In Barcelona, a New Exhibition Showcasing 26 Up-and-Comers on the Collectible Design Scene

The Birth of Vasto and Casa Vasto

Vasto, a Barcelona gallery for emerging design, originally began as an online platform in 2020. But within a couple of years, founder Carmen Riestra had opened the physical space Casa Vasto, creating an immersive environment for up-and-coming artists and designers. Collectible Barcelona, curated by Riestra, showcases pieces from 26 international designers, putting them in dialogue with one another – a conversation that’s both pointed and wide-ranging in its exploration of materials and its conceptual underpinnings.

A Focus on Sustainability

One motivating concern of the exhibition is sustainability. Recycling and repurposing are at the heart of Switzerland’s Office for Ordinary Objects Polyester Lamp S and Mallorca-based Sara Regal’s work. Regal’s The Fast Fashion Slow Process floor and ceiling lamps are made from steel and discarded textiles, transforming disposable clothes into lighting shades resembling both papier-mâché and patchwork. Meanwhile, Tokyo’s Daisuke Yamamoto meticulously re-uses lightweight gauge steel, a common castoff from construction projects, for his Not Chair and Put Chair.

Investigating Industrial Materials

The potential of industrial materials is investigated widely here, including, but not limited to:

A diamond plate aluminum chair by Mark Malecki,
The patterned aluminum Pressure benches and stools,
The steel Tube bench by Dutch designer Tim Teven.
Tactility is a key aspect for Nicolas Zanoni, whose woven aluminum Fuzzy side table is highly textured, providing a notable contrast with the Folio lounger – undulating stainless steel that’s a paradox of grace and strength, tension and ease – by Valencia’s Jordi López Aguiló, founder of Kutarq.

Defamiliarizing the Commonplace

Defamiliarizing the commonplace is a goal for Rotterdam’s Forever Studio, with works like the Mesh platform, stool, and cylinders of perforated resin and the smooth resin Beam light. The same goes for Max Enrich and his blue Puzzle stools, along with Elysia’s Vitrine chair, an angular, clear Plexiglas structure stuffed with foam. Noëmi Orgaer’s Close 2 chair feels almost surreal, pairing steel with rippling fabric. For his They Told Me chair, Duyi Han spent 80 hours hand-embroidering silk, stitching onto it a Pablo Neruda quote, luggage tags, and zip codes, contemplating a sense of dislocation and belonging.

Light Fixtures and Scale

Light fixtures from Barcelona’s Max Milà Serra combine forms of the natural world with engineering precision and mechanics, while playing with scale. Scale also takes precedence in Diego Ramos’s Iceberg chairs and side table, and Milan-based Finepianta’s geometric, stainless steel chairs and table; both designers evoke monoliths, but in different directions, gesturing toward the subtle scope of Vasto’s show.