
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.
You may also be interested in
Javier Mariscal Spanish designer and Graphic Artist – Encyclopedia of Design
Javier Mariscal is a Spanish designer. He was born in Valencia. He is professionally active in Barcelona. He studied at the Escuela de Grafismo Elisava, Barcelona, to 1971. His poster designs of the 1970s included one for the city of Barcelona as a pictogram of the words bar (‘bar’)/cel (‘sky’)/ona (‘wave’).
Patricia Urquiola is a Spanish architect and designer – Encyclopedia of Design
Patricia Urquiola is a Spanish architect based in Milan. She distinguishes herself by her original designs of items and furniture for the finest and most significant international companies. She created the Maia series, one of her most typical works for Kettal, the designer of some of the most emblematic pieces of today’s selection.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.