06/22/2010

Uno Design, hit the ground running

Uno Design is something of a designer baby. Its parent company Celda wanted a new child, so went all out to ensure the resulting offspring was perfect. Who better to oversee its birth and upbringing than Javier Mariscal, one of Spain’s great designers. Who better to make up its component parts than the country’s most creative independent design practices such as Emiliana Design Studio, Lagranja and El último Grito. With a genetic blueprint like this, Uno baby was bound to thrive.

For a furniture brand that is just three years old, Uno Design has certainly made its mark. It has a distinct and inimitable personality, and its new launches are anticipated by designers and modern furniture aficionados keen to be surprised by what it does next.

Benches that resemble beetles, high backed chairs with collars, a chair that resembles lips, Uno Design’s furniture and lighting has a spirit of fun and playfulness. However, pieces not frivolous or gimmicky and herein lies Mariscal’s skill as art director. He ensures products do not pander to fads and trends, but will prove to be timeless. The collection so far is obviously not huge, and each product is different. However, they are not disparate individuals, rather they sing from the same hymn sheet about freshness innovation, character and quality.

Victor Celda, export manager, explains that Valencia-based furniture manufacturer Celda – which was founded in the 1950s – decided in 2007 that it would like to reach a new audience. It wanted a modern design-led brand that made use of new simplified manufacturing processes and high-tech materials that had come on stream. The products it offered should ‘establish an emotional relationship with the user’. To ensure the project had consistency, it asked Mariscal, who also runs Estudio Mariscal, to be artistic director, a role he threw himself into wholeheartedly.

The Uno Design range encompasses what it calls more basic designs that would suit any style of interior, and character products, which are more daring, spectacular even. These are aimed at contract interiors that need statement pieces. Celda says the company is interested, too, in providing furniture that helps people interact and work in a different way. For example, why not conduct meetings from the comfort of sofas and armchairs, instead of having people perch on hard chairs around a boardroom table? Times are changing. So must the workplace.

COOKIE NOTICE

Uno Design, hit the ground running

Diary

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