Model Maquette in Terracotta by Nacho Carbonell

When looking at Nacho Carbonell’s fantastical organic furniture designs, it’s easy to believe they are about to come to life. And that’s precisely what the Spanish designer wants you to think.

“I like to see objects as living organisms, imagining them coming alive and being able to surprise you with their behavior,” he has said. “I want to create objects with my hands, then I can give them my personality. I turn them into communicative objects that can arouse one’s sensations and imaginations.” 

Born in 1980, Carbonell spent his childhood in Valencia. In later years, he attended the Cardinal Herrera C.E.U. University, graduating in 2003, before continuing his studies at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. After his graduation, Carbonell remained in Eindhoven, opening his studio there. 

Carbonell’s sculptural furniture, such as his concrete and multicolor paper Fossil cabinet, ceramic vases, chairs and sculptures, immediately captured the attention of collectors and critics in the mid-2000s. His unique style, consisting of organic forms and rough, colorful textures, earned plaudits and several awards. In 2009, his Evolution collection merited a nomination for the Beazley Design of the Year from London’s Design Museum. That same year, he was named a Designer of the Future at Design Miami/Basel. In 2013, Carbonell won Architectural Digest Spain’s Designer of the Year award.

Carbonell’s modern works have been exhibited at museums around the world, including the Groningen Museum in the Netherlands, the 21_21 Design Sight Museum in Japan, Fonds National D’Art Contemporain in France, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Mint Museum in North Carolina.

On 1stDibs, discover a range of Nacho Carbonell decorative objects, seating, case pieces and storage cabinets.