The Barcelona-based company Mobles114 has donated its historical archive to the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. The material incorporated by the Dhub consists of commercial catalogs and interior design, furniture, and lighting projects, with plans, sketches, and material samples to understand the work process of the designs edited by the company, as well as photographs of its different headquarters, team members, or its participation in international fairs. It has also ceded about twenty pieces of furniture, lighting, and accessories, which join the other twenty that were already part of the museum's collection.
"The Mobles114 archive helps us complete the narrative of our design history, as it connects with professionals such as America Sanchez (author of its corporate image until 2018) or Carles Riart (from whom Mobles114 has edited several products)," states the Museu del Disseny. It also emphasizes that it is the first archive they incorporate from a design editor, a very characteristic type of company in Catalonia that was key to the consolidation of design.
The company was founded as a furniture store and interior design studio in 1973 by Josep Maria Massana, Josep Maria Tremoleda, and Mariano Ferrer, industrial designers trained at Escola Massana and Eina. It was located at Enric Granados street 114, hence the name. Years later, with the departure of Mariano Ferrer, its conversion to a company for editing furniture, lamps, and accessories began, both self-created and by other national and international authors.
Its catalog includes names such as Miguel Milá, Jorge Pensi, Lluis Pau, Lagranja, Joan Gaspar, Montse Padrós, Martín Azúa, Enzo Mari, or Álvaro Siza. It also has a line for the recovery and re-edition of Catalan design classics, including Josep Torres Clavé, Rafael Marquina, André Ricard, or Josep M. Jujol. In 2001, the company received the National Design Award.
Among the materials donated by the furniture manufacturer to the Design Museum, with a collection of more than 70,000 objects, are the Ona wall coat rack, designed in 1990 by Montse Padrós and Carles Riart, and the Tria shelving units, designed in 1978 by Josep Maria Massana and Josep Maria Tremoleda. Also included are the Torres Clavé armchair (1934) by architect Josep Torres Clavé, conceived for the Spanish Republic Pavilion at the 1937 Paris International Exposition, sharing space with the Guernica; the Nuta stool (1990) by Lluís Pau, and the Copenhaguen ashtray (1966) by André Ricard.