Óscar Tusquets, Gaulino Chairs, First Edition

ÓSCAR TUSQUETS I BLANCA (Barcelona, 1941) for Carlos Jané.
Pair of "Gaulino" chairs. First edition, design 1987.
Black lacquered ash with black open pore. Black leather seat.
Measurements: 87 x 55 x 51 cm.

The historic "Gaulino" chair was selected for the Industrial Design Award and the Adi-Fad of 1989, as well as the Iberdiseño of 1990. Since then it has always figured in the retrospectives of Spanish Design, both in exhibitions and in publications, and has become a reference 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.

The name of the piece is a tribute to and a synthesis of the two great influences that inspired Tusquets: the organic aesthetics and the "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 chair is characterized by a slender, almost skeletal silhouette, where each structural element is visible and fulfills an aesthetic function as well as a load-bearing one. The frame 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.