Pérez Aciego and José Antonio Quesada for BD

JAIME PÉREZ ACIEGO DE MENDOZA and JOSÉ ANTONIO QUESADA HIDALGO DE CAVIEDES for BD Barcelona Design.
Set of six dining chairs, ca. 1980.
Mahogany wood with black upholstered seats.
Exhibits wear consistent with age and use, with minor scuffs and wear on the legs and edges.
Measurements: 150 x 45 x 47 cm, each.

The extraordinary vertical design of the backs gives these chairs an almost architectural presence, a far cry from the conventional dining chair. A succession of narrow slats intersect to form diamonds and large V-shaped structures, culminating in two opposing triangular planes that accentuate the silhouette’s graphic character. The small circular holes drilled into the top edge introduce a deliberately geometric detail into a composition dominated by taut, diagonal lines.

The design fits particularly well within the experimental context of BD, a firm that, since its founding in 1972, has distinguished itself by applying architectural concepts to furniture and by producing designs that depart from a strictly functionalist approach to design.

It was precisely during these years that Pérez Aciego and Quesada were engaged in an intense architectural collaboration: the COAM documents joint projects such as the Jardín de Aravaca, the Casa Gayubo, and the Casa de Torre del Campo, completed between the late 1970s and early 1980s. In these chairs, that architectural background is evident in the importance given to the structure, rhythm, and construction of the backrest as the defining element of the piece.