Óscar Tusquets

ÓSCAR TUSQUETS I BLANCA (Barcelona, 1941) for Carlos Jani S.A.
Gaulino" armchair. 1st edition, 1987.
Solid stained ash wood and leather upholstered seat.
With first edition mark on the seat base.
Awards: -Industrial Design Award 1989 (Council of Chambers of Catalonia). -Iberdiseño Selection 1990. -Adi-Fad Selection 1990. -Prize for best design at the Maison et Objets exhibition, Paris, 2011.
Measurements: 83 x 54 x 52 cm; 44 cm (seat height).

This armchair is a landmark piece of late 20th century Spanish design, created by architect and designer Oscar Tusquets in 1987 for Carlos Jani S.A. The name of the piece is a tribute to and synthesis of the two great influences that inspired Tusquets: the organic aesthetics and "bony" world of Antoni Gaudí, and the intellectual elegance of Italian designer Carlo Mollino. Tusquets set out to create an armchair that was lower and wider than the original chair, yet retained an exceptional visual lightness.

The armchair is characterized by a slender, almost skeletal silhouette, where every structural element is visible and fulfills an aesthetic function as well as a load-bearing one.

The structure and backrest are made of solid ash. The complexity of its curves and assemblies requires high-precision joinery. The seat, concave and organic in shape, is upholstered in leather, which provides a tactile and visual contrast with the hardwood and reinforces the handcrafted character of the piece. The leather comes in a burgundy color that contrasts with the stained ash.

Despite its appearance as handcrafted furniture, the Gaulino was a pioneering project in its conception as a complete industrial design, pushing the possibilities of bent solid wood to the limit.

The historic "Gaulino" chair was selected for the 1989 Adi-Fad and Industrial Design Award, as well as the 1990 Iberdiseño. Since then it has always figured in the retrospectives of Spanish Design, both in exhibitions and publications, and has become a benchmark of 20th century design. Tusquets himself considered it one of his best works; it was also his first truly industrial project in wood, through which the designer realized what machines could do.