Carles Riart

CARLES RIART (Barcelona, 1944), for ABR.
“País” side table. Contemporary piece, 1999.
Solid beech wood and “País” marble.
Legs with height-adjustable feet.
Condition: very good. Vintage item with no functional defects, though it may exhibit slight cosmetic signs of wear.
Measurements: 38 x 52 x 52 cm.

The “País” table clearly reflects Carles Riart’s sensibility toward furniture understood as a constructed object—intimate and deliberately essential. Its design eschews spectacle to focus on precision in detail: the square cross-section of the legs, the simplicity of the stretcher frame, and the solidity of the stone-like tabletop come together to create a quiet, stable, and functional piece. The height-adjustable feet reinforce this focus on the object’s actual use—a hallmark of Riart, whose work bridges the gap between the artisanal tradition of furniture-making and the modernity of contemporary design.

Carles Riart is a leading figure in Spanish design. Trained at the EINA School, he has developed a career closely tied to the construction of furniture, to the point of defining himself more as a “furniture maker” than as a designer. He was the first designer published by Santa & Cole in 1985 and received the National Design Award in 2011. His professional archive, comprising more than 600 drawings and 250 dossiers, is part of the Museu del Disseny in Barcelona.