Francisco Spratley: “A space is only finished when someone makes it their own”

From architecture to set design, photography to illustration, Francisco Spratley has built a career defined by the intersection of different disciplines. Today, he develops architecture, art, and design projects through Francisco Spratley Studio.

In this conversation, he reflects on authorship, observation, and the way people give meaning to the spaces they inhabit.

You describe Francisco Spratley Studio as an “ideas laboratory.” What does that definition mean to you?

I want it to be multidisciplinary. I work in architecture, but also on exhibitions and installations, and each area ends up feeding into the others. A laboratory is a place where you can experiment and even make mistakes, without every idea having to become a finished work. What interests me is giving ideas time before deciding what they might become.

Your work spans architecture, set design, photography, and illustration. Where does architecture end and art begin?

To me, that boundary is not very clear. A house has to function, it has a budget and regulations. An installation may have more freedom to pursue an emotion or a reaction, but both work with space and with the people who inhabit and move through it. I do not think they are the same thing, but I do not see them as separate worlds either.

How do photography and illustration influence the way you observe and think about space as an architect?

When I design a place, I have to decide what matters. Photography makes me think about framing and light. They are two ways of training the eye, and that way of seeing stays with me when I begin a project.

If in set design there is a story that precedes the space, what precedes the space in architecture?

People and place come first. In set design, there is often a script. In architecture, there is a desire, a family, a neighbourhood, a climate, a memory of what once existed there. That story is not always clearly written. The designer has to listen to it and interpret it. And, in a way, it continues to be written afterwards, when people enter and begin living in the space.

What place does authorship occupy in architecture?

Authorship exists, but it should not be the main character. If a client moves a piece of furniture or hangs a painting that I would not have chosen, it does not bother me. It may be a sign that the house is alive and being lived in. A space is only finished when someone makes it their own.

Can a temporary installation such as Raigs de Llum change the way people relate to a place?

It can, especially through memory. In the Plaça Major of Olot, we built a structure connected to the lighting poles. For three days, people looked at that place in a different way. When the installation disappears, the square remains, but those who experienced it may continue to see it differently. The project endures in the memory of those who saw it.

What role can architecture play in the way a space is experienced? What changes when designing the TF Apartment and the FIVI House, with different sizes and programmes?

In the TF Apartment, which is over 85 m², the challenge was to transform an old apartment into a contemporary space. In the FIVI House, which is close to 40 m², the client had a fairly extensive programme, and my job was to meet those requirements through ingenuity, making the most of every square metre. They are different situations, but they ultimately lead me to the same idea: when space is limited, architecture can be generous.

After a career defined by the intersection of different disciplines, do you feel that there is now a language you recognise as your own?

I recognise more a way of thinking and working than a formal language. I am interested in working with honest materials, exploring the different effects of light, and respecting the history of each place. In the future, I would like to develop more temporary installations and continue bringing architecture into dialogue with other disciplines. It is at that intersection that I find room to keep experimenting.