Book "This is not a house" by Ramón Esteve

Home.
Product.
Book “This is not a house” by Ramón Esteve.

Ramón Esteve ponders on “Houses and Things”, a publishing project directed by Ramón Úbeda.

The publication gathers, for the first time, the creer as an industrial and furniture designer of the well-known Valencian architect.

He is one of the few Spanish architects and designers who is capable to work with expertise in both fields and one of the first to design outdoor furniture.

The book includes conversations with Juli Capella, Quique Dacosta, Antxón Gómez, Tachy Mora and Alberto Anaut.

This is not a house, published by La Fábrica, is a book that examines the limits between two different but at the same time profoundly related disciplines such as architecture and design. And it does by the hand of Ramón Esteve, an architect-designer and vice versa and one of the key figures of the contemporary Spanish design scene.

Headed by Ramón Úbeda, this book explores the limits between “things and houses”. Perhaps simply a question of scale, but one that gives rise to great exercises in creativity, creating highly interesting conversations between architecture and design.

As Esteve himself points out: “As for how my interest in design originated, when I was a child I was already very curious about things. At home I had a little room where I used to try out my skills, dismantling toys and then assembling others with different parts. I did handicrafts and also made electrical circuits. Later on, I made models. I was good at manual work. But, apart from that, as a child I drew all the time. I wasn’t a great student, but I never stopped drawing. I’ve always liked it; I enjoy drawing”.

The book features conversations between Ramón Esteve and professionals from different areas of Spanish culture. The architect and designer Juli Capella; the chef Quique Dacosta; the artistic director and production designer Antxón Gómez; the journalist Tachy Mora and the founder of La Fábrica, Alberto Anaut.

The book is structured in three parts: Conversations, Notebook and Chronology.

CONVERSATIONS: To understand his designs it is necessary to know the character. One way of doing so – the one we have chosen here – is to see him reflected in others, conversing with five other characters who form part, each in their own way, in the world of creation: Juli Capella, architect and disseminator of design, author of the texts in this publication; Quique Dacosta, chef with many Michelin stars, with whom he shares a love for the territory; Antxón Gómez, artistic director and production designer, a regular collaborator of Pedro Almodóvar in almost all his films; Tachy Mora, journalist and exhibition curator, specialising in design and trends; and, finally, Alberto Anaut, who sadly passed away while this book was in print, founder of La Fábrica, a cultural management company that goes beyond the publishing house that published this book.

NOTEBOOK: Nowadays it is possible to be a great designer without barely knowing how to draw. But it is no less true that hand drawing has been secularly the origin of every project and those who have continued to exercise in sketching manage to maintain their own personality that also makes a difference.

CHRONOLOGY: If Ramón Esteve has fitted in and worked for so many years with certain publishers or furniture manufacturers, it has been thanks to his sober, serene and timeless way of doing things. With a style that does not necessarily have to be recognisable, but which is perceived, and which allows us to make a chronological review of his work without any surprises. “Creating pieces that say something to you and that are apparently normal is quite difficult. It is much easier to differentiate yourself by making a nonsense”.