Cinquanta-u

This project stems from a luminaire that the architect Germán Rodríguez Arias gave to an Ibizan couple as a wedding gift, with whom he maintained a friendship during his stay on the island from the 1960s until the mid-1980s. The couple’s son, a friend and neighbour from Palma, provided me with the context regarding the origin and symbolic value of this piece. This object was the starting point for research focused on the figure of Rodríguez Arias and his work in furniture design, especially during his exile in Chile. While reviewing the architect’s documentary archive deposited at the AHCOAC, the drawing of an unpublished chair was located, of which no photograph or production record is preserved. The document consists of a dimensioned sketch, with no technical indications regarding materials or construction solutions.  

The project combines historical research with a practical component focused on the reconstruction and development of a functional prototype of this chair. The process has required the interpretation of the original design, its technical adaptation to current resources, and collaboration with various professionals in the field. The result is a proposal that highlights a previously unknown piece and contributes to reclaiming Rodríguez Arias’s legacy within the context of Catalan rationalism and Republican exile.