This project was born as a serendipity. In 2018, a friend of Astrid Romero Veigaa career journalist, proposed to him to make a market with the clothes that his father’s wife had left in the family home, after moving after his death. It was going to be a “clothes market among friends”, but when I went to see the house, there were furniturehousehold items, decoration... So he proposed to the heiress of the trousseau to put everything he had up for sale. at home. He had already moved out and didn’t need everything that was left. “The market was a success and had a lot of impact among friends and acquaintances. “Everyone said the same thing: I wish we had done this with my parents’ house, my grandparents’ house, my aunt’s house!” says Astrid herself. From there and together with their partner, María José López Vázquez, a restaurateur, they formed a team with which they accompany families in the cumbersome task of emptying a house: they “decorate” it with all the objects in it and organize sales open to the public.
© Antonio Miranda and Susana Santiago Aparici
© Antonio Miranda and Susana Santiago Aparici“We like to think that, through the open doors and the staging that we do, we return the houses to their essence and we honor the past of each family”, they explain. “We sell absolutely everything inside, from the screwdriver to the 19th century chest of drawers. The properties are usually in Madrid and surrounding areas: Toledo, Segovia… We also have houses in Alicante and we hope to reach more cities.” And what is the most valuable thing you have found in a house? “A French Aubusson tapestry from the 16th century. 18th century, porcelain from the 18th century. XVII and s. XVIII… But the value goes beyond what economic. The true value lies in giving a second life to hundreds of objects that, otherwise, would end up in a storage room or, in the worst case, in the Clean Spot,” explains Astrid. And the most curious object? “An albuminometer, which is an instrument used to measure the amount of albumin in the urine. Sometimes dentures. Also many specific cutlery to serve asparagus, tomatoes, cucumbers, cakes… The Victorian era is an inexhaustible source of curious cutlery and utensils. On a couple of occasions, also the ashes of the deceased.” Surprises that life gives.
“We have come across a French Aubusson tapestry from the 16th century. 18th century, porcelain from the 18th century. XVII and s. XVIII. But the value is in giving things a second life”
© Antonio Miranda and Susana Santiago Aparici
© Antonio Miranda and Susana Santiago Aparici
© Antonio Miranda and Susana Santiago ApariciData of interest
- Why do its owners decide to sell all their objects? It could be for many reasons: most of them move to smaller houses and we can’t fit all their things. Sometimes they change cities or countries and take the essentials or only what they are most attached to. In the case of the inheritancesit is very difficult to take on a complete house when you have yours already set up and the owners keep the old things. greater sentimental value.
- What are the houses that are empty like? The majority are large, family-oriented houses with history and large dimensions. Architecture of Order does not reform; puts all objects on sale organizing a market in your own home.
- How to go to a sale? To know when and where the next Architecture of Order sales will be, it is necessary to subscribe to the newsletter his web (arquitecturadelorden.com) or follow them on their Instagram account (@arquitecturadelorden) where they publish the date, address and time of the next markets.
