HORTENSIA CHAIR || An Artist’s Journey to Transform a Viral Design Visualization into Reality
Art pushes boundaries of what is possible.
Artist Andrés Reisinger, of Reisinger Studio, had been inspired by the Hydrangea flower (also known as Hortensia); moved by the flower’s colours, textures, and petals, he created a digital visualization of a pale-pink armchair, the Hortensia Chair, which he shared onto his Instagram profile on September 21, 2018 — and received 3 orders for a chair that didn’t yet exist.
Instead of providing a simple response that the photo was only a visualization and there are no plans to produce the design, Reisinger reacted to this demand by setting out to find a team who could transform his vision into an actual product.
Reisinger working with his team
A 6-MONTH PURSUIT
“Due to the complex textile structure and unusual form of the design, it would be impossible to create.”
It’s impossible. This was the verdict handed to Reisinger after his six-month pursuit to find a manufacturing partner to realize his vision for the Hortensia Chair.
Reisinger reacted as a determined artist would, and turned his reactive position into a proactive one — he was going to assemble his own team to realize his vision. In a follow-up post to his initial visualization post, Reisinger announced on March 14, 2019, that the Hortensia Chair would be ‘coming soon’.
A prototype of the design
Reisinger personally put together his own team to realize his digital vision, starting with Júlia Esqué, a product designer focused on textile design. Beginning with sketches and paper models, the design process sought to create a system based on petals that could then, be reproduced with a surface looking and feeling as natural as its counterpart. The succession of prototypes resulted in a series of individually laser-cut polyester modules that are subsequently manufactured.
Thousands upon thousands of these modules cluster together to create the unique petal system that swathes the foam base fabric of the chair’s broad wooden base in supple petals. Imbued with a sense of randomness and lightness, the petal system found an organic form, as lush as the head of a hydrangea in full bloom. The objet d’art that once only existed as pixels in the confines of the screen now waits to be touched, leaned back into, reveled in.
A close up of the materials
Photo Credit: Salva Lopez
The grand unveiling event that took place at The Montoya Gallery
THE UNVEILING AT THE MONTOYA GALLERY
On November 30, 2019, Andrés and his team’s efforts culminated in the unveiling of the Hortensia Chair with a 3-hour event at The Montoya Gallery. The event Included a visual tour of the creation process, an audiovisual piece where we saw the reinterpretation of this process in a poetic visual way, and a main stage in the center of Montoya Gallery where we see the Hortensia Chair. The event elements immersed attendees not just in the beauty of the final product, but also provided insights into the journey of creating the piece.
The Hortensia Chair on the main stage. Photo Credit: Salva Lopez
“The aesthetic tendencies of our time call for design that transcends the boundary between the imagined and the concrete – objects imbued with an ethereal quality. In the chasm between the envisioned and the real, the signifiers of a new era emerge. Here and now, Andrés Reisinger’s Hortensia Chair exemplifies the possibilities of our digital present.”
Guests inspecting the details of the design. Photo Credit: Salva Lopez
Needless to say, the social-media-driven population was as intrigued by the design as when they initially set eyes on it online and could be seen touching, photographing, and reclining into the chair, to test out the practicality of the design solution.
Through this scenario, Andrés has demonstrated the principle of how innovation in art and design requires a champion to push the boundaries for a creation they believe in; secondly, the case also highlights the changing model of how art and design are becoming more end-user driven one our connected society — the creation process can now first take form digitally, gain widespread demand, before being materialized.
The Hortensia Chair has since made its debut appearance at an international design museum at Design Museum Gent, in Belgium, for its Kleureyck Exhibition.
Photo Credit: Salva Lopez
Guests interacting with and experiencing the finished piece. Photo Credit: Salva Lopez
ABOUT ANDRÉS REISINGER
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1990 – Andrés Reisinger is an artist, director, product, interior and 3D graphic designer. His experience merged with contemporary culture make up his inter-disciplinary practice today; stemming from his last 11 years of experimental and commercial collaborations with interior and furniture designers, including Patricia Urquiola, Franklin Till Studio, Cassina, Studio Proba, Space10 and Ikea. And global brands including Nike, Samsung, Microsoft, Massimo Dutti, Rimowa, Uniqlo, Bloomberg, and Verizon. This year he has been recognized as one of the Young Guns ADC by The One Club for Creativity (New York). Andres studied Graphic Design at the University of Buenos Aires, and has taught and lectured at universities and design studios all over the globe.
PROJECT TEAM
Andrés Reisinger
Designer / Art & Creative Director
Júlia Esqué
Textile Designer / Production Leader
CREDITS
Enric Badrinas
Photographer
Amasijo
Structure Design Production Team
Diego Ramos
Exhibition Concept
Isern Serra
Design Consultant
Anna Dorothea Ker
Writer
Gerard Tejero
Design & Development
Special thanks to Porcelanosa Krion for the base platform for Hortensia.
