Ascale took part in the Marbella Design & Art fair held in this Malaga city from November 2nd to 12th. The brand presented its stand titled “Catharsis,” which was designed by the Italian architect and interior designer Simona Garufi. This project aims to explore the possibilities of interaction between architecture and the viewer.

Catharsis finds its greatest inspiration in post-dramatic theater. A concept where the fusion between actors and spectators causes a thawing of space; a space that comes alive through a sonic and visual experience filled with color through lighting. In this space presented by Ascale, large pieces in polished finish shone, especially in white and black tones, such as the Lasa or Marquina Black models. Attendees saw how each design clad walls, floors, and objects, creating a visual impact without the need for other decorative elements to intervene in the space.

A stand that is custom-designed in every detail and challenges conventionality. Ascale proposes an experience that originates and expands from a central block, and where the use of spy glass in the doors allows the interior experience to become a spectacle for the external audience.

The brand seeks to transcend the conventions of design and architecture, inviting visitors to reflect on the relationship between space, matter, and experience. This approach, far from exalting, focuses on innovation and the exploration of new frontiers in contemporary design.

In short, Catharsis aims to break the fourth wall: “we are an audience that receives and acts, and we are actors who observe and give life to the stage.” Architecture thus loses its connotations of the real and transforms into the realm of illusions.

Simona Garufi
Simona Garufi Studio is a multidisciplinary architecture, interior design, and graphic design studio founded in 2010 in Madrid by the Italian architect Simona Garufi. It specializes in ephemeral architecture projects, artistic installations, interior design, retail, turnkey design, product design, and brand identity.

Conceptual work is the foundation of every project born in the studio. Under the motto “the most exciting things always happen on the back roads,” the studio’s projects follow the logic of peripheral experiments in a continuous play on the edge between art and architecture, the subtle line where the concept becomes space. A spatial proposal with a strong identity in constant listening, intimately connected with the place that welcomes each project and with the people who inhabit it.