toyo ito: porta fira public seating for sancal

toyo ito: porta fira public seating for sancal image courtesy interiors from spain

leaf-shaped benches, designed by japanese architect toyo ito and produced by spanish furniture firm sancal, grace the hotel lobby of santos porta fira in barcelona, spain. the interiors of the hotel refer to japanese gardens and the benches, which look like petals, are arranged in circles to evoke the form of oriental flowers – creating the impression of large blossoms. designed for public spaces, the benches were unveiled by sancal at the hábitat valencia design fair last week. porta fira towers mural and leaf shaped public seating elements by toyo ito image courtesy interiors from spain

hotel porta fira hotel in barcelona by toyo ito & associates, adjacent to a building by spanish architects b720, also part of the development images courtesy interiors from spain

the extension of the fira de barcelona in montjuïc, barcelona completed in april 2010 intends to be a new gateway to the city. the high-rise hotel in the porta fira development was conceived as a distorted cylinder in which all rooms will have excellent views to the city. the building also contains commercial areas at the ground level and a panoramic restaurant in the top floor. one of the most interesting aspects of the project is the façade made of a system of red metal tubes placed at a certain inclination depending on solar exposure and orientation. at 110 meters-high, the tower is one of the tallest buildings in the city of barcelona.

spanish upholstered furniture firm sancal image © designboom

designboom spotted the leaf shaped benches by during valencia disseny week, on the show floor of habitat valencia fair, from 28th september to 2nd october, 2010. in the ‘espacio red’ in hall 6 the toyo ito public seating elements were featured for the first time by sancal. 40 years in business, sancal has become one of spain’s leading manufacturers of contemporary upholstered furniture. all of sancal’s furniture is made in spain and conforms to strict quality controls. the company is also highly committed to protecting the environment in terms of the materials it uses and its manufacturing methods. sancal developed the collection of toyo ito benches especially for the contract market.