La Fàbrica occupies a converted factory in Poblenou — the district east of the Eixample where Barcelona's industrial history is most intact and most visible. The raw stone and plaster walls have not been cleaned up: the pipes are exposed, the Edison bulbs hang from the original iron fittings, the floor is poured concrete worn smooth. The communal table is pine, long enough for six people who do not know each other to work in parallel, which is what the space produces — a working atmosphere, not a social one. The coffee is specialty-grade; the magazine and book selection on the rack near the window is worth looking at before ordering. Poblenou operates on a slower schedule than the Eixample: the morning here starts later and the afternoon extends further. The factory windows face onto the street; the light in the afternoon is the particular quality of an industrial building that was not designed for natural light but has it anyway through the long red-framed apertures.
Poblenou, Barcelona, Spain