Aquário, BD’s new sideboard

Among the new products BD Barcelona Design has unveiled this year is the new Aquário sideboard, designed by the Campana Brothers.

As Fernando Campana, one of the co-founders of this Brazilian studio explains, ‘We’ve been in touch with Ramón Úbeda, BD Barcelona Design’s art director, for the past two years now. We discussed ideas that matured over time, and the result is this sideboard made of wood — ash or stained pine — and coloured glass, inspired by fish tanks.’ Humberto, Fernando’s brother and studio co-founder, comments ‘We love creating hybrid products using two different materials — one that’s cold and one that’s warm. This has become part of our design language. We also wanted to play with contrasting different weights — the light look of glass on the one hand and solid wood on the other, the former ethereal, the latter physical.’ The shelves in the sideboard are also made of glass to allow the glass elements to be transparent and let light pass through. The sideboard is available in two colourways.’

This year, BD Barcelona Design has also launched other pieces, such as the Couture armchair, created by young design duo Fredrik Färg and Emma Marga Blanche. Its standout feature is its plywood and birch backrest made by sewing together the wood pieces with polyamide threads. Then there’s the King Kong mirror, by Jaime Hayón, a piece which fits very well with the rest of this renowned Spanish designer’s Showtime collection, created in 2006.

BD Barcelona Design was founded in 1972. Since then, it’s become one of Spain’s most internationally prestigious furniture manufacturers. Its products include pieces by such high-profile contemporary creatives as Alfredo Häberli, Jaime Hayón, Konstantin Grcic, Ross Lovegrove and Doshi Levien, as well as more historical figures like Antoni Gaudí and artists of the stature of Salvador Dalí.