Born in February, when the midday sun in Valencia feels like a caress, Javier was eventually one of eleven brothers and sisters. They lived in El Parterre park, in the Plaza Alfonso el Magnánimo. In 1957 the river fl ooded and the shops in Valencia had to be redecorated. Valencia was full of neon, formica and plastic, and pastel colours; the doleful style of the years after the Civil War was ditched. Those were the years of Cola-Cao, Coca-Cola, Choleck, the bikini, and Barrachina, the Sistine Chapel of sandwiches and mixed grills. In 1969 Mariscal decided to move to Barcelona. In 1981 he became the father of Julia. In 1988 he created Estudio Mariscal. In 1999 he was awarded the National Design Prize. In 2000 he reached his half-century. In 2002 Alma and Linus were born and there were 45 people at the studio. At other times there were 64, or 24. Now the bougainvillea in the studio spans 26 metres and the studio is working on 64 projects, from a 280-metre sculpture to a 4-page book.