Diana Cabeza

Diana Cabeza trained at the Prilidiano Pueyrredón School of Fine Arts and the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Belgrano. During her degree she designed some tables for her own pleasure, an exercise inspired by Rietveld’s Red Blue chair: “That was when I realised that my area would be objects: my interest lies with a scale that can be verified with your body.” Thus, Cabeza began her professional career as a designer of household objects, reevaluating and investigating the uses and ergonomics of regional materials. It was after her experience of the revitalisation of Puerto Madero in Buenos Aires that she created the Estudio Cabeza, in the Palermo Viejo neighbourhood, together with her sister and partner Elisabet Cabeza. Rooted in Argentina, her designs are known and distributed internationally.

Cabeza approaches her projects from an environmental standpoint and considering the final context for each element. The Cornamusa bench, for example, designed for the Puerto Madero revitalisation project (Buenos Aires, 1995), takes its shape from the cross-section of dock cleats (cornamusas in Spanish). Another example is the Hoja bench (1995), made from aluminium and wood, which has a seat and backrests of varying lengths, enabling multiple use combinations. The backrest can also be positioned to suit the user. In the unusual form of the Chafariz drinking fountain (2001), each part has a function: its different lateral indents serve as steps that enable all sizes of user to drink from it unimpeded. More recently, she created the Comunitario bench (2002), which forms a system of seats that can be placed together to form large surface areas of 4 m², or the Yacaré bench (winner of the 2003 ICFF Editors Award for Outdoor Furniture), a bench with no backrest, made from a stainless steel mesh and reminiscent of the American crocodile known as the yacare, thanks to the way it reflects the light. Some of her studio’s most recent creations include the Alfil chairs (2005) and Canasto baskets and flowerpot stands (2005), designed for both interior and outdoor use.

Diana Cabeza’s designs can be seen in numerous public spaces in Buenos Aires: Puerto Madero, the Vuelta de Rocha in La Boca, the Recoleta Cultural Centre, the Faculty of Architecture, among others, as well as in other regions of Argentina, Chile, Miami or Chicago. “I should add that in my regional investigation, I also focus on large cities. Barcelona is a wonderful example of a city with an outdoor pedestrianised lifestyle”.

Creator of the Comunitario bench (2002), Diana Cabeza’s work is known for its large-scale dimensions, openness to multiple uses and the possibilities it offers for spontaneous social engagement.