20th anniversary of the Emea collection

Today, Alki is celebrating twenty years of the Emea collection. Designed by Jean Louis Iratzoki, Emea begins the transformation of the cooperative. Through its lines and materials, the collection symbolizes perennity, Alki's cardinal value.

History / Background
Alki, furniture manufacturing cooperative founded in 1981 in the Basque Country, distinguished itself right from the very start thanks to its expertise in working with wood, the use of high-quality materials and the creation of noteworthy collections. These characteristics earned Alki genuine recognition as a key player in the field of traditional furniture.

At the beginning of the 2000s, the decline of the traditional furniture sector drove Alki to reinvent itself by adding design to its catalogue of offerings. Under the artistic direction of Jean-Louis Iratzoki, new product ranges were developed. The first of them, the Emea Collection, symbolises the cooperative’s metamorphosis. Exhibiting at the Paris Maison et Objet trade fair in 2004, it immediately drew attention and rapidly became a classic, opening up the path taken by the cooperative to the present day.

Approach / intention:
The first collaboration with Jean-Louis Iratzoki gave rise to the Emea Collection, an exercise in artisanship focused on solid wood that showcased the know-how and expertise of Alki’s journeymen in machining, assembling and precision for the creation of this product .
The Collection emerged from the initial intention of creating a range in solid oak, rooted in the collective memory and comprising perfectly arranged elements to form a cohesive unit that seems to be carved from a single block.

This desire of attachment to our collective memory is consubstantial with this Collection, especially in the design of its table, the centrepiece of convivialty reminiscent of the immense traditional farmhouse tables around which people gather to eat, play and work.

The EMEA range is guided by a quest for beauty, solidity, comfort and the use of noble materials. Its classic lines and rounded smoothness meld time-honoured know-how with resolutely contemporary aesthetics, producing furniture that extends an invitation to relaxation and harmony.

Perennity, the cooperative’s cardinal value, permeates each of its choices and guides each of its actions. The EMEA Collection, enhanced by its high quality, sustainable materials and timeless lines, is a perfect illustration, lightyears from the fleetingness of a flashy exploit.

Verbatims
Jean Louis Iratzoki (Emea Designer): “Emea really represents a declaration of intent made at the very beginning of Alki’s transformation. A sculptural exercise of simplicity with softly shaped lines. Like a figure carved from a single block. It is the first step towards a new universe that combines woodworking know-how with the language of emotions."

Peio Uhalde (Former CEO of Alki): “We had started by making a chair with smoothly-rounded corners. Today, the Emea Collection is celebrating its 20th anniversary and yet it’s still as stylish as in 2004. If there’s an object that epitomizes Alki’s metamorphosis, it is indeed Emea!”