This year, during the 100% Design London fair that will be held from 24-27 September 2009 in London, ICEX and ddi organices an exhibition showing the work of 9 young spanish designers
“This exhibition gathers the work of 9 young talented Spanish designers and, in many cases, broadly experienced. Which are the common features of their designs? We can mention a few that can be found in most of the pieces: use of traditional materials, environmentally friendly and sustainable; the contrast, even the antagonism one could say, of several materials put together; innovation in the manufacturing processes and, above all, the use of very simple, and yet so graphical, forms. All the selected pieces have a direct relationship with living spaces and more specifically with the world of furniture. Most of the designers have been selected by Injuve (Spanish Institute for Young Talents) in one of their exhibitions about design, established for many years now. The idea of this exhibition came up when two institutions joined with the purpose of disseminating what is new about Spanish design. On one hand, the ddi (State Society for the Development of Design and Innovation), devoted for a long time to the promotion and development of Spanish Design and, on the other, Icex (Spanish Instituion for Trade and Exportation) that aims to boost the expansion of Spanish firms related to furniture and design for living spaces. The world of furniture design took off in Spain some years ago. Small firms, with a new generation of designers, are showing now that a good design is the language: a language which is spreading to be spoken around the world.” Javier Abio (Curator)
Selected Designers and pieces:
APPARATU
Xavier Mañosa (Barcelona, 1981) founded his own design studio in 2005. The studio, named Apparatu, is constantly being defined, has not a rigid decalogue. From 2008 on, Xavier Works together with the German Turkish Studio Masaya Design, that studies the digital field through computer processes and digital production techniques. From the combined work came up “The Super Fax Series”, where a mixture of digital and craft techniques has been tried, thus getting a series of ceramic objects digitally conceived. www.apparatu.com.
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Scotch Club. A lamp made of ceramics that consists of 75 faces and allows the user to balance the direction of the Light. The contrast between the exterior finishing (generated by mixing leftovers of different enamels) and the interior one (obtained from a high luminosity golden enamel) has a great impact. This is a joint work of Xavier Mañosa with Masaya Design (www.mashallahdesign.com) for “The Super Fax Series”.
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Fractal Stool. Stool made of ceramics and wadded, that consists of two parts: the top, with a soft cushion that adapts itself to the bottom, a base of faceted ceramics. Both joined together become a solid stool with an interesting contrast of materials. This is a joint work of Xavier Mañosa with Masaya Design (www.mashallahdesign.com) for “The Super Fax Series”.
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ATTUA APARICIO
Attua Aparicio Torinos (Ávila, 1981), followed courses in Industrial Design, in Madrid and Valencia. She has worked in several studios and firms as a scholar, but also in her own studio. The latter gave helped her win the Injuve Design Prize in 2008, and Valencia Crea in 2006. She has recently been admitted at the Royal Collage of Art, London, where she will follow the Master course in Product Design starting September 2009. www.attua.net.
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Recibidoor. A piece that works both as a door and as a wardrobe, conceived for small flats. The door incorporates a small wardrobe in its rear area, which serves as a keeping space for those objects that are usually left in the hall of a flat. The prototype was created in an Injuve workshop.
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Aparatable. A double function piece of furniture that can be used as a dresser or as a table. The dresser consists of two doors, beech plated, and a folding table, lacquered in bluish green with louvered top. The prototype was created in an Injuve workshop.
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CRISTINA TOLEDO
Cristina Toledo (Alicante, 1978) got her degree in Product Design at Eina School, Barcelona, in 2004. Her Works, shown at national and international fairs like New York or Milan, have had a warm welcome among the public and the specialized press. Her working method, based in the reviewing and creation of new concepts has been awarded by the Spanish Ministry for Work and Social Affaires. www.cristinatoledo.com
Storage System. A wardrobe system that fits in the upper corner of any room, turning it into a keeping space. The idea aims to take advantage of empty, unused spaces that the architectural structure of the room gives us, turning them into functional spaces. This way, the space itself gives way to an object that occupies it, making it different. This prototype was created in an Injuve workshop.
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DIEGO RAMOS
Diego Ramos Carrascosa (Barcelona, 1978) graduated in Industrial Design at the Arts and Design School in Barcelona, in 2001. Later, in 2006, he established in the same city his own studio, named after him Diego Ramos Studio. In 2004 he was given the Injuve scholarship, in 2006 was chosen “Emergent Designer” by the FAD incubator and in 2008 was elected Young Designer by the Injuve. His work has been shown in the CCCB, the FAD Chapel and the Museum of Decorative Arts in Barcelona, as well as the ARCO Fair in Madrid and other countries such as Brazil, Switzerland or Japan. www.diegoramos.es

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Graphite Chair. It is the result of experimenting with several materials and technique: it combines Tyvek, latex, resin and serigraphy ink. The inner structure of the chairs is made from a metallic core mixed up with expandable foam. The outer surface is made of latex and resin treated Tyvek. The finishing was made with black ink and UV varnish.
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20x1 Vase. If we divide a ceramic vase into six pieces, we get six individual items that can be combined. With these combinations we can have as many as 20 different vases.
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GUILLEM FERRAN
Guillem Ferran (Tarragona, 1983) took a degree in Technical Engineering / Industrial Design and became a graduate in Design at the Elisava School of Design. He has worked as a product designer for Novell/Puig Design and Estudi Moliné, and as a furniture designer for Emiliana Design Studio. He also Developed his professional activity in multinational companies such as Decathlon, Grupo Planeta and Benetton’s La Fabrica, in Treviso. He is currently working at several projects in the field of industrial design, interior design and art direction for small and medium sized firms. He also directs workshops for different universities. In 2007 he was awarded the Injuve Design Prize. www.guillemferran.com. |
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Diamond Lamp
Big sized lamp made up from an alabaster block that has been cut into sheets, those joined together to conform a diamond. Alabaster is a material where cut and polish are of the utmost importance. In this example, the diamond shape turns the object into a luxury piece that justifies for its price.
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Naveta
The shape of those modules, once used in sanitary flooring, has been updated to build a state of the art typography linked to the digital world. Produced by Cerámica Ferres. www.ceramicaferres.com.
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Boga Stool
Traditional country chair adapted and turned into a stool with triangle shaped seat which makes production easier and master. This shape makes the object more versatile, easy to pile and carry.
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OBJ STUDIO
Javier Taberner Gómez-Ferrer (Valencia, 1984) and Nacho Poveda Lorenzo (Valencia, 1982) are the components of OBJStudio. They started working together in the E.A.S.D. Design School, in Valencia, and ended up creating OBJStudio in 2007.
In their proposals we find mainly a simple design, practical and elegant at the same time. For them, designing is both a social and an entrepreneurial commitment. They were selected to take part in events such as Mater in Progress, Living Spain, Nude, Saint Etienne’s Biennale and many more. In 2007 they were awarded the Nude Bancaja Prize and scholarship and in 2008 they got the Injuve Design Prize. www.obj.es.

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Bizcoché Lamp
A table lamp made in ceramics and wood where the mix of materials attracts all the attention without breaking the harmony of the shape: rounded curves which confer the lamp its organic appearance. Produced by Alma Light, www.almalight.com.
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Sábado and Domingo Tables
A set of auxiliary tables manufactured with cork and concrete, where the key is the use of materials far from their usual context. Highly resistant materials with different features (like cork and concrete) assume here the main role in contrast with the light, nearly immaterial structure of the table.
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ÓSCAR DÍAZ
Óscar Díaz (León 1975 graduated in Industrial Design in France and worked at Matali Crasset Studio, Paris, for two years. During this period he took part in several projects for Artemide, Danese or Edra, among others. In 2004 he moved to London, where he took a Master Course in Product Design at the Royal College of Art, directed by Ron Arad. Since his graduation in 2006 he has his own studio in London and works for several firms in the field of furniture and products. www.oscar-diaz.net.
RGB Vase
The name of this vase is a reference to the three colours (Red, Green and Blue) that, mixed in different proportion, are used in TV screens to create the rest of the colours. The vase acts as a sort of three-dimensional pixel that, when receiving light and filtering it, generates a kind of non-existent orange colour, resultant from a combination of red, green and blue coloured light.
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Profile Lamp
A lamp consisting of different pieces hold together by a plastic profile, thus simplifying its assembly. The wire is not hidden on the back side, but fitted inside the inner slot of the profile to become the main component of the object.
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TOMÁS ALONSO
Tomás Alonso (Vigo, 1974) has been travelling the world since he was nineteen and building up his career as a designer. He has lived, studied and worked in the USA, Italy and Australia, before he moved to London to follow a master course at the Royal Collage of Art. In 2006 established OKAY Design Studio together with another five colleagues, all of them graduates from RCA. His work has been exhibited in the Design Museum, the Aram Gallery and Whitechapel Gallery, London, to name but a few as well as in other countries like Italy, France, Canada or Japan. His work has recently been included in the permanent collection of the Design Museum, London. www.tomas-alonso.com.
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Chair Nº 7. A chair manufactured according to traditional steam techniques to curve the wood, sporting an anything-but-traditional appearance. Having the legendary Thonet chair as a model and inspiration, Chair no. 7 is a new interpretation of the traditional aesthetics of curved wood and consists of seven sections of bend wood that make up three rings linked to the seat, thus conforming a very stable structure. The three inferior sections of the rings are identical, so reducing the quantity of casts needed. The design won the first prize at Promosedia International Design Competition, Caiazza Memorial Challenge, in 2008.
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Stool 5º. This stool has literally been reduced to the max. The piece is not intended for long-term comfort, but to serve as a seat for a limited amount of time. With this in mind, all expressive and structural alternatives of the object have been studied, reducing the number of materials, components and space used.
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Table 5º
Borrowing from the aesthetics of the 5 degree stool, a temporary seating device reduced to the minimum expression, the 5 degree table is an obvious evolution into a temporary (or not so temporary) trestle table.
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Mr. Light Series. A series of lamps designed to be used with the new tubular spotlights LED T8. Much more efficient and lasting than standard fluorescent bulbs, they allow for a bigger flexibility since this design uses less components and the reflector is redundant. These lamps explore the formal continuity established between the bulb and the object itself through the mix of materials that, together, give birth to a number of unexpected shapes.
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YONOH
Clara del Portillo (Valencia, 1980) and Alex Selma (Faura, 1980), both industrial designers, established in 2006 Yonoh Studio in Valencia, a studio with multidisciplinary approach. Their works feature simplicity and functionality although aesthetics, innovation and originality are never put aside. In 2008, Studio Yonoh was awarded the Creación Injuve Prize by the Ministry for Equal Opportunities. The studio has been present in fairs like Nude and Casadecor (Valencia) and Design Lab (Paris), and they showed their work in the exhibition Spain Emotion, held in Tokio. www.yonoh.es.
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Rem Lamp
Very simple lampshade with the shape of a rounded bell and inner reflector, available in three colours: white, red and black. The first one is completely white, while red and black versions are duo-shaded: white for the inner part of shade and red or black for the outer side, and the reflector. Produced by Almerich www.almerich.com.
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Plof Lamp
Made up from a tube with 30 mm. diameter and curved in a way that conforms a self standing structure. In the end, a transparent methacrylate tube with the same dimension holds a cold cathode bulb. This kind of lamp is environmentally friendly, since it is low-consumption, does not send out heat and its life stretches for as long as ten years of normal use (45.000 hours working). Produced by Ona www.ona.es.
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Clod Chair
A chair made of beech wood and cotton rope 6 mm. thick. This model has been inspired by Japanese craft, and more specifically by the Jormon pottery, a thousand-year old art where rope was used to ornate surfaces. Produced by Noow. www.noow.es.
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| Crédits |
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Curator:
Javier Abio <www.neo2.es>
Exhibition Design:
Luis Eslava < www.luiseslava.com >
Graphic Design & Web:
Ipsum Planet <www.ipsumplanet.com>
.............................................................................
ORGANIZED BY
Spanish Embassy
Economic & Commercial Office.
66 Chiltern Street, 2nd floor, London W1U
4LS United Kingdom. Ph. +44 (0) 2074 672 389
Fax. +44 (0) 2072 246 409 <londres@mcx.es>
ICEX
Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade
P. Castellana 14, Madrid. 28046
Ph. +34 902 349 000 Fax. +34 91 349 06 82
<www.icex.e > <www.interiorsfromspain.com>
ddi
Spanish public corporation for the development of
design and innovation
P. Castellana, 149. Madrid. 28046
Ph. +34 915 721 083 Fax. +34 91 571 15 64
www.ddi.es |
Image credits:
Apparatu
Scotch Club: Apparatu
Fractal Stool: Apparatu
Attua Aparicio
Recibidoor: Attua
Aparatable: Isaac Piñeiro
Cristina Toledo
Storage System: Caterina Barjau
Diego Ramos
Graphite Chair: Caterina Barjau
20x1 Vase: Caterina Barjau
Obj Studio
Sábado y Domingo Tables:
Ignacio Taberner Gómez-Ferrer
Óscar Díaz
RGB Vase: Sylvain Deleu
Tomás Alonso
Mr. Light Series: Luke Hayes
5° Stool: Jäger & Jäger
Yonoh
Rem Lamp: Tato Baeza
Plof Lamp: Josep Alfaro
Clod Chair: Yonoh, estudio creativo |
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