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A T L A N T I C A 5 2
properties of its different materials and tex-
tures enrich the user’s experience. Formed
like a pair of scissors, the frame allows
people to change position depending on
developments in the conversation, changes
in mood or the lateness of the hour. Later it
can be rearranged as if the position had only
changed temporarily. Instead of the custom-
ary table, a steel tray (common in Spanish
bars), can be snapped to the sofa frame
when needed. The sofa’s adaptability to
different circumstances is developed still
further in the form of the leather chairs –
luxury car seats which can be adjusted man-
ually or electronically and adapted to the
body with great precision. Recycled, quality
materials and high technology are played
off against each other in an ironic statement
about our highly evolved consumer society.
Used leather car seats from the scrapyards,
hard steel from old machines and robust
wood from abandoned railway sleepers
constitute the sofa’s main units. There is no
single way to interpret the environment, no
single solution, no single method of
arranging the home. Julianica is a piece of
furniture which believes in many different
possibilities. The sofa, four-seated architec-
ture, is prepared to take a stand; whoever
uses it makes it different – unique and per-
sonal.
Today’s society has developed to the point
where concepts of mobility, versatility and
tolerance should be part of our vocabulary
when we talk about design, not just about
our own attitude to life. Man’s frequent
communications with the outside world are
carried out via computers, and children
spend proportionately far more of their time
in front of computer games, cartoons and
videos. As a result, our sense of time and of
the quality of life has changed. This, in a
nutshell, is what the Spanish architects are
keen to address. Their interpretation of the
environment reflects new expectations and
values in our society. Furniture and func-
tional objects, houses and cities are not only
utilitarian, but must appeal to our sense of
the practical and offer spiritual stimulation.
They must take part in our lives. 
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Dr Halldóra Arnardóttir is an art historian, based in
Spain. Translated by Victoria Cribb.
SPANISH DESIGN
Julianica sofa (1998) by Javier Sanchez Merina. Manufactured by Mejias (Alicante).
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