London-based graphic designer Astrid Stavro has always worked with an inquisitive approach, looking for the unexpected. So when she visited Mallorca-based cement and terrazzo producer Huguet and discovered its processes, wheels were spinning. She rallied seven former Pentagram colleagues (where Stavro had been a partner until 2021) to create a collection of tiles and objects using the company’s expertise. The pieces were created under the guidance of Biel Huguet, who now runs his family company, founded in 1933, whose ethos is rooted in Mediterranean culture and craft.
Planters composition by Jon Marshall
Making its debut during London Design Festival 2022, the project bridges the digital and physical realms, with participating creatives working across different media, from graphic, information, industrial and sound design. Focusing on materiality and craft, the project offers a fresh look at the process of design.
‘By incorporating technical and aesthetic improvements over the years, Huguet’s work has achieved the perfect balance of craftsmanship, sustainability, quality and innovation, managing to shift and grow with the times,’ says Stavro.
Tiles by Giorgia Lupi, representing a data visualisation of Chopin's 24 Preludes
The project includes tiles, objects and furniture by Stavro, as well as New York and London Pentagram partners Jody Hudson-Powell, Sascha Lobe, Giorgia Lupi, Jon Marshall, Luke Powell, Yuri Suzuki and Matt Willey. The group explore Huguet’s material possibilities, experimenting with glow-in-the-dark terrazzo (Hudson-Powell), dried flowers (Stavro), three-dimensional objects (Suzuki and Marshall) and furniture (such as the table and writing desk by Willey). Each designer seamlessly incorporated their creative focus into the piece – a fitting example being Italian data visualisation designer Giorgia Lupi, who created tiles to represent Chopin's 24 Preludes, which he composed while living in Mallorca in 1939.
‘Putting together contemporaneity with tradition, global with local, and international designers with Mediterranean artisans has always been essential for us, and this collaboration is one of the best ways we could have done it,’ concludes Biel Huguet. ‘We have shared views to blend cultures, to foster diversity and, in the end, to contribute (with a lot of humility), to make the world a little bit richer, a little bit more human, a little bit better.’
Alphabet tiles by Sascha Lobe
Glow in the dark tiles by Jody Hudson-Powell
Table with tiled top by Matt Willey
Writing Desk by Matt Willey
Composition of objects by Yuri Suzuki
Tiles featuring dried flowers by Astrid Stavro
Tile making process at Huguet
Tiles by Luke Powell
INFORMATION
The collection will be on view as part of Brompton Design District at London Design Festival, from 19 to 25 September 2022
pentagram.com
huguetmallorca.com
ADDRESS
4 Cromwell Place
London SW7 2JE
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