Casa Vitromex 2026: the house as a stage.
Architecture that transforms the everyday into a collective experience.What happens when a house is no longer a private space and opens its doors to everyone?For Expo Obra Blanca 2026, Faci Leboreiro takes this question as the starting point for imagining a new way of experiencing domestic architecture. Casa Vitromex transforms the exhibition space into an open home, where the boundaries between public and private begin to blur, and materials are no longer displayed as isolated samples but become an integral part of everyday life.
For the second consecutive year, Faci Leboreiro collaborates with Vitromex on the design of its exhibition space at Expo Obra Blanca. This ongoing relationship has created an opportunity to explore different architectural possibilities and develop an identity that evolves with each edition. Rather than repeating a formula, each proposal emerges from a new question: how can design, materials, and people be brought closer together in unexpected ways?
This year, the starting point is as simple as it is evocative: to enter a house and discover materials through the experience of inhabiting it.
A living room, dining room, kitchen, library, bedroom, bathroom, bar, and meeting room unfold across an open floor plan, creating a sequence of spaces that invites visitors to move through, observe, and discover. Each environment offers a different experience, while the façades play with the visitor’s curiosity, revealing glimpses of an interior that can only be fully understood by stepping inside.
The proposal draws inspiration from the clarity and spatial freedom of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s architecture, particularly the Farnsworth House and the Barcelona Pavilion. From these works, it embraces spatial continuity, the lightness of architectural planes, and the possibility of organizing space without relying on rigid boundaries.
These principles take on a new interpretation within the temporary setting of an exhibition. The house opens up, its boundaries dissolve, and what would normally remain hidden becomes a shared experience.
A large canopy suspended 4.80 meters above the ground unifies the entire composition through a single architectural gesture. Covering approximately 392 m², its aluminum truss structure, supported by eight motors, incorporates a secondary steel frame clad in oak-finished MDF.
Its presence feels light, almost weightless, yet behind this apparent simplicity lies a complex technical solution. The structure is designed to visually recede, allowing the architecture, materials, and people to take center stage.
Beneath this canopy, stone, porcelain surfaces, wood, lattice screens, light, and vegetation interact to create atmospheres with distinct identities.
The social spaces open up and connect, encouraging gathering and interaction. The bedroom and bathroom, by contrast, introduce a more intimate and contemplative scale. Each transition reveals how materiality can transform our perception of a place, evoke emotions, and shape the character of the spaces we inhabit.
At the heart of this experience, the library takes on a special role. A 4.80-meter-high shelving installation transforms the traditional display of material samples into a living archive: a place to approach, explore, compare, and exchange ideas. Rather than simply showcasing finishes, it encourages a direct relationship with them, turning material selection into an experience of discovery.
The project is built directly on the exhibition’s existing floor, reinforcing the continuity between the fair and the domestic environments. This gesture removes yet another boundary, allowing visitors to move naturally between both worlds.
Casa Vitromex 2026 does not seek to replicate a conventional home. Instead, it offers a reflection on how we understand and experience domestic spaces, and on architecture’s potential to transform something as familiar as a house into a place for connection, exploration, and discovery.
Because a home is not defined solely by its walls, materials, or objects, but by the experiences that unfold within it.
For three days, Casa Vitromex ceases to be a home for one and becomes a home for everyone.
