Plant Based Design Residency #4 - Esparto
In this residency by Passa Ao Futuro designer Henrique Ralheta collaborated with an esparto basket weaver craftsman Isidoro Ramos and in their collaboration they incorporated the doormat stitch, one of the unique techniques used in Esparto work - an art recently rehabilitated in Loulé. The residency was also made possible with the support of De La Espada that produced the wooden structure of Henrique & Isidoro pieces.
About
1 – 12 April 2024 | Loulé, Portugal | Passa Ao Futuro
Designer: Henrique Ralheta, craftsman: Isidoro Ramos
Designer Henrique Ralheta collaborated with an esparto basket weaver Isidoro Ramos and together they created The Espartano (Spartan in english) low chairs and meditation stool / ottoman on traditional esparto wheels. In their work they incorporated the doormat stitch, one of the unique techniques used in Esparto work – an art recently rehabilitated in Loulé. The residency took place in Loulé Criativo and was made possible with the support of De La Espada that produced the wooden structure of Henrique & Isidoro pieces.
The Espartano (Spartan in english) low chair and meditation stool / ottoman are based on traditional esparto wheels, used to soften the weight of pitchers carried on the heads, but also as floor seats in moments of rest. These ancestral pieces are re-contextualized here, with minimal changes to the shapes and production methods, and articulated in a discreet wooden structure, revealing new possibilities for comfort and adaptation to new uses.
They are made using the doormat stitch, one of the unique techniques used in Esparto work – an art recently rehabilitated with the opening of the Loulé Criativo workshop in the village of Sarnadas, where there was an important production center in the mid-20th century.
The residency and the mini-collection was made possible with the support of De La Espada that produced the wooden structure of Henrique & Isidoro pieces.
ESPARTANO, Low chair in esparto grass and walnut wood, 60 x 62 x 68 cm - low version, 45 x 70 x 80 cm - high version; ESPARTANO, Meditation tool / ottoman, 30 x 50 x 20cmphotos: Inês Silva Sá, Passa Ao Futuro
Designer:
Henrique Ralheta holds a postgraduate degree in Design from the Lisbon School of Architecture. His work includes Product and Spatial Design, Curatorship and Scenography. He is currently a lecturer in Spatial Design and Theater courses. In 2017 he was invited to set up the Loulé Design Lab whose focus is on the dynamization of traditional arts and the local economy, with Design as the engine. He was a Creative Director in the area of Industrial Design and Environments in Brandia – brand design agency, and a regular collaborator with ExperimentaDesign and Miguel Vieira Baptista. Ralheta’s work is represented in the collection of the Museum of Design and Fashion (MUDE, Lisbon).
Craftsman:
Isidoro Ramos learned “empreita” in esparto 30 years ago with his grandmother and mother but has only fully dedicated himself to the craft about 4 years ago. Since then, he is one of the very few to harvest this native plant that grows wildly in the mountainous lands of the interior of the Algarve and is very active in maintaining the art alive — be it in the former elementary school turned educational center in his small hometown of Paderne, where he gives training, or by participating often in other promotional activities.
