Interviews with Andrés Mariño Maza

The Nina and Beni chair is inspired by the techniques used in naval architecture, shapes made from wood that join form and function, minimizing waste through the use of steam-bending.

I wanted the design to be modern and elegant, to showcase the technical difficulty in entails to bend wood to such extents.

I was prototyping techniques for creating complex shapes with wood and from that research I realized I could fabricate the geometry I had in mind. In that sense the main focus was perfecting the molds necessary to make the chair.

In these uncertain times it is hard to make predictions on the future but the project was always to continue to promote the chair and see where that leads.

From the first sketches to the first prototype it took approximately one month.

It was a commission from some family friends, Nina and Beni.

It is being produced by a local company with whom I´m associated with.

I felt the need to re-learn a craft that I had lost contact with since moving to Spain from the US. Seeing how most of the furniture we see today is made without attention to detail, from bad quality materials, meant to only last us a few years I decided to design furniture that would highlight craftsmanship and quality.

I have always admired the work of designers like aalvar Aalto or Jorn Utzon, how they would strip design of its excess fat to create efficient and beautiful shapes; like a Scandinavian diet.

Also both influenced by nautical architecture and its aerodynamic yet beautiful shapes.

Suitable for private residences and businesses, also for lobbies or waiting areas.

The way it was fabricated involved a mix of modern and traditional techniques, fabricating the molds necessary to create such complex 3d shapes required innovation and a lot of prototyping.

It was a custom order from good friends of mine, so its named after them.

designed the molds using parametric 3D software then program a 5 axis cnc to cut the molds out.

It’s not common to see such complex geometry in woodworking due to the fact that it would involve a lot of waste and steam-bending is generally done in 2 dimensional molds.

This design involves the use of 3 dimensional molds to curve the pieces into position and then laminate them.

I collaborated with a local carpentry to prototype and fabricate, y also collaborate with people in the leather and textile industry.

I think without today’s tools and software creating a chair like this would not be feasible. I use technology not only in the design phase but more so in the fabrication and mold making stage.

Not at the design stage, and not for this product. The primary objective here was to make something beautiful, sustainable and innovative.

I made many mistakes when testing the initial concept, some of those mistakes were necessary in achieving a more well rounded design.

I was encouraged by a close friend of mine

I realized that there are certain parts of the creative process where a little blind faith is required, even if you´re not sure, if you keep your eye on the ball you’ll eventually get there.

I was a very curious child, often daydreaming while playing in the woods behind my house in Washington, DC. I would make things with my dad´s carpentry tools, bows and arrows, tree houses and half pipes. I was always drawing inventions or test-crashing them in my back yard.

In High school I took a sculpture course which opened my eyes and appetite to art and design, I was inspired by the three dimensional canvas which clay models opened up, spending countless hours sculpting and baking my models. That interest resulted in me moving to Spain to study a double degree in architecture and fine arts.

Marinomaza was started with the intention of creating sustainable objects with value; pieces that contribute to a healthy planet by using short-carbon cycle materials and fighting throw-away culture.

When I started Marinomaza I wanted to create pieces that people would cherish for generations, objects that because of the story they carried, and the craftsmanship with which they were made would always be well maintained.

Design for me is a critical workflow where inspiration is scrutinized, filtered and reassembled to create a beautiful and useful object.

I enjoy designing pieces for specific clients, where I can dive into their life and personality to find how that materializes into an idea.

My favorite design would have to be the Flect rocking chair, it was my first rocking chair and the reason I started in furniture design.

It was a fountain for a small town in the north of Spain, I was in my first year of college and I was thrilled at the opportunity but unfortunately in the end the design was never built.

My favorite material is wood, not only because of its availability as a sustainable and renewable material but mostly because of all the sensations I associate to it; the smell and feel of a sawn board or the trees and the forest itself.

When I´m not thinking about trying to be creative. I like to think of it as a flow state, when you´re so centered on your task that time flies and it all seem effortless. Ironically you normally need lot´s of effort to enter this flow state.

I like to begin with very primitive and simple things such as: do I like the shape and feel of what I´m drawing? Would this structure hold up under a load? How about different loads? By trial and error, with a little intuition I arrive at something I´m more comfortable with, until I see it the next day.

It´s very difficult to pinpoint the emotions one feels when design but I can say there is a spectrum of them, I normally need to go through some sort of strenuous frustration in order to arrive at a clearer answer.

I never really get to a place where I think they´re finished, although materialized I remember all the iterations and variables involved on paper.

To me a design is successful if it accomplishes the objectives it was designed for, those objectives of course are dependent on the design.

The first thing I consider is the visual aspect of the piece; is it pleasing to the eye. Then I start considering all the aspects associated with that object, the industry, the material, the method.

Environment is the canvas for every designer so in some way or another that must permeate into the design. The society is who the design will be affecting, so that also has to be respected and measured.

I see everything exploding in terms of quantity and quality due to the endless tools we invent to keep inventing.

My last exhibition was just before the Covid lockdown, it was during all of February 2020. At this moment, due to the crisis everything got cancelled, so I don’t know.

I´m always fiddling with geometries in my mind. The process goes from concept to geometry and back in a sort of feedback loop which I filter with what I would describe as a gut feeling. My inspiration as you would call it comes when I´m working on designing.

If anything my “style” is a mix of many influences, mainly from architects like Frank Lloyd wright and the Europeans Utzon and Aalto. Furniture designers such as Thonet or Hans Wegner.

I´m very influenced by the lines and curves of nature, always a step ahead in design.

I currently live in Madrid, Spain. But I grew up in Washington DC and with the internet nowadays I´ve kept close ties with that culture. Your heritage is all the knowledge you’ve been passed down from past generations, and what do we know but what we´ve been taught?

I work as a hired designer for another manufacturer or I design and produce myself.

Companies should hire a designer that can adopt the same design objectives they have, considering the consequences of the production, distribution and marketing into their design process.

I begin with something very conceptual and sensory, a form, an objective, a texture. Then I go through a tedious process of imagining the different possibilities and outcomes. This process of selection continues through the sketching to the prototyping.

I have 2 Rocking chairs and 2 chairs that were the first I produced. Then it would have to be my Martin Guitar.

I wake up very early, not by choice but because I have a 1 and a 4 year old. I´m a fan of the ritual of making coffee, which I do every morning before I get my kids ready. Then I would normally go straight to the workshop to see what´s come up, then after a quick lunch at 12 I normally draw or work on the computer for the afternoon. This is my life before the COVID lockdown of course.

No one ever invented anything by themselves, everything in everyone’s head is a collection of what they’ve been passed down from others.

Designing is certainly very frustrating at times, but it´s that frustration that creates good design.

Don’t make throw away products

Today there are so many available tools that it is more important than ever to focus on the content.

I use all sorts of software, hardware, 3D carving machinery and traditional carpentry tools.

Time is probably the most crucial resource for me, trying to manage my family life with designing is tricky. I try to keep a tight schedule with my working hours and work with the time I have.

That depends on the project, sometimes everything comes together and can come together very quickly like what happened with the Nina & Beni chair.

People ask me all sort of things at fairs, many people ask about the pieces or my background.

All my jobs have taught me many lessons in their own way but if I had to choose one it would be working for myself was both the most challenging and rewarding job.

My clients are normally design enthusiasts or collectors, also many woodworking lovers.

I enjoy architecture work especially.

Hard to say with what´s happened but I´d like to keep designing be it for myself or for others.

I mostly work alone, I tend to have a do it yourself attitude.

I´m working on different chair designs, specific to sector series.

You can write me at andresmmaza@gmail.com