Mariscal remembers what the writer Vázquez Montalbán said, “‘Barcelona is a northern city in a southern country.’ That is how to understand the city. People with a German aspect of organizing things well and a Sevillian aspect of organizing parties well.”
As to the question of whether a design made thirty-something years ago is still valid, Javier Mariscal, winner of the National Design Award in 1999, does not have many doubts. “Cobi is aging well, perfectly, he can be what he wants. I have Chinese Cobis, blacks, punks, tattooed … Cobi can even be a middle-class lady with a necklace. It is as though you asked me about one of my children, who to me are the brightest and best-looking in the world. For me, Cobi too is very bright, very good looking and he is aging well. The love of a father does not let me see the defects of the design.”
Does Mariscal always innovate?
“No idea. Don’t ask me questions like that because I live from not going to the psychiatrist and not reflecting on my work, I try to be correct, to innovate, yes, although some may think I always do the same. It is like with Cobi, I can never speak badly of him; well, I won’t speak badly about Mariscal either because that’s me, although I could also say that I am a disaster. Like everybody, I like other people’s work better. I would like to be taller, better looking, cleverer, but in the end you have to be content with what you have.”
PHOTOS: JAVIER MARISCAL STUDIO