SPANISH DESIGN AT UNITED NATIONS

Figueras and Nani Marquina under Barceló's dome

Ginebra (Switzerland)
02 March 2009

Company: Figueras Internacional

Product/Designer: Bonamusa seatings-Figueras/Rugs-Nanimarquina

As you enter Room XX in the United Nations building in Geneva, the UN’s most modern negotiating chamber, it’s impossible not to raise your eyes and find yourself immersed in the colourful artwork soaring above you, which its creator, the artist Miquel Barceló, describes as looking like ‘a choppy sea’.

Under this space’s spectacular dome can be found 758 chairs and technical tables which house the most up-to-date equipment in communications technologies. These have been specially designed and created for this project by Spanish company Figueras International Seating.

The project’s team of engineers and technical experts, led by the architect Daniel Starrenberger and the designer Antoni Esteva, have been personally involved in the design of this highly bespoke equipment. It was necessary to develop a custom-made design which would be both minimalist in style and very comfortable – and what’s more be state-of-the-art on the technological front. The design also had to be adaptable to the various uses the room will be put to. An important consideration was that the equipment should also be easily moveable.

The chair chosen for this room was the Bonamusa model, which comes with a natural leather covering in a neutral pastel colour in order to make the extraordinary dome stand out all the more (if that’s possible – after all, it’s incredibly striking and colourful as it is!). The chairs were custom-made for this space in terms of their covering and were also tailor-made to stand in the room’s concave floor. What is particularly remarkable about Bonamusa are the fact that it’s a minimalist design yet very comfortable and easy to stack, too. Its back and seat, which form a continuous line, have a sinuous, very attractive silhouette. The chair was made using a mono carcass and is upholstered in natural leather. The structure which has arms and legs, again made out of a single, continuous material, is made of chromed steel.

As for the design of the technical tables, this is completely original and conforms to the strictest standards in terms both of healthy and safety and environmentally friendly criteria. It also successfully contains all the latest audiovisual equipment needed for a context like this.

In the words of Mr Figueras, president of Figueras International Seating, ‘We, as a Spanish company, feel very proud and privileged to have had the opportunity of supplying furniture for this room. The same goes with our work for the press room of the White House in the States, and the Foreign Affairs building in the Kremlin, Moscow, as well as the University of the Vatican. The same also applies to the work we have done for the press room for the Spanish government’s Moncloa building in Madrid and for the European Parliament.’

Moreover, the room’s walls are now covered with rugs by Nanimarquina –80 different, unique pieces created especially for the project. These are hand-knitted in 100 per cent New Zealand wool.

These relate to the work of Miguel Barceló in that the texture of the rugs emulates the drops which hang like stalactites from the dome in the artist’s piece. As Nani Marquina herself explains, the use of rugs on the walls ‘brings greater warmth to the room and makes it more cosy. The rugs are very high quality and help the acoustics’ sound insulation and create a sense of comfort and softness. The rugs aim to amplify the effect created by Barceló’s work. Without the rugs, the walls would have looked cold and the curved effect of the dome would have been spoilt.