From Traditional to Contemporary: Basque Furniture from Ohi Design Project

Updating Basque furniture heritage towards a more contemporary approach. This is the main goal of Ohi Design Project’s pilot project, a collection created by designers Silvia Ceñal and Naia Querejeta, which aims to bring this new way of approaching traditional design to the general public and professionals working in the world of design.

Both designers expressed that their intention with this new initiative, comprised of an 11-piece collection focused on the home and based on the products and pieces of yesteryear, is to reflect on “updating” and the “needs and uses” that traditional objects can cover in society.

Naia Querejeta and Silvia Ceñal also expressed that another reason behind this project is “to strengthen and encourage different creative groups’ attachment to culture and heritage.” With this intention, the participation of the general public, creators and students was taken into account in the process of creating the pieces.

An example of this is the EGUZKI tray, inspired by the iconography used in the old “Kutxas” (wooden boxes carved in bas-relief with traditional motifs), designed by the Muka Design Lab team during the 2nd Basque Design Project conference. Other pieces were also developed during this creative conference, such as the LOLO Modular Plant Pot, by Estudio Primo & team and manufactured by Posidonia.

Other examples of the collection are the reinterpretation of the design for Vajilla Bat dishware, designed by Pedro Galdón and based on the form of traditional ceramic glazes and enamels, and the Argizaiola lamp, inspired by the object of the same name that was used in Gipuzkoa and the north of Navarre to make offerings to ancestors in religious ceremonies. The latter was designed by Silvia Ceñal and manufactured by the carpenter Yurrita and Vascoplast.

All this through the implementation of new manufacturing methods, digital craftsmanship, sustainability, and the recovery of objects, techniques and trades that have disappeared or are about to disappear, among other challenges.

Some of the collaborators who helped to develop the project (in addition to the designers and companies mentioned) above were Basque Ceramic Design, Comme des Machines, Muebles Lufe and Industrias Urduri among others.