José Manuel Ferrero opened the estudi{H}ac design studio in Valencia in 2003 to give life to all those ideas that constantly popped into his mind.
The Valencia-based designer considers estudi{H}ac a design workshop specializing in tailored projects for product design, interior architecture and the creation of ephemeral stagings. His aim is to create unique, timeless spaces or products with a surprising initial visual impact and story.
The estudi{H}ac team is made up of six people including industrial designers, interior designers and architects with vast experience and great theoretical knowledge in product design, commercial space design, retail, hospitality and exhibitions. Each project is undertaken with passion, seeking to offer more innovative and creative solutions to those wanting to stand out.
Over the years, they have worked with a wide variety of companies in different areas of business, enabling them to contribute flexibility and efficiency to each project and to put a fresh, new spin on any company, product or brand. This work has made estudi{H}ac a benchmark for domestic and international design.
José Manuel Ferrero tells us about his vocation, the way he works and the latest projects from his workshop.
Interiors from Spain: Do you remember the first object you created? Do you still have it?
JM FERRERO-estudi{H}ac: The first project was LUNGO, a set of containers for DO+CE inspired by the concept of elasticity in some fabrics. A series of extra-large furnishings that added horizontally or vertically depending on their composition, along with the detail of transparent handles that gave even greater strength to the form.
I still have some of the originals as a nightstand at home.
Interiors from Spain: Where did your vocation for design come from?
JM FERRERO-estudi{H}ac: I was always interested in the concept of creating, of architecture, the plastic arts and fashion. The attraction of the textile and industrial worlds. When it came time to decide what path my studies would take, there was no doubt in my mind. Industrial design. It is a discipline that combines creativity, the use of materials, conceptualizing ideas and embodying it in an industrial format.
Interiors from Spain: If you were to define yourself as a designer in just a few words...
JM FERRERO-estudi{H}ac: A tailor of interior/product design. My passion for the world of tailoring and textile has always been a part of estudi{H}ac’s DNA. I’ve always been fascinated by the methods used by tailors when creating a fine suit. Understanding the customer, seeing which fabrics suit them most, which colors and textures. Tailors take exact measurements to ensure each part of the suit fits perfectly...
Interiors from Spain: What inspires you most? A shape, a color, an experience...?
JM FERRERO-estudi{H}ac: All three play a vital role. Although there is one material that contributes and inspires me most during the brainstorming stage: fabrics. They provide texture, and if you work creatively with them, the results are surprising. Quilting, patterns, wefts and warps have always been at the core of many of my projects.
But it’s not only the fabrics that make up a project. Combining them with noble and technological materials enables me to create truly fascinating compositions and spaces.
Interiors from Spain: What do you want to transmit with your creations?
JM FERRERO-estudi{H}ac: A 100% bespoke elegance (tailor-made elegance). Each project is born of a unique concept or story, combined with the search for elegance and formal simplicity, the creation of unique patterns and the ‘Wow!!!’ factor that is both surprising and unsettling.
Interiors from Spain: Your workshop and the way you present it to us is reminiscent of an artisanal tailor shop. What attracts you to the way you work? How does that art of designing a garment influence your work?
JM FERRERO-estudi{H}ac: I’ve always been fascinated by the methods used by tailors when creating a fine suit. Understanding the customer, seeing which fabrics suit them most, which colors and textures. Tailors take exact measurements to ensure each part of the suit fits perfectly...
That very thing is always applied at estudi{H}ac, but you could say that it is 100% industrial. The fusion of these two worlds (artisanal and industrial) into one; each project is undertaken in the same way. Always looking for something new, something capable of moving everyone.
Interiors from Spain: By the way, where does the name “estudi{H}ac” come from? What about your working methods?
JM FERRERO-estudi{H}ac: The estudi{H}ac creative process is in a way similar to how the letter H works in Spanish: silently, subtly, discretely, but always serving a purpose when written, to help understand its meaning. HAC is the pronunciation of the letter “H” in the Valencian language.
Our projects follow this guideline of simplicity and purity, but with an emotional touch, a transgressive spirit, a surprise that makes every project elegant and fun.
Interiors from Spain: You represent a generation of leading Valencian designers in today's world of the Spanish design. What do you think about the new generation of young Spanish designers? What recommendations would you offer them to continue their growth as designers?
JM FERRERO-estudi{H}ac: I think the city of Valencia has been the cradle of design for several years now, for both products and architecture. Our fresh Mediterranean character, together with our creativity, make the city an international benchmark. There are many new young studios that contribute and add to all the work that is being done in the rest of Spain.
My recommendation to them would to keep their passion for design alive always. For me, it is a vocational profession, that always keeps you active, interested in everything around you; it can be a point of inspiration and learning.
Interiors from Spain: You have spent over 15 years working with leading Spanish furniture and designer lighting companies. How do you adapt to the product philosophy of each brand without losing your own identity?
JM FERRERO-estudi{H}ac: Any new project is a challenge for us. Both in researching interior project types and in searching for the right materials to create the spaces. Each project leaves a mark, teaching something new that is reflected in another way in subsequent projects.
The number 1 goal of estudi{H}ac has always been to develop projects while learning and having fun; coming up with solutions creatively.
Interiors from Spain: Tell us about your interior design projects in restaurants and shops. What would you highlight and why? What common traits identify them?
JM FERRERO-estudi{H}ac: The Estado Puro restaurant for Paco Roncero at the Hard Rock Ibiza Hotel was a turning point, where creative freedom enabled us to dream and create a space filled with textures, pattern collections and design elements with the “Wow” factor that gave the restaurant a unique character.
Interiors from Spain: A few weeks ago, we saw you at Casa Decor presenting your “Interior Loom” for American fabric company Sunbrella. What is the concept behind this space?
JM FERRERO-estudi{H}ac: It is an installation that attempts to transmit the use of Sunbrella's new fabrics for interior use in a delicate and conceptual way. It represents a fusion between a large loom, a fun collection of frames with furniture patterns to upholster interior spaces and a workshop filled with incredible fabrics with textures and colors.
It is a carefully executed work showing the fantastic possibilities offered by combining the Sunbrella fabric collections with the elegant design of patterns, quilting and subtle embroideries created wonderfully for the installation.
Interiors from Spain: We are living through days of great sorrow, and also uncertainty in the world of design with events like Casa Decor and trade fairs like the Milan Furniture Show being delayed. What do you think about the current situation, and how does it affect you?
JM FERRERO-estudi{H}ac: I think it’s a time in which we all need to support each other and end up stronger after the storm. It’s a time for us to take a new look at ourselves, to consider new challenges and objectives that we can take on in a new period within the world of design and business in general.
Interiors from Spain: Can you tell us about other projects you're working on?
JM FERRERO-estudi{H}ac: We’ve currently been involved in several projects that will be presented in the coming months. The new space for Sunbrella at the upcoming edition of CasaDecor Madrid, designing the showroom for Krion -Porcelanosa Group- and adapting it to its points of sale, the TailorHotel space at the Maderalia fair (this will be a hotel concept inspired by the world of tailors and will be a showcase for trends in the materials presented at this new edition).
We are also working on the whole design concept for the renovation of the Bahía Príncipe Tulum in Cancun for the Piñero Group. This project involves everything from the communication concept to its application in all areas.
On the product design side, we are developing a number of projects related to outdoor products and how they coexist in open spaces, in addition to several lighting collections for the upcoming Milan 2021.
