TAPAS - Spanish Design for Food: Table

The exhibition sets out to show how design and food have always been interrelated and how the discipline of design has sought solutions to the problems posed by the world of cuisine. In particular, it takes a look at how Spanish culture has come up with ingenious inventions and solutions in this respect throughout its history.

A container made of glass, with a long slender neck and a broad belly, with one spout for drinking a stream of liquid, and another, larger, one for filling and admitting air, which at the same time serves as a handle. The porrón is traditionally used to share wine amongst the company in a hygienic way, without the vessel coming into contact with the mouth.

A materialization of two concepts that are deeply rooted in our eating culture. It is an innovative combination of two objects, in principle antagonistic, to meet the same need. One of them belongs in the formal, glamorous setting: the goblet. The other has come down from popular tradition: el porrón.

A small wineskin. Traditionally made of goatskin or leather, made impermeable internally by pitch, it has a spout with a screw cap made from bone, and serves exquisitely delicious wine. It is sewn round the edges except for the neck, where it can be filled and from where the vine emerges.

The h2o bota is a reinvention of the traditional wineskin, adapted to today’s lifestyle and the enjoyment of sport and the countryside. The exterior is made of goatskin, treated with natural dyes after having undergone a plushing process.

A voluminous vessel made of porous clay, on the top of which there is a handle and two openings: a wide one for filling and one in the form of a spout for drinking. The principle is simple: the water inside filters through the porous clay and evaporates on contact with the hot, dry exterior of the Mediterranean summer, thus lowering the temperature. The reason for the cooling is that as the exuded water evaporates, in order to do so it takes up some of the thermal energy stored within the jug.

A white terracotta vessel that combines the look of a 1 1/2-liter mineral-water bottle with the advantages of a traditional “botijo”. A different way to drink.

The design of the bottles Ilvino & Laigua not only changes the traditional appearance, but combines both liquids in a single image, because their flat backs make it possible to assemble them into what seems to be a single object. They work because it is comfortable to grasp them and pour the water or wine.

Rafael Marquina, born in 1921 and regarded as one of the precursors of industrial design, became world famous through his anti-drip olive oil dispensers, which he created in 1961. The olive oil and vinegar cruets consist of a spout from which the liquid emerges and a conical transparent glass vessel, which collects drips of liquid and allows them to enter the flask.

White opal glass. A reversible plate: one way round it has a small hollow with a shape and texture reminiscent of a nest, while the other way round there is a crown with a central hump. A piece arising from the development of new thermoforming production processes, in this case inverse thermoforming with mixed molds.

Black opal glass piece developed for El Celler de Can Roca using movable refractory rocks as a positive mold.

Used in the opera El Somni to portray the dark side of the moon, as well as for service in the restaurant.

The Jomon Collection is based on a set of interchangeable bowls and trays, to eat freely in many different contexts, such as stand-up catering, at the table or from a take away. Outcome of a fusion of the coexistence of the most varied dishes of international cuisine with the most universal and versatile ways of eating.

A family of three utensils (Pala de humo [smoke stick], Pingüe de caldos [abundance of soups] and Sorbo de sorbetes [Sorbet sipper]) which have been designed specifically for the creative food which is emerging these days in restaurants all over the world.

The leitmotiv of this cutlery is to avoid staining the table-cloth, the same idea that inspired Marquina to create his famous olive oil cruet. The unique handles of the knives, forks and spoons raise the part that would touch the table. The fish knife incorporates an ingenious prong for opening shellfish.

Double-lever corkscrew with a polished chrome finish. Practical and effective. Performs its duties in seconds with the minimum of effort. Designed in 1932.

As if an extension of the human body, they work like the thumb and index finger as they pick up a cube. The Ricard tongs are a testimony to an era and already form part of modern cultural imagery.