Dezeen Magazine

Eugeni Quitllet joins plexiglass backrests to Tabu chairs for Alias

Catalan designer Eugeni Quitllet has used plexiglass to create the backrests for wooden chairs in this collection for Italian brand Alias.

Tabu chairs by Eugeni Quitllet for Alias

The Tabu collection of chairs and a side table is a reinterpretation of traditional craft, using digital technology and modern materials to highlight the natural characteristics of solid wood.

Tabu chairs by Eugeni Quitllet for Alias

The aim of the collection for Alias was "to synthesise nature in order to naturalise industry, to recover the sense of authenticity, beauty and goodness," said Quitllet.

Tabu chairs by Eugeni Quitllet for Alias

Each element is digitally carved from wood using Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) technology and then combined to create the five different versions in the collection.

Tabu chairs by Eugeni Quitllet for Alias

The five pieces in the collection include a chair with two uprights as a backrest and a matching bar stool.

Tabu chairs by Eugeni Quitllet for Alias

One chair features the addition of a Plexiglass backrest across the back supports, while another has a solid backrest.

Tabu chairs by Eugeni Quitllet for Alias

"The version presenting a Plexiglass backrest is quite innovative and unique in the ambit of wood chair production," said a spokesperson for Alias. "So it is that two quite different materials, wood with its natural connotations, and transparent polymer, fruit of technological research, come together to give life to a metaphysical object."

Tabu chairs by Eugeni Quitllet for Alias

An occasional table has a similar form to the chairs, but a single upright featuring a decorative leaf at the top of a single stem.

Tabu chairs by Eugeni Quitllet for Alias

The designs are available in ash, oak or walnut, and with a transparent lacquer or one of 12 coloured stain finishes. The Plexiglass element can be added in different opacities.