
The Barcode Collection
The Barcode Collection is a range of modular urban furniture designed by MVRDV for Barcelona-based street furniture manufacturer Escofet. The collection features variations on three basic building blocks – known as the Tribune, the Dune, and the Desk – which are designed to fit together into continuous landscapes, creating anything from long bespoke “barcodes” of furniture elements placed back-to-back or small “islands” that add an intimate space within a larger urban environment.
- Location
- Barcelona, Spain
- Status
- Realised
- Year
- 2026–2026
- Programmes
- Public space
- Themes
- Public
Tasked with creating a new product collection for Escofet, MVRDV began their design process by thinking on the scale of an urban space. Rather than a simple product such as a standalone bench that could be plugged into a plaza or streetscape design, they began to imagine how more archetypical shapes could be utilized to playfully reimagine the urban landscape – envisioning a space that would invite people to interact and creatively occupy their cities in a way that suits their needs.
The result of this investigation was a set of three primary elements, each adapted into various versions. The Tribune is a set of broad steps, inviting people to climb, sit, and observe the space around them; the Dune offers a smooth slope, perfect for reclining; and the Desk includes a bench and table for people to eat, work, or simply chat with others.
All three elements are designed to the same width and height, allowing them to be placed back-to-back to form a continuous surface – a “barcode” – that can expand in infinite variations to reimagine an urban space. Elements can also be placed side-by-side to create double-width barcodes or wider, combined in two-by-two islands, or any creative configuration that an urban designer can imagine.
Further expanding the possibilities are the different variations of each element: tree planters can be incorporated into the Tribune and Dune, the placement of the slope on the Dune can vary to enable side-by-side placement, and the Desk is made up of separate parts, with the bench and table available separately. Combining these variants with Escofet’s eight different colours of concrete – black, grey and eco-grey, white, beige, red, green, and yellow – yields a total of 72 different choices of element.
“Too often, the design of urban spaces can feel formulaic – benches and other elements are selected from a catalogue and placed in the most predictable places”, explains MVRDV founding partner Jacob van Rijs. “This collection is built around a different approach: human occupation becomes the centrepiece of any design, with a creative collaboration between the individual elements, the arrangement made by an urban designer, and the unexpected ways that the public will occupy them. With the Barcode Collection, the public space becomes the living room of the city.”
Gallery
Render
Render © MVRDV
Render © Escofet
Render © Escofet
Render © Escofet
Render © Escofet
Concept © MVRDV
Concept © MVRDV
Concept © MVRDV
Concept © MVRDV
Concept © MVRDV
Concept © MVRDV
Concept © MVRDV
Concept © MVRDV
Materiality & colour © MVRDV
Materiality & colour © MVRDV
Materiality & colour © MVRDV
Materiality & colour © MVRDV
Materiality & colour © MVRDV
Materiality & colour © MVRDV
Materiality & colour © MVRDV
Model © MVRDV
Model © MVRDV
Model © MVRDV
Model © MVRDV
Model © MVRDV
Model © MVRDV




























Credits
- Designer
- Founding partner in charge
- Model-making
- Client & manufacturer
