24. Metalarte. 1965-1974

After founding the family factory Construcciones Riera, Antonio Riera Clariana created a metalworking workshop in 1932, which he called Metall Arts, to respond to the most complex commissions he was receiving from the architects of the time.

After the end of the Civil War, under the direction of his sons, Carlos and Antonio Riera Cortés, Metall Arts began producing and marketing its own models of household utensils and lamps, the first of which, released in 1942, was called No. 1. 

During the 1950s, at the height of the Scandinavian design frenzy, Antonio Riera Cortés travelled to northern Europe, importing many of the ideas he discovered there into the national market. 

In 1965, following a decade during which it became a benchmark in the lighting industry, the company opened a 7,000 m2 headquarters in Sant Joan Despí. In addition, it changed its name to Metalarte and introduced a corporate identity designed by Josep Baqués. 

The first lamp with a recognized author produced by Metalarte was George W. Hansen’s Swing Arm, released in the late sixties, which immediately became a bestseller. A few years later, in 1970, another lamp that became legendary was released on the market: Tatu, designed by a young André Ricard. His extensive collaboration completely transformed the company, which turned away from the exclusive production of its own models to become a true design publisher. Evidence of this is the famous Calder lamp by Enric Franch, from 1974, the first piece designed in Spain to become part of the permanent collection at the MoMA.