Polymath-plumber makes unique furniture & artifacts from waste

Self-taught designer Fernando Abellanas considers the city his playground. One day he drove under a highway overpass in his hometown of Valencia, Spain, and inspired by the concrete columns and overgrown vegetation, he returned later to install a prefabricated microstudio on the underside of the bridge. Using the existing concrete beams of the bridge as roof and walls, he built a two-part “urban cabin” that only takes shape when he cranks one part - a horizontal elevator- to connect with the furniture portion which hangs anchored to the opposing wall. Abellanas designed, built and installed the structure single-handedly, and nearly everything in his life he has crafted himself. He rebuilt his home on his own, including the roof, floors, plumbing, and nearly all the furniture. A self-taught plumber by trade, he didn’t have a formal design education so he used his home as a showroom for his work. Today, he sells his furniture under the label Lebrel and continues to work as a plumber to ensure fund