5 QUESTIONS TO Joana Bover, founder of timeless Spanish lighting company Bover

Joanna Bover

Company: BOVER

How do you stay on top of current design trends and to what extent is your brand creating the trends?

I am a very curious person, I like to be connected to my cultural environment. The trends of my environment are what interest me. 

I feed off the cities that I regularly visit, as well as off the trends and ephemeral structures that interior designers produce and apply, as much to events as to showrooms, hotels, restaurants or home interiors. I also like graphic art in its full scale, especially when translated to urban movement and applied to the streets.

Needless to say, online platforms are an endless source of ideas and input that hit our brain with high doses of information and detail. I do not think BOVER is a trend creator, I do not visualize it in this context. Because one of the main characteristics that defines our brand is its timelessness, that means we are continually monitoring social developments around us, and are continually trying to adapt our brand principles to the latest topical trends.

 

What is the craziest / funniest / most interesting thing you ever been inspired by?

We have a collection that has been part of our catalog for more than 16 or 17 years, a handmade collection that is distinct from the products currently marketed BOVER, but which I hold in high regard.

The original idea came from a handle that a wise blacksmith, who is no longer around, created with a hot iron. He was casually working in his shop, where I saw him hit a mallet with force and instinct onto a thick iron bar with the help of a raging fire. The bar was transforming by way of constant force. The result was such a nice piece, I did not hesitate to ask if he would let me take it. 

I returned a few weeks later with my drawings under my arm, and we began a collaboration that has lasted until today.  Right now we're about remove this collection from our catalog, not for lack of sales, but because this gentleman has decided it was time to retire.

The result of that fortuitous meeting is called: Ferrara. 

 

How would the interior of your dream house look? 

My ideal home is filled with light and sea.

The light blue sky and the Mediterranean Sea, filled with warmth and color, fill our homes and our streets.

I like light colors and natural materials like linen, Egyptian cotton, or hardwood. I love comfortable furniture that invite you to enjoy yourself, and I am not very fond of beautiful products that are uncomfortable or have little stability.

For me, it is imperative that our house speaks about who we are and the time we have lived here. 
Houses must never be a showcase, but rather the setting in which our lives grow.

 

What currently is your favourite collection?

My favorite collection is certainly the Outdoors because they are the products that best express who we are. And if I had to take one home, I would choose an Amphora and a mini Garota.

 

What would you consider as your master piece?

Our masterpiece I daresay is the Domes because they represent the highest artistic expression we have created so far. Dome is an homage to creative freedom; factors of commercial and consumer interests did not drive the decisions of the author and the creative team.