LAFRESCA chair is a work in progress project designed by Damian López of Leblume and Granada Barrero, two Andalusian designers deeply interested in the link of craftwork and design, who seek to reactivate the local craftwork and recover some professions on the path to extinction.
The design proposed pretends to give back the social meaning that this bulrush chair had back in the day. LAFRESCA reflects the historical background of this bulrush chair but has adapted to current context and society. Its shape is the 3-dimensional interpretation of the classic bulrush seat which now mutates to extend towards the back and armrest of the chair.
The use of this traditional bulrush chair spread during the 19th century all over Spain. It was usually founded inside every house, at the streets when people came out to enjoy the fresh air of the sunset by the door of their houses, in cinemas, restaurants, fairs, flamenco concerts or even at the church. It was the popular chair par excellence, the social chair. However, nowadays the use of this product has been reduced to folkloric events all over Andalusia and a few places where it still remains over the years.
In the process of investigation into this archetype, we visited craftsmen of half Andalusia, who have shown us the secrets of the trade, traditional manufacturing processes and their peculiarities.
