Joan Casas i Ortinez

"Design for me means creating products for industry, for sale, that are functional and please thousands of people and that over the years will acquire classic status becoming part of our surroundings." –Joan Casas i Ortinez

One of Spain's most prolific furniture designers since 1964, Joan Casas i Ortinez has built an empire of classic and contemporary European café seating – DWR followers will recognize his work in the Lucca Collection, the Indecasa TB Barstool, the Elena Collection and others.

Casas i Ortinez began his formal training in industrial design after working in advertising creating graphics and designing display stands and showcases. By immersing himself in available production methods and materials, he was soon designing for such major companies as Ausonia, Perfumería Puig and Barcelona-based Indecasa. Casas i Ortinez has spent much of his career working with Indecasa, which opened its doors just one year before Casas i Ortinez began designing on a commercial scale. The continuing 30-year symbiotic relationship between manufacturer and designer has resulted in distinctive, Spanish modern furniture–often made from aluminum–with clearly defined silhouettes and functional, classic material pairings.

Casas i Ortinez is also a lecturer, an illustrator for the "Opinion" section of Barcelona's La Vanguardia newspaper and a painter. In addition to his aluminum and steel café furniture, he has designed a varied body of work that includes perfume bottles, small gift items of ceramics and glass, serigraphed window treatments, methacrylate lamps, injection molded rubber household items and upholstered seating.