- Interior
- Architecture & development
With minimalist aesthetics, haptic materials and Brutalist influences, architect Andreu Taberner designs the most realistic visualisations of unbuilt architecture. His goal: to evoke emotions and make the viewer dream away.
Based in Stockholm, Andreu Taberner creates beautiful visualisations for architects and interior designers around the world. He studied at the Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura de Barcelona (ETSAB) and the Royal Institute of Technology of Stockholm (KTH) and has over ten years of experience in visualisations for different types of projects. With a passion for architecture, photography and visualisation that Taberner has had from an early age, the designer searches for a certain aesthetic that can trigger an emotional reaction. He wants us to dream about buildings that do not yet exist. The visualisations always look very realistic and you'd almost forget that you're not looking at photographs here. The technologies for such renderings have progressed enormously in recent years and Taberner tells us that they are very advanced. This allows him to display materials and textures from the real world in much more detail than a few years ago. But his own experience and observations also lead to hyper-realistic creations. ‘I've been doing this work for years and it makes you an obsessive observer of the world that surrounds you. You look at every surface, wood, stone, marble, plants, how the light effects them, how they change if they are under a morning light or evening, if it’s overcast outside or sunny, humid or dry, you get captivated observing all these nuances and wonder how you could replicate them in your images. In a certain way you become a painter, and you start looking at the world with painter’s eyes.’ As a thorough observer, Taberner finds inspiration for his designs everywhere. ‘It's the result of the places I've been and the images I've seen,’ he says. ‘It is a big atlas of visuals in my head that I hardly find the time to play with. There’s enough inspiration, but it is time that I lack the most.’ 
'There’s enough inspiration, but it is time that I lack'
His images of unbuilt architecture and spaces usually have a sober and minimalist character. They are the result of experimentation and Taberner's search for a certain aesthetic. ‘My creations are the result of concepts I want to explore. They become images when I manage to give them shape along the process.’ The results are minimalist with a Brutalist influence and focus on haptic materials and evoking an emotional response. ‘I believe architecture needs to make us dream a little, make us feel something special. That has to do with atmosphere, how certain spaces, objects and materials together are capable of evoking a feeling or experience that touches us.’ The elegance and minimalism in Taberner's designs are reminiscent of the typical Scandinavian style. ‘It is true that Scandinavia has a long tradition of functional minimalism with a strong focus on haptic materials and simple shapes. As a resident of Stockholm, I sympathise with that Nordic design tradition.’ It's a style that is loved all over the world and that Imagicasa herself is a big fan of. 
For his interior concepts Andreu Taberner uses existing furniture. He tells us about some of his favourite brands and designers which he prefers for this: ‘Jean Prouvé, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand have some designs that always seem to work, no matter the context. Hans Wegner and Poul Kjaerholm chairs, the lamps of Miquel Milà. Lately I've also had a growing interest in Brazilian modern designs by Sergio Rodrigues, Jorge Zaszupin or Ricardo Fasanello.’
Want to know more about this designer and his intriguing interior and architectural concepts? Then be sure to read the full article on Andreu Taberner in our Imagicasa Autumn 2020 issue.
Images courtesy of Andreu Taberner