“Space in a room is just an
occasional umbrella. Home and
contract are a ‘crossover’ “
We interview Víctor Carrasco, industrial designer and founder of Viccarbe, one of the
leading furniture design companies and one with a promising future in our country.
With twenty years of experience, Carrasco says that they are just beginning, and sees
his business as a long-term project that flees fashions and seeks honesty in everything
it does. Mesa Ryutaro de Víctor Carrasco/ Ryutaro
You always talk about your grandfather
as an inspiration for dedicating yourself to
this profession, but do you remember when
and why you decided to devote yourself to
industrial design?
In my case there was not one specific day, but I
spent so many hours repairing things or inventing
new things that nobody was surprised that
I did not study law.
When you decided to create a fictitious furniture
company for your final project, did
you dream that it would become a reality?
Of course. It is equally bad not to consider
things as it is thinking about things too much,
at home they let me make mistakes from time
to time, and I have never forgot that.
Having been trained in classic furniture factories
what has contributed to your way of
working?
It has given me a lot. Formally I am more inclined
to reducing than to add, but it also provides
48 spaincontract. Coffee Break. Víctor Carrasco
Expresso
that affection for detail, its elaborate forms, its
inlaid woodwork ... The classic furniture education
gave equal importance to both to the overall
form and to the detail.
Patricia Urquiola and the ‘Last Minute’ Stool
helped to extract Viccarbe from anonymity,
how did the collaboration with her arise
and what did it mean for the company?
Patricia is very special, like a professional mother
for me. The curious thing about the story is that
we almost started in parallel because she had
just become independent, after many years
working for the biggest firms in Milan. Viccarbe
was her first Spanish client (also its first international
one). I discovered her by accident from an
Italian press clipping and I called her to tell her
that when I was “older” I would like to work
with her ... She was silent for a few seconds
-unusual in her- and she asked me if I was old
enough to fly to Milan to see her. The rest is
history.
And in 2007 ... The Prince Felipe Prize arrives
and designers like Piero Lissoni, Jaime
Hayón and Jean Marie Massaud began to
knock on your door. Do you think that the
awards influenced the success or failure of
a company? What did it mean for you to
obtain that award?
The truth is that we were not very aware of the
impact of this award until we were congratula-
A material: Any honest one.
A daily object: A pencil
An iconic piece: Last Minute by Patricia
Urquiola
A designer: Dieter Rams
A good project: The next one.
A pending project: My sailboat
A city to live in: Valencia
If you were not a designer, you would
be ...: A surgeon
table by Víctor Carrasco
Banco Sistema de Lievore Altherr Molina/ Sistema bench by Lievore Altherr Molina