Room 1. Huarte and H Muebles 

Basterretxea got his start in industrial design thanks to Juan Huarte, a building contractor and patron of the artistic avant-garde. Before founding his modern furniture company H Muebles in 1958, Huarte commissioned Oteiza and Basterretxea to decorate his flat, located in a building he had constructed in 1956 for his family and as the Madrid headquarters of his companies. It was the birthplace of Diván H, one of the pieces that Basterretxea would revise all throughout his career as a designer, and other works involving artistic experimentation, such as a sideboard and a headboard. Both arose out of his interest in geometry, which he applied during his brief participation in Equipo 57. 

All of his production for H Muebles, made during the company’s early years, had a markedly rationalist and high-tech international style. However, the artist's unique formal features are noticeable, such as the movement of the axes and how he pushes balance to the limit, always under utilitarian parameters. 

Room 2. Irun house and Espiral furniture shop  

Starting in 1955, while residing in Madrid, Néstor Basterretxea and Jorge Oteiza began to dream of moving to the Basque Country. Once they decided to return, they purchased a plot of land in Irun, located near the French border along the River Bidasoa. Basterretxea and Oteiza contacted architect Luis Vallet in the province of Gipuzkoa, and between the three of them, they designed and built this home and studio, completed in 1958. 

In 1961, along with two partners, Basterretxea founded a business called Espiral, a modern furniture shop in San Sebastián, where he continued to work as a designer. In this room, we can see how Basterretxea’s more organic facet gained strength, to the detriment of the industrial, constructive lines that defined his work for H Muebles. His interest in interior design is also reflected in his meticulous photographic compositions, where his work as a stylist and designer can be observed. With his innovative, Japonisme-inspired gaze and influences from the latest Nordic design, Basterretxea became a pioneer on the Spanish scene. This sole collection by Espiral was created in just two years and assembled in the factory of one of his partners in Bera (Navarra). 

Room 3. Launch of Biok and its first collections 

The recently created furniture manufacturer Biok was the company that produced, from 1962, Néstor Basterretxea’s furniture designs. In 1964, Biok already had an official collection of six new designs. By the following year, it was extensively producing more than 30 different pieces of furniture designed by Basterretxea. In the 1970s, it became a large company that represented the best of design in its day at Spanish and international trade fairs.  

As the company's artistic director, Basterretxea oversaw and designed all its production. He was also responsible for its image and advertising, as reflected in many of the publications and brochures that Biok published throughout the decade. In this room, we can see a change of course, now aimed at competing with Italian design, which was the king of the design world in those years. 

Room 4. Consolidation of Biok and Basterretxea’s final stage as a furniture designer 

From 1967 onward, Biok consolidated its industrial expansion. It was a time when designers were focused on versatility, modularity, and easy assembly, all in the interest of saving money and improving the sales offer. However, it became increasingly difficult for Basterretxea to juggle that growth with his artistic pursuits, and the divergences appeared precisely when the artist was already a point of reference in other fields. Whether working as a filmmaker, sculptor, painter, designer, decorator, photographer, or publicist, there was no discipline where he did not masterfully deploy his boundless imagination.  

The last furniture designs by Basterretxea coincided with the dawn of a new decade, the 1970s. Perhaps for this reason, he still made a final effort, resulting in a collection of models in which he would take a new stylistic turn. It was a testament to his ability to anticipate the future. 

Room 5. Volumetrics and architecture 

Néstor Basterretxea's first forays into architecture were influenced by the Modernist movement, and especially by Le Corbusier.Ander Basterretxea, his younger brother, had graduated from university with a degree in architecture and urban planning in 1958. Upon his return from South America in 1960, he moved into the basement of the house and studio in Irun, thus beginning a fruitful relationship between the two: Néstor as a designer, and Ander as an architect.  

In that period, Basterretxea's stylistic evolution turned towards organicism and sculptural and utopian expressionism. Leaving his phase as an industrial designer behind him, he began to focus on what he called ‘architectural volumetrics’, a field reconciling architecture with his freedom as an artist. He understood that architecture, beyond its practice as a profession, required a sculptural and visual arts approach, addressing volumes with an integrated and holistic relationship between the arts.  

Néstor Basterretxea. Diseinua eta arkitektura = Diseño y arquitectura

Author/s: Peio Aguirre, Pedro Feduchi, Pedro Reula, Rocío Robles Tardío, Gilermo Zuaznabar

Measures: 17 x 24 cm (ancho por alto). Rústica con solapas

N°. of pages: 272

N°. of illustrations: 255, color and black and white

Language: Basque and Spanish (bilingual)

IBAN: 978-84-18171-17-8

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