Innovative installation at upcoming edition of Hábitat sure to be astonishing, with huge area dedicated to contract sector and eight ‘suites’ designed by top interior designers such as Pascua Ortega and Pepe Cosín.
Valencia, 5th June 2025.- ‘Hotel Hábitat 2025’ now has a creator. And a famous one at that. Tomás Alía, one of the professionals without whom it would be impossible to understand the development of design and interior design in Spain over the last few decades, has been commissioned to bring his particular creative universe to the leading fair for ‘Made in Spain’ interiors. He will be doing so in the form of a design for what has become Feria Hábitat València’s star installation, the ‘Hotel Hábitat’, which this year will be a sustainable, 800 square metre+ temporary space where Tomás Alía will give form to his take on popular valencian architecture.
The ‘Barracas’ project will see the light of day from 29th September to 2nd October in Hall 3 on Level 3 at Feria Valencia, taking up the baton from Héctor Ruiz-Velázquez’s successful installation at the last edition of Hábitat. This year, Tomás Alía’s design promises to be equally stunning, with a clear, inspiring message sdet to combine tradition and modernity.
Alía will be returning to the roots of traditional Valencian “barracas” architecture. The “barracas” were built along the edge of the Albufera lake and, as Tomás Alía’s Estudio Caramba explains, they were “the main inspiration” for the project because they are a clear example of “vernacular architecture, a traditional style that uses local materials and adapts to the climate and culture of each region. They are built in the artisan way, without any intervention from professionals, reflecting the community’s identity and needs”.
The “barracas”, in this sense, “are traditional Comunitat Valenciana homes, found particularly in farming and marshland areas. Simple constructions,they are nonetheless highly adapted to the environment, designed to make the most of the natural resources and provide good thermal insulation”.
Tradition, craftsmanship and cutting edge contract edge
Tomás Alía wanted to translate this cultural and ethnographic heritage into a design for a hotel that would be built using sustainable materials, for reasons of efficiency, and that would combine aesthetics that display clear references to nature with furniture, lighting, coverings and fittings solutions that have been successful in the contract sector, sourced from the exhibitors taking part in this next edition of Feria Hábitat València.
The structure of ‘Hotel Hábitat 2025’ will comprise a large central lobby dominated by a spacious marquee made from materials native to the area, which will feature ‘outdoor’ furniture and accessories. A ‘Lobby Bar’ and relaxation area will be located to the left, with the ‘Auditorium’ next to it. The ‘Auditorium’ is Feria Hábitat València’s lecture zone and is where some of the technical sessions, which will focus on design, architecture, interior design and contract projects, will take place.
Eight ‘suites’ designed by top interior designers
On the opposite side and to the right of the main entrance through the ‘Lobby’, there will be eight separate spaces that will be transformed into eight luxury hotel suites that will carry the unique stamp of eight of Spain’s current leading interior design firms.
Tomás Alía himelf is one of the major figures who will be designing the whole of one of the suites. Other leading names will be joining him, such as Pascua Ortega, one of the great maestros of Spanish interior design, whose projects are timeless, serene and elegant and go beyond traditional, classic structures.
It has also been confirmed that another of the fathers of Spanish interior design will be joining the project: Valencian Pepe Cosín. An example to many generations, he is dean of the Colegio de Diseñadores de Interior de la Comunitat Valenciana (Comunitat Valenciana Guild of Interior Designers) and has incorporated the major cutting edge European designs into numerous projects.
Another of the suites is being designed by Luis Calabuig,of Odosdesign. From starting out as a promising newbie, his passion for Mediterranean materials and aesthetics has led to him become a firmly established figure in Spain’s current design landscape.
Other confirmed contributors to the project include Alicante-based HC Estudio de Arquitectura, one of the region’s leading firms of architects, which undertakes hospitality, hotel and residential projects, amongst others.
Tomás Alía’s team at Estudio Caramba is still working on selecting the remaining two designers to complete the group of eight professionals who will leave their mark on each of the eight suites planned for Hotel Hábitat 2025’s ground-breaking ‘Barracas’ project.
About Tomás Alía
Tomás García Alía is a designer and promoter of Spanish artisan crafts, a central figure in the field of Spanish interior architecture and design in recent decades and has achieved international acclaim. Born in 1964 in Lagartera (Toledo), he grew up in an environment where artisan crafts were a constant presence, which enabled him to learn, in his words, “to appreciate things that are unusual, beautiful, different”.
He studied interior design at the Escuela de Artes Decorativas de Madrid (Madrid School of Decorative Arts). In 1999, he designed the interior for the Larios Café, which merited him the Premio Nacional de Arquitectura de Interiores (National Interior Architecture Prize). He has undertaken large-scale projects that have taken him into the international market: he designed the Doha stadium, which hosted the football World Cup in 2022 and, also in Qatar, decorated ex-Emir Hamad bin Jalifa Al Thani’s palace. In 2019, he was a member of the jury in the ‘Renovation Masters’ televison show.
The other major part of his work is as a promoter and publicist for Spanish craftsmanship such as Talavera de la Reina ceramics. He is aso the representative in Spain of the Michelangelo Foundation for the promotion of artisan crafts in Europe. The Foundation’s work also strengthens connections with the world of design by staging events to promote the excellence of craftsmanship. Alía is also one of the founders of the Asociación Contemporánea de Artes y Oficios (Contemporary Association of Arts and Trades), a body that organises congresses and exhibitions about Spanish design and artisan crafts with the aim of safegurding the future survival of craftsmanship and artisan products in Spain and fostering a dialogue between society, artisan crafts and design.
In 2022, he was awarded the Gold Medal for Fine Arts. The prestigious prize granted by the Ministry of Culture highlights the designer’s work in defending and promoting the cultural, artistic, and historical dimension of our artisanal heritage.
