Nov 27, 2024
2 Monos: We Think With Our Hands
- By
Chiara Ferrari
2 Monos: We Think With Our Hands
Nov 27, 2024
by
Chiara Ferrari
2 Monos: We Think With Our Hands
Nov 27, 2024
by
Chiara Ferrari
2 Monos: We Think With Our Hands
Nov 27, 2024
- By
Chiara Ferrari
2 Monos: We Think With Our Hands
Nov 27, 2024
- By
Chiara Ferrari
sustainability
2 Monos: We Think With Our Hands
Nov 27, 2024
- By
Chiara Ferrari
Nicoletta Mantoan. Opening image: Shibuia chair, Photo: Jose Taltavull
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ounded in 2010 by Nicoletta Mantoan and Alejandro Dumon, 2 Monos is a “slow-design” practice based in Mallorca, with a multidisciplinary approach across furniture, lighting, architecture and art. The duo merge two different backgrounds: architecture and interiors - Nicoletta - with metal-working and sculpture - Alejandro - resulting in a practice that covers all of the aspects of making a product, from concept through production. By combining different sensibilities that involve scale, materiality, finish and manufacturing, 2 Monos creates objects that somehow make the space: from seatings to lighting and artworks, every product speaks about hand-made details, elegant proportions, seamlessly integrating in the context where they live. Their clients range from architects to restaurant owners to artists and designers and every client goes to their workshop and is part of the process.

They say “we think with our hands!”, while explaining about their process: a radical approach in experimenting with the real material and the brief, away from nowadays de-humanised industrial production processes. For 2 Monos, slow design is defined by these words: stop/think/explore/enjoy, where slow is not referring to time, but to the quality of a product by taking care of each step of the process, therefore self-producing.

Dot collection, Photo: Xim Izquierdo
Baus lamp, Photo: Sonia Sabnani
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here is no “typical day” in the workshop, however, as Nicoletta says: "each of our projects, whatever the scale, begins with discussing the idea and sketching it out on paper, making a prototype or model in real-scale, and deciding upon finishes. Many times the final result is not what we expected in the sense that there may be surprises along the way, this is the good thing about making the pieces entirely in our workshop. Experimentation plays a very important role in our work.” They describe their formal language as eclectic, in the sense that each project implies a specific process, tailored to context and brief. But also anarchic, where there is a consistency in language and this establishes their identity.

Finishes are another topic of experimentation for 2 Monos; textures are often driven by engineering, a specific tool, or by natural agents like the sea breeze. The use of colour is bold and Bauhaus-inspired by using mostly primary colours. Their approach aims to find a balance between functionality, aesthetic and emotion, where the products embrace timeless design and quality of production: durability is sustainability. In early 2025, the Design Museum in Barcelona will acquire pieces from 2 Monos, to be part of a permanent exhibition centred around materiality and innovation: “Matter Matters. Diseñar con el mundo”. Looking at the future, the duo looks forward to keep evolving and expanding their wings beyond the land of Mallorca, reaching international markets.

www.2monos.com

@2monos

"Many times the final result is not what we expected in the sense that there may be surprises along the way, this is the good thing about making the pieces entirely in our workshop. Experimentation plays a very important role in our work.”
Alejandro Dumon in the studio, Photo (and the one above): Grimalt de Blanch
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