Nacho Carbonell

“I like to see objects as living organisms, imagining them coming alive and being able to surprise you with their behaviour. I want to create objects with my hands, then I can give them my personality. I turn them into communicative objects that can arouse one’s sensations and imagination. In short, what I want to create are objects with a fictional or fantasy element, that allow you to escape everyday life.” -Nacho Carbonell

Spanish designer Nacho Carbonell has been an inspiration to me since I first discovered his sculptural and biomorphic furniture designs back in 2007.  While many current examples of contemporary design, in my opinion, exist solely as commodified demonstrations of the most advanced materials and  production technologies (see Zaha Hadid), Nacho Carbonell's work is invested with the soul of the maker.  The imperfection, impracticality and organic nature of Carbonell's designs are unquestionably human, beautiful expressions in an age dominated by synthetic perfection.

Below are examples of Carbonell's furniture dating back to 2008.  While I initially fell in love with designs like the one pictured above or from the first two images below, I am particularly taken today by the Pump It Up collection (2008), pictured last.  The inflatable chair is connected to a series of inflatable pets, who 'come to life' only with human involvement.  As a dog owner, I am perhaps more vulnerable than most to the emotional quality of the dependent relationship that exists between pets and their human providers.  Carbonell captures this special relationship in a chair.  How cool is that....