Totem by Martín Azúa

 

En jouant avec l’immobilité statique d’un totem, le mouvement oscillant d’un culbuto et la percussion d’un mortier, Martín Azúa a conçu cet objet ‘stabile/mobile’ (mot emprunté à l’œuvre d’Alexander Calder): Tótem.

 

Après avoir travaillé pendant de nombreuses années avec Azúa, Mobles 114 savait que ce designer d’origine basque était la personne idéale pour concevoir cette pièce. Cet auteur renommé a l’étonnante capacité de transformer les matériaux qu’il utilise en objets uniques à travers lesquels les formes et la nature pénètrent les espaces qui les contiennent.

 

Tótem a été commandé dans le but d’être présenté sur l’une des étagères Tria exposées au Salone del Mobile 2019 à Milan. Il s’agit d’une édition limitée, réalisée en noyer américain.

Ce n’est pas la première fois qu’Azúa crée une pièce de ce style. Tout au long de sa carrière, le designer a fait évoluer ce même concept en créant plusieurs versions de mortiers et totems.

Il serait d’ailleurs intéressant d’enquêter davantage sur la passion de l’auteur pour ce type de sculptures, et de comprendre ce retour continu à la création de cette catégorie d’objets.

Durant le processus de création de Totem, Azúa a conçu une collection composée de trois modèles différents qui ont à la fois une fonction décorative et fonctionnelle : ils servent de mortiers pour broyer les plantes, légumes ou graines, entre autres.

Ce n’est pas la première fois qu’Azúa crée une pièce de ce style. Tout au long de sa carrière, le designer a fait évoluer ce même concept en créant plusieurs versions de mortiers et totems.

Il serait d’ailleurs intéressant d’enquêter davantage sur la passion de l’auteur pour ce type de sculptures, et de comprendre ce retour continu à la création de cette catégorie d’objets.

Durant le processus de création de Totem, Azúa a conçu une collection composée de trois modèles différents qui ont à la fois une fonction décorative et fonctionnelle : ils servent de mortiers pour broyer les plantes, légumes ou graines, entre autres.

Les œuvres du designer basque couvrent plusieurs catégories : ses créations ont été dessinées à partir de meubles, d’éclairages ou d’objets qui ont un style clairement identifiable. Une identité qui lui est propre, qui se projette à la fois dans ses produits les plus fonctionnels mais aussi des objets plus abstraits, pleins de poésie, et non sans un sens de l’humour raffiné.

Depuis 2007, son projet « Basic House » fait partie de la collection permanente du MOMA à New York. De plus, il expose certaines de ses œuvres au sein de la collection du Musée du Design de Barcelone et dans différentes expositions publiques et privées.

 

Martín Azúa a été reconnu pour son travail en remportant le « Premio Ciudad de Barcelona 2000 » (Prix de la Ville de Barcelone) le Prix Delta de Plata 2007, le Prix FAD Architecture/Ephimeros 2008, le Prix Design Plus 2009, le Prix Interiorismo Plus 2009, le Prix AD Best Designer of the Year 2010, le Prix Delta de Plata 2011 / ou encore le Prix du meilleur parcours national du magazine Interiores 2015.

 

 

 

Miguel Milá, Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts 2016

The Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts is awarded by the Ministry of Culture of Spain to individuals or institutions excelling in artistic or cultural creation or to those that have provided valuable services to promotion of art and culture or to conservation of artistic heritage. This past year 2016, one of the awarded has been industrial designer Miguel Milá i Sagnier.

« Member of the generation of design pioneers of the 50’s, most of his furniture and lamps have become authentic classics.

He started designing his own products due to the shortage of objects and raw material at the time he finished studying. So he began producing by his own company Tramo, with his associates and friends the architects F. Ribas Barangé and E. Pérez Ullibarri.

He was involved in the first meetings to promote design in Barcelona and profesionalize the materia, ending in the creation of ADI-FAD (Industrial Design Association of The Fostering Arts and Design). Today is a reference of Spanish design. »

His designs are the result of painstaking but seemingly simple work which has led to many of his products being recognised as icons of our country’s industrial design. Mobles 114 is glad to be one of the producers of Milá’s designs. Congratulations Miguel!

Mariscal draws Green

Javier Mariscal artistic works make him one of the most prolific and multidisciplinary authors of these days. Graphic design, interiors, furniture and visual arts have been signed by the artist born in Valencia living in Barcelona, from the 70s.

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Mobles 114 has one of the most recognised and highlighted Mariscal designs: Green chair, an example of sustainability and creativity. Its ECO version is 100% recycled and recyclable (polypropylene from industrial waste), and Colors model is a new, carefully selected range of colours using 100% recyclable materials.

mariscal green

As the designer says, « in spite of its rough appearance it boasts great ergonomics thanks to the polygonal geometry of its seat ». Raised embossing softens the texture by homogenising it, also contrasting with the back of the chair.

mariscal green eco

 

mariscal green colors

And thanks to the rich immagination of Mariscal, we can discover Green is more than a chair. As we can see through the graphic interpretations starring one of the star products of Mobles 114 catalog.

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Thick lines, collages, or directly from the notebook. In good company with famous Garriris, in Barcelona or next to the sea, classic scenarios or contemporary atmospheres with old and new classics. Mariscal draws Green generating a life around.

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Eugeni Quitllet, dreamsigner of emotions

He follows an instinctive process, « I do not know why or how. » It’s that emotion that keeps him alive and encourages him  to share his achievements with everyone. To let this emotion free, he has landed in the industrial design’s world. Each object is a challenge to accomplish what others have called impossible, otherwise, a word that Quitllet never seems to use. He has been described as refreshing designer, tireless seeker and a lover of technology; although he describes himself as a « disoñador » (« dreamsigner », designer and dreamer).

After years in Paris in your own studio designing for the best international brands, what has attracted you to come back to Barcelona?

Barcelona is an ideal place to experience and implement concepts and new solutions. It is a city with unique characteristics in the world to live, think and dream.

How was the meeting and the creative and production process with Mobles114?

A crush! We connected right away. We share design values and we have the same concept of an imaginative industry that has always existed in Barcelona.

Is it right to say that you have been specializing in one type of monoblock design? Researching the possibilities of the same material, shapes and textures, giving it a new life?

I have no boundaries or preferences in design. Each object needs a complete specialization to realize the dimension required.

It seems that  there is an intention to surprise the user, but also the industry…

Yes, it’s like a magic trick when at the end we all say, « oooh! ». What sense would have to invent an object if it’s not new!

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Tube chair is your first design for Mobles 114. What can you tell us about this collection of chairs and tables?

It’s an industrial response to a magic trick. The beauty and comfort are the basic elements we can expect from a good design, but if you don’t achieve a new challenge or if you don’t thrill ding it, then it’s not enough. Something very simple but not obvious that gives full sense to the construction of this chair is actually something invisible. It is very industrial until you look at Tube with « curious sensitivity » and discover something hidden that I invite you to discover!

Tube’s forms are soft, but  without hidden their industrial origin, with lines that encourage us talk about movement, life, humanization of the object, even humor…
It’s a chair that doesn’t want to be pretentious and hides its virtues as a part of the intention of the project, simple on the outside, clever on the inside: an animated object!

You say design has to reach another dimension because we’ve covered all the bases. What’s this dimension? And what role does the designer have in this new paradigm?

It’s emotional! something not everyone sees but feels. Besides the function, design must serve to inspire and always questioning ourselves in a positive sense. The designer plays a friend’s role; he should give life and soul to the matter.

What’ your favourite space in your studio or  in your home? And with which object you cannot imagine an ordinary day?

My window to see the world, my desk from where I daydream and a chair to think about all…

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Tube, a new look by Eugeni Quitllet

The design store MODA, in the center of Paris, and the Intramuros space, at Maison & Objet fair, were the two chosen places/spots where we presented Tube: a new collection of chairs designed by Eugeni Quitllet for Mobles 114.

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It was a double celebration: on Thursday 3th, MODA was celebrating its 10th anniversary with a special exhibition at the store, and the guests (professionals, architects, designers, journalists, influencers) were found a complete installation of Tube in the front of the store. On Saturday 5th, took place the official presentation of Tube, presented by Eugeni Quitllet with his usual passion and international knowledge, who captivated all: both the fans like the aesceptics.

The curious look of this tireless « dreamsigner » and a speech that reflects their own experiences, without frills or baroquisms, again amazed everyone.

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Since its launch, Tube has collected good reviews and congratulations from influencers all around the world, and national and international journalists have recognized its originality, functionality and commercial possibilities. As Anatxu Zabalbeascoa, one of the most respected Spanish journalists in the field of design, says: « (Tube) is a fearless seat. Iconic and daily chair, which has served to both (Mobles114) key producer of Catalan design -as the Torres Clavé chair for the Republic pavilion in 1937-  and  the designer -conscious but no slave of technology- step forward. Together. Both in the search of a chair which, apart from good-looking, is a comfortable seat even in the most unfavourable conditions”. (El País, 9th September 2015).