“A little pink, a little punk” – this is Blondie Budapest. The interior architecture of this hair salon at Gerlóczy street 5. was done by GASPARBONTA & partners.
Photography by: Jaksa Bálint
Besides powder, lilac, rose gold, and shades of anthracite are also dominant colors, and the variety of surfaces are seen all over the salon (at the reception desk, on the lamps, smaller accessories). The vibrant neon signs on the wall not only reminds us of singer Debbie Harry but the title character of Atomic Blonde -which partially was shot in Budapest by the way – Charlize Theron. She is liquidating the bad guys in the movie like a professional and of course, with impeccable hair and outfit.
We are all over Blondie and we visited Bonta Gáspár to tell us about the circumstances of designing the salon.
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A GASPARBONTA & Partners is responsible for many catering industry interior designs, but this time you came up with a hair salon. What kind of challenges did this project bring along?
This was a very exciting and unknown field for us; we have studied many trends related to this. I often say that the best and most exciting part of the architecture and interior design is that we have to get to know every planned function beforehand: we have o know why is the black sink, black, why is the white, white, or why is there a separate sink for washing and coloring. Hairstyling is a remarkable genre, it is the cornerstone of fashion – it was interesting to see it behind the scenes.
Where did you get your inspiration from? Was the name Blondie a given?
The mastermind behind the project was Barsi Balázs a young hairstylist acknowledged by the international fashion industry. He himself was an inspiration for the shaping of the place – his temperament and his own style was a good direction for our design, and he even presented us, great mood boards, as well. Besides all of this, we had many international tableau vivant: maybe the authoritative was the similar places we have seen in Milan earlier this year. The name Blondie was also Balázs’ idea: a little pink, a little punk, just like this whole place.
Did your customers have specific ideas or you had a free-hand in designing?
This was the first of a kind project of our customer. It is natural that in these cases people want to see things that align with their own taste. We had a free hand, but we still agreed on everything mostly, we had long discussions about processes, surfaces, lights, etc. regarding refining.
You have managed to create a lively, happy space at the Blondie. How hard was it?
The prime track of the shop opens to the street, the inner long part gets its light from the court. It was an exciting challenge to figure out how we can coordinate the colors and materials on different surfaces (walls, built-in pieces of furniture). At last, the winner combination was of rose gold and light mallow – and we adjusted the other elements to this modern color palette.
To create a lively and happy space is part of our job: we wanted to create a space that is functioning and functional, but it is inspiring and vibrant, where the customers like to go to. According to my feeling, it will soon become popular.
The KISKAKAS is at Toldiban again
When the holidays are over
