This progressive Spanish furnishing company has been founded on four fundamental principles: commitment to design, an international perspective, distinctive business identity and the establishment of new jobs. Many of its designs were avant-garde and were designed by prestigious designers such as Javier Mariscal and Santiago Miranda (see King-Miranda Associati). From the 1990s on the contract market, the company started to focus, with a substantial expansion in scale. From three employees in 1986, it grew to 85 in 2000. It was successful. Over 50% of its production is exported worldwide.
Many of Akaba’s designs were designed for transport. The new Köln-Bonn Airport Terminal had been designed by the architect Helmut Jahn in Spain, including a Rafael Moneo seating for Seville Airport, furniture for the new Bilbao Airport Terminal and bench seating for the Bilbao Underground. The company’s designs have been widely exhibited in the design press.
Several prestigious exhibitions, including the 1987 exhibition Nouvelles Tendances at the Pompidou Centre, Paris, where the full collection of Mariscal Furniture was shown. The company has also won several prestigious Spanish design awards, including the Delta de Ora award in 1997 for the Hola chair and the National Award in 2000 for professional growth.
Sources
Woodham, J. M. (2006). A dictionary of modern design. Oxford University Press.
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