Books
Designs by Carme Pinós
There has been much abuse of the oxymoron serio ludere in describing works where rigor comes with a smile, but what better way to describe the designs of Carme Pinós. Gathered in a Madrid space and simultaneously in a small book, the Barcelona architect’s shelves, furniture, and objects reconcile structural and productive logic with a lyrical lightness that make them both intelligible and graceful.
In 2021 her work was shown at Museo ICO in three sections: eight projects with Enric Miralles serving as a base, eighty of her independent career making up the body, and books from her library crowning the exhibition to stress her intellectual interests. The titles selected by the architect were on a shelf of her design, which was then the only example of a work that now comes to us in similar tripartite form: ‘objects,’ especially shelves; ‘ambientes,’ furniture pieces made for her buildings; and ‘jocs,’ elements made for different occasions.
The ‘objects,’ produced by Pinós herself, use metal sheets cut and folded in a stripping process that links Mies to Prouvé; the ‘ambientes’ present functional tables and benches for some of her works, from the Cube Tower or the CaixaForum to the Massana School or the MPavilion, the latter represented by the stool on the cover; and the ‘jocs’ show Pinós at her most surreal, visual poems that evoke Joan Brossa and reach thrilling heights with the sculptural jug, the sensual saltshaker, or the flower vase for Jaume Vallcorba. Firmitas, utilistas, and venustas gathered as serious games in a vibrant volume.
