A new café celebrating music, interior design, and coffee culture has opened along Barcelona's Avinguda Diagonal, offering visitors a unique listening experience inspired by Japanese jazz kissa tradition. JAÇ Hifi Café, designed by Spanish designer Isern Serra Studio for clients Ligia and Arnau, welcomed its first customers in July 2025 with a concept that blends Mediterranean hospitality with Japanese listening bar culture.
The café's name carries multiple meanings that reflect its cultural fusion approach. "JAÇ" serves as a nod to jazz music itself, references Japan's historic jazz kissa culture, and translates to "to recline and let go" in Catalan. This multilayered naming reflects the establishment's goal of creating a space where visitors can fully immerse themselves in musical experiences while enjoying quality coffee and baked goods.
The design draws heavily from Japanese jazz kissa, intimate listening bars that emerged in the 1950s and became cultural institutions in Japan. These venues traditionally featured wood-paneled interiors and speaker-focused seating arrangements designed to create an atmosphere of shared listening and quiet attention to music. Designer Isern Serra has reinterpreted this philosophy for a contemporary Mediterranean context, balancing tactile materials with a relaxed sense of hospitality.
Spanning 95 square meters (1,022 square feet), the café unfolds in a carefully planned sequence of zones, each designed to create different relationships between visitors, music, and the urban environment outside. Upon entering, guests encounter a welcoming lounge area featuring a concrete-based sofa with custom cushions. The space is anchored by a sculptural Akari E lamp designed by renowned artist Isamu Noguchi, complemented by walnut tables with lacquered beige tops that establish a soft, inviting atmosphere. A graphic artwork by Chidy Wayne provides visual contrast to the warm, organic elements.
The layout flows naturally toward a monolithic walnut bar that serves as both a functional service counter and a massive speaker cabinet, crafted by local woodworking specialists Fusteria Vidal. This impressive piece integrates multiple functions, housing a baked-goods display, vinyl record shelves, and custom Bloom Island speakers. The design reflects the traditional kissa approach of treating audio equipment as integral architectural elements rather than separate components, making music feel like part of the room's physical presence.
At the center of the main space, a stainless-steel table with subtle brutalist influences occupies a prominent position. Above it hangs an Antoni Arolas Lámina pendant light that casts a diffused glow, softening the table's crisp geometry while enhancing its sculptural qualities. This central element serves as both a functional surface and an artistic focal point that draws the eye and organizes the surrounding space.
Toward the rear of the café, designers created a sweeping walnut installation that curves dramatically across walls and ceiling to form a semi-enclosed listening alcove. Built by Fusteria Vidal and divided by a cylindrical column lined with vinyl records, this intimate space houses stainless-steel Bloom Island speakers and low walnut tables surrounded by custom cushions. A Disco wall lamp designed by 20th-century Barcelona designers Jordi Miralbell and Mariona Reventós adds theatrical lighting that transforms the alcove into what designers describe as an "intimate cocoon of sound."
Additional thoughtful design elements include a window niche that frames street views, connecting the interior experience with the bustling life of Barcelona outside. The exterior façade features iroko wood staining that continues the warm walnut aesthetic of the interior spaces. Four circular indentations on the entrance door subtly allude to speaker cones, giving passersby a hint of the café's unique sonic focus and musical mission before they even step inside.
JAÇ Hifi Café represents a successful fusion of Japanese listening culture with Catalan design sensibilities, creating a new type of hospitality space that prioritizes musical experience alongside traditional café offerings. The venue demonstrates how historic cultural traditions can be reinterpreted for contemporary urban environments while maintaining their essential character and purpose.
