1960. A snack among the pines. A vermouth in the armchair at home. An aperitif with friends. The only thing missing: how to take it from one place to another. Bar.ow is a trolley-bar conceived to serve this purpose in a very Mediterranean place: Ricardo Bonnet's Gomis house. Surrounded by pine trees and enviably close to the sea, this house in Prat de Llobregat is an indisputable model of Catalan rationalist architecture. This service trolley is intended to become one more part of the iconic furnishings of the house, taking on a special role when someone wants to (as they say to excuse a white wine and some olives in the middle of the morning) kill the appetite.
Located just a few kilometres from El Prat airport, many people are unaware of the jewel hidden in the Mediterranean pine forest. Ricardo Bonnet designed this house for the Gomis-Bertrand family in the late 1950s. The spaces are completely bathed in light from the large windows, accompanied by stained glass mosaics and the iconic volta catalana; it exudes warmth, sophistication, detail and cosiness. The atmosphere of the sixties blends seamlessly with that of the Mediterranean aesthetic. Following this imaginary journey through time, it is not difficult to project the image of the owners of the house offering their guests a snack or an aperitif. They will have a drink on the rocks, accompanied by olives, fuet and bread. If the weather is fine, as it usually is on this side of the sea, they will sit on the porch to enjoy the open air and observe the greenery that surrounds them. In the cold of the mild winters, you will sit down to coffee or tea in the lounge, where you can enjoy a fireplace that blends into the wall. But Casa Gomis is no small thing; in these transitions between spaces, you will need a helper to transport your whims from one side of the vast grounds to the other.
The wheelbarrow is probably the object that best symbolises the action of transporting something with our hands. Its practicality is not debatable: its single wheel allows a wide range of movement, making it easy to turn and rotate. Instability is solved by a simple structure that rests on the ground and provides a solid grip. Last but not least, the fork is large and its shape gives permission to put anything we want on it. Bar.ow (and its name, which means wheelbarrow in English) are a tribute to this object and its excellent functionality.
The scale of the wheel is intended to iconise this element that does its job so well; its rubber profile, moreover, prepares it to adapt to both the interior floor and the natural terrain. There are no limits: from the living room to the garden, from the garden to the kitchen, from the kitchen to the porch.
