nacho carbonell and his bush of iron at design miami/ basel

nacho carbonell and his bush of iron at design miami/ basel image by tatiana uzlova

during this year’s milan design week, spanish designer nacho carbonell presented ‘diversity‘ at palazzo ferre, in which he took twenty iterations of the same form – a slender-legged chair attached to a narrow, covered desk – and created distinct finishes for each with the resulting pieces, suggestive of a demographically diverse neighbourhood.

‘bush of iron’ image by tatiana uzlova

as a follow-up and concluding piece to the ‘diversity’ series, at design miami /basel, galleria rossana orlandi presented carbonell’s ‘bush of iron’. as the last and most laborious piece of the ‘diversity’ collection to produce, ‘bush of iron’ resembles a natural creature, crafted from raw iron, drawing on the beginning of the industrial era. it is reinforced with an all iron structure with thousands of wire spines appearing as if they are extruding from the desk-like frame. with this production, carbonell wanted to keep the cold and serene attributes of the metal and provide it with a weight – almost close to a ton – and a volume large enough so that it created an overwhelming atmosphere in its surroundings.

image by tatiana uzlova

within the ‘bush’ there is a small opening in which the user can rest, think, isolate himself from the rest… continuously protected by the metal extrusions reaching meters into the air.

‘the innards of the ‘bush of iron’ provide one person with a private space, protected from any interruptions. the outside is another story: like a porcupine, its spines are not there to make you cuddle comfortably around it.’ – nacho carbonell

up close of the wire spines image by tatiana uzlova

‘bush of iron’ at design miami / basel 2010 image by tatiana uzlova

small desk-like opening image by tatiana uzlova

sitting space image by tatiana uzlova

nacho carbonell with ‘bush of iron’ at design miami / basel 2010 image by tatiana uzlova

image by tatiana uzlova

small scale models of the ‘diversity’ collection image by tatiana uzlova

alongside the ‘bush of iron’ were 18 small scale models of the diversity pieces in the collection, giving visitors an opportunity to see the whole collection, even if at a reduced scale.

small scale models of the ‘diversity’ collection image by tatiana uzlova