until the end. But my role is to never lose the general goal of the project.

DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?

PR : When I get started I feel a little anxious…” will I be able to fulfill my client expectations? Will I give the best possible solution?”…I can even get a little paralyzed with my perfectionism tendency. But at this point, I have learned to let this thoughts pass, and get to work. Once I am immerged in the process, I start to feel enthusiastic, and to enjoy the potential of the ideas.

DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?

PR : I often feel surprised that we were able to make it after all the obstacles we usually face. I am proud, and grateful to the people that helped me to make it possible. After a while, I disconnect emotionally from the project, and let it have his own life…almost like a baby: it starts to be independent form his parents.

DI: What makes a design successful?

PR : A design is successful when it meets the client requirements, and improves in some way the user’s life and experience.

DI: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?

PR : First it needs to make sense: for its purpose, for its environment. Then I get a sense of its beauty, harmony, how it makes me feel.

DI: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?

PR : Designers have a big impact on both society and environment. Our responsibility is to be conscious of this impact, and to be as sustainable as possible. Design has also the potential to be pedagogic, to transmit ideas and values. We should definitely use it to improve our lives.

DI: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?

PR : Design is evolving to connect and even manipulate people´s emotions. Unfortunately, the goal is often to generate a desire to buy, to consume. Design is not considering enough to fight against planned obsolescence…I cannot read the future, but my wish is a world where design connects us to each other and to our environment in a more conscious and responsible way.

DI: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?

PR : It comes from observation. The source can be almost anything: nature, art, other designs, a conversation. Always from outside the office!

DI: How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?

PR : I like to think that I don’t design under a particular style, although I am sure my projects have similarities at some level. But I am more interested on strategy, and solving more than one issue with each design solution. I like optimization in my approach to design.

DI: Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?

PR : In my city, Madrid, Spain, outdoor life is very important, as well as social and family gathering.

DI: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?

PR : In the selection of a designer, there needs to be a clear briefing of what the company is looking for, and the program of the project. Portfolio, references, and a personal interview with the designer are necessary, in order to look for a good match. Success of a project is not only based on design talent, but also on other professional skills as team coordination, budget control, construction experience, etc. After selecting a designer that seems to fit these requirements, trust is important.

DI: Can you talk a little about your design process?

PR : When starting a design, I like to analyze carefully all the requirements and challenges that we need to solve, and start thinking about general strategies. Sometimes these are not even buildable, but rather conceptual, social, economic or functional. I look for inspiration in the fields that can be related: in NuBel for example, in art (we were working in a modern art museum), in gastronomy (it is a restaurant), in mathematics (we needed a system that could work at all scales, and repeat itself). Slowly all this steps start to find an order, to translate into drawings, plans, sketches. At fist very general, and then more specific. Once I have a general layout, or volumetric idea, I look for related images that can express my intuitions, in order to explain them to mi clients. In this way we start moving forward, developing these ideas with more detail.

DI: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?

PR : I would say first the kitchen…all parties end up in the kitchen! Cooking tools, although I am not a very good cook! But the whole ritual of preparing a meal, to gather with friends and family is very attractive. Light fixtures, that are beautiful objects, but also create beautiful moments around their glow.

DI: Can you describe a day in your life?

PR : A week day: Wake up early, take my kid to school, come to the office, meat with my team to have an update, go to a job site, answer calls/emails, have lunch at home (I work/live in the same building), order groceries online (being a working mum needs multitasking), come back to the office to work on a project or meet with a client, go back home to help with homework, have dinner, read a little bit (sometimes too tired), 15 minutes of meditation, and The End.

DI: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?

PR : Patience. We are getting used to immediate gratification on everything. But it takes time to get experience, to build up a portfolio. To learn from others, share experiences, and keep curiosity alive.

DI: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?

PR : It is positive to see your work build and used, to get feedback from the people you designed for. Not so positive is the enormous amount of energy that is often wasted, when being ambitious and not reaching an outstanding result because of unpredictable obstacles.

DI: What is your "golden rule" in design?

PR : I don’t think I have one, but I feel that good design seem obvious, natural, as if there was no effort behind it, as if it was meant to be like that.

DI: What skills are most important for a designer?

PR : Personal features as empathy, sensitivity, intuition, curiosity, creativity. And skills as graphic ability, spatial vision.

DI: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?

PR : Not too well, since I feel that I never have enough time! We finish when we are out of time basically.

DI: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?

PR : It totally depends on the object, and the inspiration.

DI: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?

PR : How much will it cost?

DI: What was your most important job experience?

PR : My working experience in NYC at the beginning of my career. It gave me a open minded vision of my profession, and very good working habits.

DI: What are your future plans? What is next for you?

PR : I am trying to sell the furniture collection designed for NuBel. It is a new business and challenge.

DI: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?

PR : I lead the design process in my office, but we develop it as a team.

DI: How can people contact you?

PR : Email, phone, etc. All info is in my webpage www.more-co.com