Architect
The Blakstad studio has shaped the architecture of Ibiza for more than half a century. Rolph Blakstad arrived from Canada in 1956, having studied art and architecture in Florence, and a journey to Morocco led him into a lifelong study of the Ibizan house, tracing its forms back through North African building traditions. He founded the practice in 1967 and wrote La Casa Eivissenca, still the reference work on the island's vernacular. Today his son Rolf leads the studio from Santa Eulalia, designing and restoring houses that work inside the tradition rather than quoting it, on Ibiza and well beyond it.
In Conversation
What is it about Ibiza that keeps bringing you back, and what does working there repeatedly teach you that a single project never could?
I couldn't think of anywhere I would prefer to live. The island isn't the best of any one thing, but somehow, the sum of all its ingredients make the end result magic.
Blakstad has a deep history on the island. How has living and working there shaped the way you think about architecture?
Architecture should always be at the service of the inhabitant; design must follow function. We strive to work together with our clients to understand their needs and create a timeless canvas that can be imprinted and personalised, changing and growing over time, as we all do.
Ibiza has a reputation for being a place of contrast: glamour and nature, quiet and loud. From the inside, what does the island feel like to you today?
As people, our lives are continually filled with contrast. Ibiza is a cornucopia of sensations that allows us to taste a vast variety of experiences and sensations all within one day; what more could you wish for?
Where do you go to eat when you are working on the island? The place you would send a friend visiting for the first time.
North east along the EI-300 road, you will find a wide variety of family run establishments for any occasion.
Is there a part of Ibiza that you find yourself drawn back to and that has genuinely influenced how you design there?
Anywhere on the island, as it is not any one location but everywhere. It's the light and the way it evolves during the day and the seasons of the year.
There's an ongoing tension in the Balearics between building for people who visit and building for a landscape that existed long before they arrived. How do you navigate that in your practice?
One way or another we are all visitors and are all welcomed by the island. What's important is what each of us does to respect and integrate into the culture and society that we arrive in. It's what we love about the island. I would not want to change it and it would be arrogant and misguided to believe we can make it better.
What is the one thing you notice in a house or location that immediately tells you whether it is suited to slow living?
All houses and locations are suited to slow living, as the state resides inside us.
It is true that a house situated on flat farmland surrounded by nature can help us calm our restlessness and focus on our inner core, but even countryside views or th