Josep Torres Clavé

JOSEP TORRES CLAVÉ (Barcelona, 1906-Els Omellons, Lleida, 1939) for Mobles 114.
Pair of armchairs with arms.
Reissue of the original model.
Pine wood, seat and back in braided bulrush.
Good general condition. The bulrush shows wear and tear. Both armchairs incorporate a small wooden button added later.
Measurements: 70 × 66 × 77 cm; 37 cm. seat height.

Pair of armchairs with armrests designed by Josep Torres Clavé, published by Mobles 114. The pieces recover one of the most recognizable models of Catalan rationalist furniture, in which constructive simplicity, material honesty and domestic functionality are combined with a notable handcrafted warmth.

The pine wood structure has emphatic lines, with gently curved armrests that provide comfort without altering the sobriety of the whole. The braided bulrush seat and backrest introduce texture and visual lightness, as well as recalling the Mediterranean tradition of popular furniture, reinterpreted with a modern sensibility.

Josep Torres Clavé was an architect and designer, a key figure in Catalan rationalism. He collaborated with Josep Lluís Sert and Antoni Bonet, with whom he founded MIDVA, and in 1930 he was a founding member of GATEPAC. He was an active participant in the magazine A.C. Documentos de Actividad Contemporánea, which promoted the ideas of Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe and other international references. During the Civil War he directed the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona. His furniture, austere and precise, stands out for the search for practical, honest solutions of great formal quality.