This article was first published in the winter 2016 issue of Harper’s Bazaar Interiors

Since its inception in 1972, BD Barcelona Design has cultivated a practice which specialises in transposing art into furniture, characterised by avant-garde designs, artisanal manufacturing and limited-edition productions. During the second edition of Dubai Design Week, BD Barcelona Design launched the Salvador Dalí and Antoni Gaudí furniture collection at The Odd Piece in Alserkal Avenue – the acclaimed purveyor of mid-century and contemporary furniture founded by Arwa Hafiz.

The General Manager of BD Barcelona Design, Jordi Arnau presented the launch of the Salvador Dalí and Antoni Gaudí furniture collection at The Odd Piece – where he provided an illustrious history of the design firm’s historic collaborations with two of Barcelona’s most influential masters, Salvador Dalí and Antoni Gaudí. “It’s a big value that our company has,” explains Arnau. “This direct collaboration with Salvador Dalí that was started in 1972.” A turning point for BD Barcelona Design occurred when one of the founders, Oscar Tusquets formed a friendship with the legendary artist Salvador Dalí. Subsequently, Tusquets was commissioned by Dalí to design the Mae West room at the artist’s museum in Figueres, Spain. The room was inspired by Dalí’s painting of the Hollywood actress entitled, Mae West’s Face Which May be Used as a Surrealist Apartment. BD Barcelona Design manufactured the infamous lips sofa from polyethene rotational moulding to evoke Dalí’s sensual and surrealist rendition of the actress’s lips. “We produced just a few prototypes,” explains Arnau. “We couldn’t make the 300 hundred sofas that we wanted to make. So we just made five or six, but one of them is the one that is in the Figueres museum.” He adds, “The friendship and the collaboration started, and since then we developed many projects.”

The solid cast brass Leda table displayed with a Carrara marble egg inspired by Dalí’s painting

In the late 1980’s BD Barcelona Design delved further into Dalí’s surrealist world. “We wanted to produce more pieces that we knew he had designed or pieces that we knew he had painted,” says Arnau. The design firm proceeded to manufacture a series of furniture inspired by the artist’s painting Femme à la Téte Rose, which include the Leda armchair and Leda table. “He painted this table and chair perfectly,” explains Arnau. “He did the design but never thought about how to make them real.” A team of artisans were commissioned by the design firm to produce the Leda armchair and the Leda table in solid cast brass. In addition to the Leda series, BD Barcelona Design produced the Bracelli, Muletas and Cajones lamps all of which were designed by Dalí and are currently sold at The Odd Piece.

In addition to the historic collaboration with Dalí, the design firm’s portfolio includes a handcrafted series of furniture reproductions by the acclaimed architect Antoni Gaudí. The furniture was designed by the architect for the interiors of his eminent buildings situated on Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona. “Gaudí was a very integral architect, he designed everything from the floors to the ceilings to the door handles to the furniture,” explains Arnau. “We decided to put them in production again. We thought those pieces could have a commercial life besides the pieces that he made for the houses.” He adds, “So we took all the measurements and we produced them with exactly the same manufacturing processes that were produced in the first pieces.” Of note is the Calvet armchair’s functional alignment, “What’s amazing with Gaudi is the way he calculated the ergonomics on this chair,” says Arnau. “The backrest touches your back, it’s so comfortable and done in solid wood. It’s allot easier to do in fabric, but in solid wood it’s very difficult,” explains Arnau. Among the Gaudí furniture collection which are sold at The Odd Piece, include the varnished solid oak Calvet armchair and the gold leaf Calvet mirror.

From Dali’s surrealist renditions to Gaudí’s functional forms, art and design aficionados can now own an iconic piece of BD Barcelona Design’s historic furniture collection at The Odd Piece. – Nada Bokhowa