© 2002 by Design History Society
La Nave
How to Run an Anarchical Design Company
Universitat International de Catalunya
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Abstract |
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In Spain during the design boom of the 1980s, the majority of designers worked on their own or with a single partner. Groups with more members were rare. This trend contrasts with the development of the profession in Great Britain, where design groups in this period were often large consultancies with a strong and hierarchical internal organization.
Even so, one collective stands out in Spain—La Nave, a large, multi-disciplinary design group (eleven members) with an anarchical structure. In this studio, different projects were developed either individually or by subgroups; by new, improvised teams; or by the entire collective working together. This ‘system’ contrasts with that of small Spanish individual studios and that of the big British super-organized consultancies (though parallels can be drawn with a new wave of British groups that emerged during the economic recession of the early 1990s).
This article seeks to examine the working relations of La Nave in the ‘local’ context of Valencia, at the same time comparing it with other ostensibly similar groups. I will examine the extent to which La Nave can be considered a unique experiment.
Key Words: business management • design groups • design profession • multi-disciplinarity • regionalism • Spain