Energetic and animated during the 2023 Milan Design Week, the Spanish designer discusses his approach to design and process – with a conversation that jumped around almost as much as he did, swinging in the Vuelta chair!
On function
Jaime Hayon: [Designing furniture] is one of the only things I do that requires a function. I really don’t care that much about function. It has to be good, I’m an artist and I work in the platform of design. But when I do my artwork, I don’t really think about function at all. I mean, I’m not going to make a weird thing that doesn’t make sense but it’s not my first thought.”
On playfulness
You need to have fun with design and think about culture; have fun with history, with life, amuse yourself. I love to work with colour, and really understand what colour can do, what history can do, how folklore can be transformed into something amazingly theatrical and beautifully done – everything that surrounds us can be inspiration.
If you approach it in the right way, then you make this profession into something super interesting. I mean fun like playing with everything that’s all around us.
I think this profession is very boring. I paint and do a lot of other things. I’m not designing that much, I’m actually stopping a lot of production to focus more on special projects, where I create a world or interior space. And also to focus on the artwork I do. So, I do a lot of fairs, gallery shows and fine art stuff. I divide my time between oil and canvases and stretching stuff and then doing sculptures, and public art.
Our studio is a mix of art and design. We’ve got a lot of very interesting collaborations in many different places. Now we’re starting to build a big public sculpture in Korea.
On ideas
I have ideas as I explore the world. I get inspired by a lot of things, it’s part of everyday life for me. The concept is always a feeling, not a physical thing.
I remember when I designed the Vuelta chair. I was in Singapore and I tried to move the chair I was sitting in to turn to someone and it made so much noise. When I looked around everyone was moving their chairs to where they wanted so I had the idea of making a comfy chair for conversations but adding a swivel. It’s perfect, it turns, and doesn’t make any noise.
On longevity
Furniture has to be done right because it will stay around for a long time. The industry has to manage it, you have to think about everything. It’s very technical work. It can be expressive, but it’s technical as well. That’s the challenge.
The Vuelta range by Jaime Hayon for Wittmann is available in Australia through Domo.