Outbuilding of the Week: A Tiny Glass Studio in Barcelona - Gardenista
High in the hills above Barcelona, floral designer Manuela Sosa works in a tiny glass greenhouse, with the sky for a ceiling and expansive views of the city below. Serendipitously, she arrived in Barcelona on the day Manuela planned to host a dinner party for friends and colleagues. Photography by Mimi Giboin for Gardenista except where noted. It turns out that a tiny glass work studio can be easily transformed into an open-air dining room–emphasis on open–with a few stylish and simple accessories. Photograph by Silva Conde via Freunde von Freunden. When Mimi arrived, Manuela was preparing for a “Welcome Summer” dinner party. Manuela is a former furniture designer who went to florists’ school in Uruguay, where she grew up. In Barcelona, Manuela decided to start working with flowers and plants, but she kept the name of her furniture design business–Gang and the Wool–for her new venture. To reach Manuela’s place, you take a train ride from Barcelona followed by a bus ride on a small winding road with the most beautiful views of Barcelona’s hills and houses. Manuela’s view is outrageous. Manuela grew up with greenhouses, since they’re common in Uruguay, and always wanted one. Manuela assembled the greenhouse herself. Manuela’s grandfather was a carpenter, and this carpenter’s work table, bought from a local antique store, reminds her of him every day. This is Manuela’s workplace; you don’t pop by here to pick up a bouquet of flowers. Manuela stockpiles dishes and crockery to use at the frequent events–from dinners to weddings–she holds at the greenhouse. To organize and store her tools, Manuela uses glass jars, wooden fruit crates, and old drawers. Mimi watched Manuela make table arrangements for the dinner, putting moss and sea holly on slabs of tree trunk, then covering them with glass domes. Manuela loves the whole life of a flower: from its young start to the days the petals fall off. Manuela’s next big project will be to landscape the yard the greenhouse overlooks, adding English pathways and lots of flowing water.