Josep Torres Clavé, sillas para Mobles 114

JOSEP TORRES CLAVÉ (Barcelona, 1906 - Els Omellons, Lérida, 1939) for Mobles 114.
Pair of "Torres Clavé" chairs, 1987.
Wood. Seat and back braided esparto grass.
Measurements: 74 x 71 x 74 cm; 37 cm (seat height).

Designed to form part of the furniture for the Spanish Republic Pavilion at the 1937 Paris International Exposition, the Torres Clavé armchair has become a landmark of 20th century international design. Its revolutionary structure has made it part of the permanent collection of the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona since 1994. Inspired by traditional Ibizan forms, it is a chair with a totally functional and unornamented structure, based on uprights and crosspieces of sawn wood. The only ornamental concession of the Torrés Clavé chair are the slightly curved armrests. Both the seat and the backrest are made of braided esparto grass of handcrafted manufacture.

A Spanish architect and designer, Josep Torres began his career with architects José Luis Sert and Antoni Bonet, with whom he founded MIDVA ("Mobles i Decoració per a la Vivenda Actual"). In 1930, after completing his studies, he was one of the founding members of GATEPAC (Grupo de Artistas y Técnicos Españoles para el Progreso de la Arquitectura Contemporánea), the Spanish branch of the International Congress of Modern Architecture, whose aim was to promote the rationalist style in Spanish architecture. Torres developed an important work of diffusion and criticism through the magazine "A.C.. Documentos de Actividad Contemporánea", which made artists such as Le Corbusier and Mues Van der Rohe known. He was also director of the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona during the Civil War. Among his most important works are the Dispensario Antituberculoso del Raval de Barcelona (1936) and the Ciutat de Repòs i Vacances de Castelldefls (1932). His legacy also includes pieces of rationalist furniture, such as his famous armchair with a bulrush back and a floor lamp, pieces designed for his family circle.