Na Xemena House and the collection of outdoor furniture Na Xemena, both designed by Ramón Esteve celebrate their 20th birthday. Both the house and the furniture have become points of reference for the contemporary design.
The collection, an icon of outdoor furniture, was designed by the architect following the same conceptual parameters as the house and was later produced by the family-run textile company Gandía Blasco.
Building a Landscape
The cultural and physical environment was a leading thread for the process of designing this house in Na Xemena Cove, Ibiza: the light, a landscape of rocks and junipers, the sea as horizon and the cliffs outlined against it.
Outside, the terraces and the pools are an extension of the same volumes that form the different parts of the house. The terrace is a platform that enhances the enjoyment of the sights, whereas the pool –formed by two volumes- serves as a link that increases this feeling.
A Connection with Vernacular Architecture
The reference to vernacular construction is related to an architecture that is born from spontaneity and need but contains some codes that allow a growth of the dwelling that maintains a harmonious result.
Ramón Esteve thought the house, in its first building stage in 1996, for allowing a continuous growth based on its original guidelines, by means of creating a stylistic code that could later help to develop all the architecture, interior and product design.
Designing from Architecture
Na Xemena Collection Using plain and rationally developed construction details, Ramón Esteve designed the collection from an architectural point of view, following the formal patterns that he set for the house: a geometry based on a squared unit and the rectangles derived from it.
“According to my thought, industrial design products are often made to answer the demands of a particular building. In this way, I designed the collection of outdoors furniture because I couldn’t find any suitable furniture in the market for Na Xemena House in Ibiza.”
Na Xemena Collection, designed during the first stage of the design process in 1996, was a revolution in the world of outdoor furniture because it introduced for the first time the idea of a global collection that fulfils all the requirements of an outdoor space: bar tables, coffee tables, chairs, armchairs, stools, loungers and daybeds.
“Na Xemena was the first design where I could firmly express my way of making architecture in several aspects: from the relation with the place, both physically and culturally, to the manipulation of the perception of the place in order to create a complete experience.” Source by Ramon Esteve.
Location: Ibiza, Spain
Architect: Ramon Esteve
Collaborators: Juan A. Ferrero, Angels Quiralte
Technical architect: Antonio Calvo
Constructor: Inrem S.A.
Project Manager: Francisco Gª Pellicer
Area: 742.70 m2
Year Project: 1996
Completion date:1996/2001/2003
Photographs: Eugeni Pons, Courtesy of Ramon Esteve