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External Reference

@externalreference

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We design experiential, sculptural spaces where architecture, art, and technology converge

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Onada Terrace Suites at W Barcelona began as a puzzle. At External Reference, we conceived and designed a single continuous form, without a straight line in the room, built from over 300 custom pieces.

Bringing it to life called for the right partner. @lamaquina_3d 3D-printed the pieces that shape its flowing geometry, while our team hand-textured and CNC-milled the rest, then overlaid digital assembly diagrams onto the site using mixed reality to place each one with precision.

Design by @externalreference
3D printing by @lamaquina_3d taken in W Barcelona by @externalreference

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21 days ago

Winner | SBID Awards 2026

Onada Terrace Suites: Best Hotel Bedroom & Suites Design (Regional Europe).
And the journey continues: onward to the Overall and Global rounds, judged through November.

A project for @wbarcelona , @marriottintl , @marriotthotels . by @externalreference

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a month ago

We kept asking ourselves one question: what would Gaudí do with the tools we have now?

Just took his obsession with the curve seriously, and built it with everything the 21st century gave us.

So we printed the pieces instead of carving them. Then we finished them by hand anyway, because some things still need a human touch to feel warm.

300+ pieces. No blueprint told us exactly where they'd go, we had to see it in mixed reality first.

A hundred years later, we're still trying to finish his sentence.

These are Onada Terrace Suites, at @wbarcelona by @marriottintl / @marriotthotels

A project by: @externalreference
Our team: @sacconi_francesco , @irina_shaklova , Yervant Megurditchian, @anton1o_k , @ionut.patra , @montefoschi.arch.ph , @ipekattaroglu , Martino Degasperi, Daniela de Fonseca, @marensinck , @ilariarampazzo , @elly_2612 & Josep Bastida.
3D Print by: @lamaquina_3d
Ph: Germán Saiz taken in W Barcelona by @externalreference

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2 months ago

Onada Terrace Suites | W Barcelona

A century of Gaudí, translated through mixed reality and 3D print. 300+ bespoke components, including furniture, each one grown from a single curve.

Digital Modernism, built by hand and by machine.

A project designed by @externalreference
3D Print by @lamaquina_3d
Client: @wbarcelona @marriottintl @marriotthotels

Huge shout-out to our team, led by @carmelo.zappulla , who made this possible. taken in W Hotel Barcelona Spain by @externalreference

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3 months ago

Sando | Zürich

Our studio drew inspiration from Tokyo’s street food stalls, translated into black iron, stainless steel and orange neon. 220 m² where the logotype steps off the wall and into the architecture.

Unveiling @sando.burger , located in Zürich and in Bern. taken in Zürich, Switzerland by @externalreference

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4 days ago

@la_manso | The scale model, after its days at @espai_r_barcelona

The modernist rose of l’Eixample, reread as 3D-printed furniture for a Barcelona jewellery store.

Full project at externalreference.com taken in Barcelona, Spain by @externalreference

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5 days ago

La Manso at 1:20 | Printed with the same logic as the real store.

On view at @espai_r_barcelona as part of Aparadors d’Arquitectura, until Saturday 10 October.

📍 Plaça Vicenç Martorell 3, Barcelona

@bcn_arquitectura

#AparadorsdArquitectura #LaManso #ExternalReference #BarcelonaArchitecture taken in Barcelona, Spain by @externalreference

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10 days ago

Onada Terrace Suites | Behind the shoot

Suites conceived without a single straight line. Photographed with the same precision.

CEO & Head of Design: @carmelo.zappulla
Communications: @laboh_net & @vicarabia
ER team on site: @sacconi_francesco , @ipekattaroglu @itzal1523 & @vicarabia
Photography: Germán Saiz
Photography assistant: Martí Yagües
Videography: @queimafilms
BTS videography: @carrionjoan
Styling: Susana Ocaña @susanaocanya taken in Hotel W Barcelona by @externalreference

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11 days ago

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14 days ago

Interiors conceived as one continuous line by External Reference. Over 300 pieces, printed by @lamaquina_3d , then finished by hand and assembled in place by the ER team at Onada Terrace Suites, W Barcelona.

Concept & design by @externalreference
3D printing by @lamaquina_3d by @externalreference

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18 days ago

Quanto può cambiare un gioiello quando a guidarlo è la gravità?

È da questa domanda che siamo partiti.

Un progetto nato dalla collaborazione con @externalreference, designer del pezzo e che ha sviluppato il concept e la progettazione di Gioiello.

Abbiamo esplorato il rapporto tra materia, corpo e movimento, lasciando che la gravità diventasse parte del processo creativo.

Per @salernodesignweek 2026 abbiamo trasformato questa ricerca in una nuova idea di Gioiello.

Oro rosa, titanio e più di 8 carati di diamanti si incontrano in una forma che nasce dalla progettazione, ma prende vita sul corpo.

Perché per noi, progettare un gioiello significa anche mettere in discussione il modo in cui siamo abituati a guardarlo.

L’ opera “Gioiello” parte della mostra POTTERGEIST curata dal collettivo @hoperaperta sarà visitabile fino al 30 Novembre presso la 📍Pinacoteca Provinciale di Salerno. taken in Pinacoteca provinciale di Salerno by @externalreference

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20 days ago

Gold Winner, London Design Awards 2026.

@londondesignawards

Onada Terrace Suites, @wbarcelona , has won Gold in the Interior Design, Luxury category.

Our project reinterprets the Mediterranean home through the lens of Catalan Modernism, with organic wall panels and fluid openings inspired by Gaudí's architectural language. by @externalreference

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24 days ago