Collection: Lluís Porqueras

Porqueras himself recognises that he began designing without really knowing what industrial design was all about. After doing some courses in architecture and renovating a few country houses, in 1956 he set up Stoa, the first Catalan design studio, which, amongst other things, brought out lights by Enric Franch. Together with Jaume Vaquero, he established Vapor in 1979. The company manufactured warm, simple lamps, going against the technological trendiness of the times. “I made very simple things”, affirms Lluís. “Even though the manufacturing process involved 25 separate operations, the end result was simplicity itself; all I wanted to do was to pare away, to pare away and to pare away until I reached the pure essence of a simple, useful object!”.

In his own words, “In time, I have come to realise that I have been a very bad businessman. Luckily, Marset showed an interest in what we were doing in Vapor and the major part of our catalogue now forms part of their collection”. Some time later, he worked for Targetti for 3 years to create a lighting series. In addition to creating lights for his own organisation, he has also collaborated with companies such as Mobles 114 and Santa&Cole. The hanging Claris lamp and the Finisterre street marker, designed in conjunction with Joan Gaspar, stand out amongst his many designs.

“Thinking about it, I have always believed that the light in a room must also go with shadow, that there should be contrasts with the points of light. This is what creates well-being, calm; your home must be a refuge from the aggressive outdoors in the city. Lights are lit for several hours a day, and the rest of the time they must maintain a certain discretion so that they do not bother you when they are off, and only become noticeable when they are on… like glow worms. Fashion does not interest me, and I have never made fashionable lights because they soon go out of fashion. I have always made lamps I liked.”