When will the designer Philippe Starck's striking organic olive oil experience open in Ronda?

The mill and interpretation building on the outskirts of the mountain town features references to bullfighting and Picasso

Vanessa Melgar

Ronda

Friday, 27 September 2024, 17:41

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The organic olive oil mill and interpretation building designed by Philippe Starck in Ronda, considered the first of its kind in the world, will be officially opened on 18 October in the presence of the French designer and the director of LA Almazara, Santiago Muguiro. This will complete the project promoted by the olive oil company LA Organic and its co-investors.

The project included the setting up of an olive grove farm, located about two kilometres from Ronda next to the A-367 road between the mountain town and Cuevas del Becerro, a visitor trail that runs between the olive groves, mainly dotted with works by Starck and then the mill itself, all of which will allow visitors to learn about how extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is produced and the culture surrounding it, as well as some elements that hark back to the history of the area. Accommodation is also provided, among other facilities and services.

The "bull", as Starck calls the mill building, takes the form of a kind of cube, an avant-garde building, with the horn of the animal, the eye of Picasso and an olive on its façade. Inside, on three floors, it contains a museum space, a restaurant with closed and open-air terraces and all the machinery for EVOO production, among other things.

The private investment has exceeded 20 million euros over the two phases. The first foundation stone for the mill was laid in October 2021 and the build has been carried out by Ormetec Obras y Servicios S.L., which belongs to the Caorza Group from Ronda. The work has generated 160 direct jobs and 825 indirect jobs and the start-up will involve around 50 direct jobs and over 250 indirect jobs.

This olive oil mill is based on the Marqués de Riscal winery, designed by Frank O. Gehry (of Bilbao's Guggenheim museum fame), but this takes the project from the world of wine to that of oil.

This is what the visit will be like

The visit to the mill will begin on the first floor of the building, where there is an exhibition area that tells the history of olive oil, its importance and its links with the land thereabouts, with panels and videos and a display of various pieces related to the industry. There are also references to Ronda's culture and a large-format painting of Pedro Romero painted by Goya. The bullfighting references continue with a large rapier on one of the walls of the cube and a large tube, shaped like a bull's horn, which ends in a hopper on the first floor through which visitors can see how the olives arrive for processing. Down in the basement, all set up with see-through panels, is where the machinery for making the "liquid gold" will operate.

Also on display is a large-format, AI-generated portrait of Abbás Ibn Firnás, a scientist from Ronda who flew with a device he built himself some 600 years before Leonardo Da Vinci. He is considered the father of aviation. Thanks to the collaboration of Antonio Acedo del Olmo, who supported this work, the contraption with which this wise man flew for ten minutes has been recreated.

On the first floor there is the olive oil mill, which has another bull's horn on the ceiling and a large canvas by Starck's daughter, with a farmer, birds, Ronda's Puente Nuevo (the 'new bridge' spanning the famous gorge) and the bullring, among others. Also there is the restaurant, a shop, a multi-purpose room and a large cantilevered terrace with views of the landscape that is held up by old anchor chains from ships. In the centre of this floor is the aforementioned hopper. There are two chimneys and the smoke will exit through Picasso's eye, leaving its mark, something Starck wanted to capture.

This olive oil mill is the Frenchman's third creative design in Spain, following his creations in Puerto Adriano in Mallorca and La Alhóndiga (Azkuna Zentroa in Basque) in Bilbao. It should also be noted that in the 1980s Starck renovated French President Mitterrand's house in the Elysée Palace in Paris and is known for his participation in architectural projects such as decorating the interior of the Caffé Manin in Tokyo, the interior of the Royalton Hotel in New York, the construction of the Groningen museum, and for iconic works such as the Juicy Salif fruit juicer and the Louis Ghost chair.

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