Between Sculpture and Furniture: Jorge Oteiza and the Aesthetics of Emptiness in Furniture Design

Abstract

This article examines Jorge Oteiza’s contribution to furniture design through his aesthetics of the void, where furniture ceases to be a closed functional object and becomes an open and receptive body. Inspired by Malevich’s abstraction and by Heidegger’s notion of space as an open place where truth is revealed and being becomes present, the artist conceives design as a process of knowledge rather than representation, in which beauty is revelation itself. Through four case studies: Studio 52, Óptica Cottet, the Chamber of Commerce of Córdoba, and the desk designed for the offices of Huarte y Cía S.L., the article analyzes how Oteiza weaves together art, architecture, and furniture design into a kind of “structural semantics” of the object. The result is a design that transforms space into everyday experience, turning furniture into a way of inhabiting the void as both an aesthetic and human experience.