The Ele Armchair

An unusual armchair that captures a talented designer’s years-long creative journey.

Every designer’s creative process is different but they all share the same path of evolution from concept to finished product. Barcelona-based designer Jaume Ramírez shows that the process of bringing a new design to life can be as fascinating as the final result. The Ele Armchair is a perfect example. This particular project captures the designer’s years-long journey of experimentation and material exploration, starting from working in an isolated space without a specific idea in mind and ending with a sculptural piece of furniture.

The story of the Ele Armchair began as a long process of research into material and form, without a fixed concept as a starting point. Working for a month in a large, barn-like space filled with wooden planks and pieces of fabric, the designer created an object that ultimately didn’t function as a chair. Over the course of the next five years, the images of the prototypes created during that time stayed with the designer, leading him to finish the project.

Crafted with an angular steel frame, Ele features a rounded backrest and seat that curve like the pages of an open book. The eco-friendly Comfort microfiber material from Gabriel Fabrics is soft and subtly textured, perfectly complementing the brushed stainless steel finish. The design serves a functional purpose as comfortable seating while enhancing spaces with its sculptural presence. Yet even the completed project didn’t mark the end of the journey for Jaume Ramírez. In the words of the designer, “Now that it’s finished, I once again see it as unfinished.” Love the design? The Ele Armchair is available to purchase through the studio‘s website. Photography© Ronan Le Vacon, Jaume Ramírez Studio.