ricardo paramo celebrates furniture design in CAB reading room in spain

ricardo paramo celebrates furniture design in CAB reading room in spain
(above) the installation uses 55 chairs, 12 tables and 15 meters of bookshelves
all images © ricardo páramo

commissioned as part of a broad redevelopment of some of the CAB’s exhibition spaces in burgos, spain, the library’s reading room is a new space, bringing new opportunities for the museum to interact with its public. as conceived by local designer ricardo páramo, the new reading room is a celebration of the breadth and diversity of furniture design; and the multifariousness of the collection of pieces used, plays with the current trend of eclecticism in interior design. the use of a high-technology polymer coating to unify all the components takes the concept one step further than traditional re-use and upcycling, and the end effect is, ultimately, a playful poke at the elevation of specific pieces into a pantheon of ‘iconic’ design.

the CAB’s reading room celebrates the history, breadth and diversity of furniture design

originating from a haunting childhood memory of an exploded fire extinguisher covering everything in a parking garage in a uniform colour and detail-obliterating texture, páramo uses the coating here to efface specificities and reduce each piece down to its basic form. the many components are unified and subordinated to the overall plan so that the positioning of the pieces barely matters. within the schema, chairs by IKEA sit alongside those by thonet, driade and vitra, alongside artisanal pieces, and creators whose names are lost to history. the end effect is to iconify all the pieces, the high-end and the mass produced, the classic and the modern, the elegant and the kitsch, equally. all being elevated to the same pedestal, resulting in a celebration of furniture design, itself.

chairs from high-end to mass produced, classic to modern, the elegant to kitsch, all next to each other 

the material used to coat the chairs is a special form of polyurea, which unifies the space and the concept through colour, giving them a unique surface appearance and blurred shapes. already extremely resistant – abrasion-proof, heat-proof, long-lasting and easy to clean – this version of the material has been specially tweaked for páramo’s purpose: to create a soft, flexible, rubber surface which can be applied to any furniture material, be it metal, wood, plastic, or fabric; and can stay on, despite continuous use, indoors and outdoors. the colour, a shocking pink (RAL 4006) reminiscent of bubble gum, is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the rubbery material, while also being strong, and singular.

the multifariousness of the pieces refers to the current trend for eclecticism in contemporary interior design

being located in a contemporary art museum has opened up the space’s scope for design and modes of interaction with visitors beyond its nominal function as a library reading room. this installation wouldn’t work in a more traditional library, but here, the design allows the room to expand beyond its function and to engage with the context of the location itself. product designer páramo, brought a knowledge of materials and processes to this project, in the process of creating a singular experience space that feels more like installation art than interior design, while adding a cheeky act of respect and intelligent interventionist vandalism.

the high-technology polymer coating obliterates detail, blurs shapes and unifies all the pieces

the concept incorporates re-use, repurposing and reformatting of the existing chairs

the material used, a specially tweaked version of polyurea, is extremely resistant 

the polyurea is coloured a shocking pink (RAL 4006)

the original chairs before application of the polyurea coating

application of the polyurea coating

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: juliana neira | designboom