Cateto Club, designed by Alejandro Cateto of Cateto Cateto, emerges as a compact yet conceptually layered interior within Marbella Design and Art 2026. The project revisits the vibrant nightlife culture of the Costa del Sol during the 1960s, translating its atmosphere into a contemporary spatial narrative. Rather than indulging in nostalgia, Alejandro Cateto reframes historical references through a precise architectural language centered on form, light, and material.
Revisiting the Era of “Estilo del Relax”
The project draws inspiration from the 1960s leisure culture of the Costa del Sol, a time when the region became an international social hub. Figures like Frank Sinatra and Brigitte Bardot symbolized an era defined by glamour, openness, and experimentation. Cateto Club does not replicate this past but reinterprets its spirit, creating a dialogue between mid-century club culture and contemporary nightlife environments.
This reinterpretation avoids decorative mimicry. Instead, the design extracts underlying spatial qualities such as fluidity, theatricality, and sensory immersion. The result is a space that feels both familiar and disorienting, as if memory has been filtered through a modern architectural lens.
Cylindrical Geometry as Spatial Language
At the core of the project lies a singular formal strategy: the cylinder. This geometry is deployed across multiple scales, shaping seating voids, bar volumes, stools, and flooring patterns. The repetition of circular forms establishes a cohesive and immersive environment, where architecture becomes the primary ornament.
The cylindrical motif extends into thresholds and entrances, most notably in the three-meter-diameter circular door. This gesture references monumentality in everyday architecture, echoing ideas from Robert Venturi while recalling the expressive facades of historic nightclubs along the Costa del Sol.
Light, Color, and Material Expression
Lighting plays a defining role in shaping the club’s atmosphere. Iconic fixtures such as the Panthella, Nesso, and Gambosa lamps contribute to a layered and dynamic visual field. These elements work in tandem with color and geometry to produce an environment that is both immersive and controlled.
Material choices emphasize texture and tactility. Rough finishes, including gotelé surfaces and whitewashed treatments, are deliberately exposed rather than concealed. This approach references vernacular construction methods while introducing a raw, almost brutalist sensibility into the interior.
Nature, Decay, and Reinterpretation
An installation by Charo Benitez, developed in collaboration with Alejandro Cateto, introduces vegetation as a critical narrative layer. The inclusion of gerberas and sunflowers reflects processes of natural reclamation, referencing abandoned leisure structures along the coast.
This intervention shifts the project beyond aesthetics, engaging with themes of decay, preservation, and reuse. Through this lens, Cateto Club becomes more than a reinterpretation of the past. It acts as a speculative framework for how forgotten architectural typologies might evolve. In doing so, Alejandro Cateto reinforces the studio’s ongoing exploration of space as a dialogue between memory and transformation.
| Project Name | Cateto Club |
|---|---|
| Location | Marbella, Málaga, Spain |
| Client | Marbella Design and Art 2026 |
| Lead Designer | Alejandro Cateto |
| Studio | Cateto Cateto |
| Collaborators | Daniel Espada; Gabriel Bascones de la Cruz |
| Area | 45 m² |
| Completion | 20 March 2026 |
| Photographer | @loveladrillo |
| Builder | Race Construcciones |
| Lighting | Ultramar Studio; Marset; Artemide; Louis Poulsen |
| Interior Landscape | Charo Benitez |
| Sound | Bang & Olufsen |