Lluís Alexandre Casanovas Blanco has designed a chair in collaboration with his mother María Luisa Blanco using traditional weaving techniques. The piece of furniture acts as a historical investigation for Lluis into the politics of weaving, bobbin lace and the role gender plays in design history.

The chair is a continuation of Lluis’ material essays first tested in his project the Real Estate Boom House from 2018. The research project looks into traditional craft techniques linked to people other than heterosexual men. A nod to this, the name is both an acronym for “Universal Military Training,” and the women’s magazine “Una Mirada Tranquila (A Quiet Look).”

“Despite their fundamental contribution to the construction of modern housing, agents such as women, queer individuals and others have been overlooked in both architectural production and its history,” Lluis explains. “The project, which uses the Spanish context as a case study, explores the use of bobbin lace in tablecloths, rugs, curtains and many other textile elements as key in configuring contemporary domestic interiors in Spain and elsewhere.”