The furniture publisher was founded in 1972, at that time, under the name of Fundación de Bocaccio Design and, a year later, changed to BD Ediciones de Diseño. Created by the renowned Pep Bonet, Cristian Cirici, Lluis Clotet, Mireia Riera and Òscar Tusquets, all of them are still its owners and were also the patrons of the Estudi Per architecture studio.
The cult of form and beauty has permeated its design philosophy from its beginnings - more than the function of the objects themselves. With this, BD Barcelona Design has managed to develop a line in which design and art meet in a unique and eloquent way. An atypical vision of design; dreamed, evocative and unusual in the industry. As a publisher of furniture and objects designed by prestigious designers, the company has found in its enthusiasm and know-how a successful development that has allowed it to be placed in a prominent position within the international design scene.
To understand the history and transcendence of BD, we coin some milestones brought to the scene by its current director, Jordi Arnau: "In 1989 and 1990, BD won the National Design Award and the Award for the Best European Design Company. A few years later, the company launched into publishing furniture designed by Salvador Dalí." A true milestone, achieved thanks to a team of experts, who, led by Oscar Tusquets, made real the furniture that Dalí had drawn for Jean-Michel Frank. Among others, the Leda chair and low table, extracted from the famous painting "Femme à la tête rose" (1935). The renowned sculptor Joaquim Camps was in charge of materializing them and BD Barcelona Design took charge of their exclusive worldwide production and commercialization.
"Currently the company is managed by Jordi Arnau and the artistic direction is in charge of Ramón Úbeda"In general terms, Jordi Arnau explains that "what we look for in a piece to be able to edit it is that it has character and that it transmits something. This can be achieved by its shape, by the materials with which it is manufactured, by its finishes... although it is usually a mixture of the three ingredients." And he continues explaining that "the pieces that are included within the art line allow us to have even more formal freedom, since the series are very small and go to audiences that are looking for very sophisticated and unique products." For the art line, these are limited series of 8 or 20 units, while for the design line the runs are longer, depending on the product.
Venturing into other classics of the publisher, Jordi Arnau offers us other essential pieces to learn not only the history of BD but also the history of Spanish design and the very history of design. The Shiva vase, which has been in production since 1973 and has become one of the firm's hallmarks in the world. With a fascinating history, it was designed by Ettore Sottsass Jr. (founder of the Memphis design group) on a trip to Barcelona to meet a beautiful Catalan woman he had fallen in love with.
The Sevilla table, designed by Pep Bonet in 1976; the Hypóstila shelving unit, designed in 1979 by Lluís Clotet and Óscar Tusquets. And, by the same authors, the Buzones 3, 4 y 5 (Mailboxes 3, 4 and 5), classics of Spanish design; or the Catalano bench (1974). And the list could go on with the famous Olvidada (Forgotten) lamp designed by Pepe Cortés in 1976, but put aside in a drawer until BD recovered it and rightly began to produce it in 1984. A little further on, the Showtime collection launched in 2006 by Jaime Hayón or the Table B by Konstantin Grcic in 2009. All of them, pieces that bear the stamp of prestigious authors and Top designs for clients looking for unique, iconic, daring and singular objects.
BD is a pioneering company that has contributed undeniable talent to the sector and continues to build the history of design in a highly creative way. In this regard, Arnau expresses: "We have brought to design the freedom to edit objects that excite, with an artistic criterion outside of fashions and trends, and which has been admired and recognized by designers, architects and clients all over the world."
After having changed its name in 2007, consolidating itself as BD Barcelona Design and with the opening of its showroom in the Poblenou neighborhood of Barcelona in 2011, the firm looks towards the future, experiencing the next challenges and opportunities. The new designs are enriched with the insight, knowledge and magic of designers such as Stephen Burks, Färg & Blanche or the Mexican Joel Escalona, all of them with proposals that have generated much discussion in the latest editions of the Salone del Mobile in Milan.
For what is to come, Arnau states: "Consolidate the brand BD Art Editions within the main art galleries in the world and achieve greater implementation and development in the four priority export markets." Some recent data explain the future of the company: currently BD Barcelona Design exports 75% of its production to more than 50 countries, among which are mainly the United States, China, South Korea, Italy and Germany. If you are in Barcelona, you can always take a stroll through their showroom, a place to breathe design and history and absorb all the wisdom of an astonishingly atypical firm.
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