Architectural Digest: Essential lines
Slow, opulent and imperfect shapes come together in the latest collaboration between designer Joel Escalona and Breuer
Words by Mónica Barreneche Transcript from article published in Architectural Digest
Is it possible to personify emotions in objects? For Joel Escalona, it is. Inspired by the legacy and philosophy of Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi, Escalona presented the Noviembre collection at the 2020 edition of ZonaMaco.
The collection is a compilation of tables, armchairs, chairs, bookcases, and decorative pieces, among others, which, through lines of clear contemporary abstraction, reflect the creative's interpretation of what sensory design should be: free of ornaments.
"I was captivated by the abstract form in which Brancusi managed to identify certain characteristic features of each of his themes, such as birds or fish, and he represented their essence without the need to trace them in detail," said Joel.
With a clear intention of delivering designer pieces, Joel Escalona makes his debut as creative director of Breuer. For Escalona, Brancusi's work goes from childish naivete to wisdom, from intellect to intuition, and from figuration to abstraction. Therefore, Noviembre -whose name comes from the coincidence of the arrival of the Romanian sculptor in Paris with the month in which Joel began to draw the collection born under these ideals- invites to experience warm and serene strokes and compositions. The anthology shares objects that use beauty as a promise of happiness and encourage reflection on the true essence of things.
This interplay between the aesthetic and the functional is not an unknown area for Joel. At 33 years old, in addition to his own design studio, Escalona has numerous awards under his belt, such as the VI National Design Biennial in Mexico, and exhibitions that catapult designers to the international eye, such as the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan.
For the industrial designer, originally from Mexico City, having a clear discourse when creating allows him to conceive pieces that tell stories. In the case of Noviembre para Breuer, it is a story of objects that not only inhabit a space but also an idea.