Design by: Helio Piñón

The BAGDAD CAFÉ bench and seat are a daring proposal that takes the use of a single material to the limit.

Precision-bent 8 mm COR-TEN steel sheet generates the ergonomic shape of this product. The properties of CORTEN steel ensure that the profile becomes a continuous line while the material becomes a texture. After sandblasting and a baked finish with COR-TEN effect paint, the surface finish is smooth and pleasant to touch. Both items are the epitome of 20th century visual references and the construction potential of steel sheet.

The BAGDAD CAFÉ bench and seat were designed for Escofet in 2000 by architect Helio Piñón as part of the MORELLA Series, which emerged with the idea of creating a suite of professionally-built street furniture, consistent in their form and genuine in their character.

The MORELLA series emerged with the idea of creating a suite of professionally-built street furniture, consistent in their form and genuine in their character. Produced in CORTEN Steel because of its natural finish and its quality appearance, the MORELLA Series has been designed to withstand the test of time, guaranteed by its materiality and manifested by its aesthetic. The elementary character of this series makes it predisposed to relate to its surroundings, triggering more complex spatial relations, unlike some other street furniture that is only aimed at focusing on itself.

The MORELLA Series, named after the city for which these items were conceived, became a feature of public spaces emerging with a monumental purpose. This purpose was seeking the timeless design essence that bestows permanence. The quality of the series permits an extension of its use to historic areas, where the textures and the environments generated by superimposed cultures and times should not impose themselves.