Habitable sculptures: ONDE and ONSEN at Espai Xavier Corberó

October 5, 2022 | Collections /

Cement, wood and glass generate one of the poetic contrasts that Xavier Corberó created in what is now his most recognized work: the Espai Xavier Corberó house-workshop, a habitable sculpture where light marks the passage of time and modifies the volume of the spaces. Adding to this interplay between indoors and outdoors, ONDE and ONSEN are able to evoke the mimesis between architecture and furniture as well as blurring the boundaries between in and out.

 

The dreamlike house of the brilliant Barcelona-born artist is a labyrinth of 300 arches, courtyards and interconnected rooms that somehow manage to materialize a living and intimate mental structure. Actually, he never stopped working on it, from the late sixties until his death. As Corberó himself recounted, “space comes alive, it has the ability to become a form of communication, that speaks, attracts, surprises…

ONDE and ONSEN collections at Espai Xavier Corberó. © Ángel Segura / Xavier Corberó portrait. © Daniel Schäfer Photography


 

In this atmosphere of atmospheres, different sculptures on a human scale, made in stone by the artist himself, stand as the real inhabitants of the place. Dozens of abstract, anthropomorphic images were sculpted by Corberó in a nearby quarry to then become totems among the vegetation of its courtyards, thus combining the concepts of living environment and exhibition gallery.

 

Paying a humble tribute to this privileged enclave, two of our GANDIABLASCO latest collections slip into the patios of this monumental stone fortress to show us just how welcoming and expressive this imposing open-air space can be.

 

Created by designers Luca Nichetto, Francesco Meda and David Quincoces, they display hybrid indoor-outdoor environments and rely on the richness of textures, raw materials and the playing with light in order to explore a dialogue between architecture and furniture where the natural prevails.

Architecture on a human scale: an endless ONDE sofa in relation to its surroundings

 

The shades of aluminium, which have always been part of our DNA, borrow the elegant warmth of quartz grey for the architectural structure of the ONDE modules, designed by Luca Nichetto. Classic and, at the same time, avant-garde, it offers a uniform and timeless background that accentuates its luminosity when contrasted with the textiles in ecru and stone tones.

ONDE combines the functionality and minimalism of Scandinavian design with the warmth and meticulousness of Italian creativity. The modular sofas in the collection -available with and without arms and in various sizes- are made of welded and thermo-lacquered corrugated aluminium sheet with color options chosen by Nichetto himself and our own chromatic range.

 

Evoking the material that gives shape to the concrete palace that houses this outdoor lounge environment, the Dekton® surface of the ONSEN square coffee tables is stained in the color Kreta. Inspired by traditional cement floors, they bring serenity and restraint in a rich matte texture.

ONSEN: lights and shadows that trace and set the mood of spaces

 

One of the pleasures that Xavier Coberó experienced in his home-studio in Esplugues de Llobregat (Barcelona, Spain) was that of being able to contemplate the playful effects of light across the walls, sculptures and furniture throughout the day. Emulating this need to enjoy the beloved sunlight, with ONSEN we create spaces capable of transferring to the outside the comfort and intimacy characteristic of the interiors, which Corberó built with a universal meaning: “I like things to look like they have always been there,” he said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

The stability and discretion of grey is found, in this initiative, in the upholstery of the seats and backs of the ONSEN lounge chairs, made in Silvertex Plata matte fabric and accented by a sophisticated customizable piping. A fabric of a neutral nature that matches the color of the straps that make up the armrests, backrest and seat. These straps, made of a vinyl material that resembles leather, provide strength, functionality and enigmatic effects of light and shadow. The satin and metallic note is provided by the structure in the tubular stainless-steel sections, which comes in a natural finish.

 

The geometry and purism of the ONSEN pieces, designed by Francesco Meda and David Quincoces, dispense with superfluous ornaments and dialogue with the nakedness of the space, of brutalist aesthetics, enriching the volumetry and the sensation of infinity to which Corberó aspired.

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