Welcome to the jungle, with furniture by Màximo Riera

Màximo Riera is pleased to welcome you into his urban jungle: his Animal Chair line is ready to take over your home décor.

When nature is calling, interior design answers! The artist and designer Màximo Riera literaly let his inspiration run wild, and gave birth to an eccentric, unique and unconventional furniture line. If classic style is definitely not your piece of cake, if to you decorating means daring and being bold, this is going to be the perfect furniture brand for you. Sculptor, painter, designer, even poet: Maximo Riera is the eclectic creator of the Animal Chair line. His idea is extremely innovative, and yet very simple: to bring the wild animal world into people’s homes, to combine art and interior design in the wildest way possible.

Màximo Riera wanted to create a collection that could be a tribute to the whole animal kingdom. His attempt was to reflect and capture the beauty of nature and every living being. It is a way of underlining how the relationship between man and animal can be natural and harmonious, without prevarication or subjection. With these design pieces, the designer wanted to make a statement, about harmony, art, ecology, and lifestyle. "Animal Chairs" is an unclassifiable collection: it lives between the rigid world of science and the versatile flexibility of art. It is a powerful hybrid: human design integrated with the splendor of nature. There are no in-betweens with this collection: either you love it or totally hate it. Màximo Riera was well aware of this, when he started this project three years ago. But after all, could innovation exist without taking risks? And what is design, art, or life even, without innovation? 

Every single design starts by transforming the designer’s naturalistic drawings into a three-dimensional digital image, through the use of a sophisticated modeling software. Màximo Riera tried to be as faithful to nature as possible in every drawing: the beauty and uniqueness of every animal is reproduced in every little detail, before being combined with furniture design. After this process, the sculpture is brought to life using CNC technology (computerized numerical control): one of the most advanced techniques for 3d furniture design. This process happens with the technical assistance of JH May, a British high-tech company that collaborated with brands such as Nike, Ferrari and Chanel. Three-dimensional sketches are transferred in a computer connected to a mechanical structure that processes, interprets and reproduces the 3D design in compressed foam blocks (polyurethane) with astonishing precision. The different parts of the furniture are then assembled, glued, polished and painted by hand. From each drawing, only twenty numbered pieces are born: uniqueness and exclusivity are a must. From the original drawing to the final products, it takes approximately from nine to eleven weeks.

With Màximo Riera your living room can turn into a stylish jungle, to explore and enjoy in the most authentic way. Welcome elephants to your afternoon tea time, octopuses to your family dinners, and elephants to your parties with friend. The wow effect is absolutely guaranteed: your interior design will truly be one of a kind. With this bizarre and eccentric furniture, everybody will be able to embrace the wildest side of their personality. Not only the Animal Chair collection will bring the quintessence of uniqueness into your home décor, but a true work of art as well. In 2011, in fact, many of the creations by Màximo Riera have been part of an exhibition at the 100% Design London festival.  

But the animal kingdom is not the only aspect of nature Màximo Riera wanted to pay tribute too. His collections, in fact, include pieces of design that celebrate the beauty of natural wood. In order to exalt  the rawness of this material, the designer thought of combining it with something that could play a contrast role in the final piece of furniture. Starting from this concept, he gave birth to tables, consoles, benches and desks that feature irregular wood parts, that give the impression of having left their original location just a few seconds earlier, intersecting with metal structures and bright fluorescent colors. Riera likes to use olive wood, paying homage to one of the most common trees in Spain. The beauty of wood shines in its purest essence, with all of its unique characteristics and imperfections, with every detail of the natural grain still clearly visible, and exalted by the contrast with the industrial material structures. 

What will be the next steps of this eccentric designer? What creatures, wild animals and natural elemts will Màximo Riera bring into our home décor? We cannot wait to find that out! Until then, take a look at more creations from his furniture line here.