We are pleased to announce our first participation in the ORGATEC Trade Fair in Cologne, Germany. This presence is driven by our wish to bring the Treku ambiance to modern working environments within the contract furniture sector.

We would be delighted to welcome you to our stand (K048 in Hall 10.2) and introduce you to our new products.

Clerkenwell. A London district with a rich history of trade, commerce and social life since the 12th century and now the leading design district in the UK, if not perhaps the world. It is home to more creative businesses and architects per square mile than perhaps anywhere else around the world, making it one of the most important global design hubs.

It is here that architects and interior design professionals conceive their ideas and inspiration for projects across all continents of our planet, from London to Los Angeles to Singapore and onwards. London’s reach is truly global.

To celebrate this rich and diverse community, Clerkenwell Design Week is a 3-day design festival which allows both companies and designers to participate in a series of showroom events, exhibitions and special installations that take place across the Clerkenwell area.

This year, for the first time, Treku participated in Clerkenwell Design Week as part of Basque Living London and their recently opened Showroom space.

Basque Living is a collaboration of 8 manufacturing companies based in Spain’s Basque Country who have created an inspiring space where tailored solutions are developed to suit professionals’ needs. This collaborative environment offers each company a great opportunity to find great project partners.

During the Clerkenwell Design Week, the Basque Living showroom hosted a variety of events which allowed all of the companies to showcase both their unique products as well as to communicate the Basque region’s unique culture, allowing us to welcome design professionals and give them a fresh way of understanding Basque design.

Treku were delighted to collaborate with Riya Patel, a leading design writer and curator, who hosted a conversation with Clara del Portillo from leading Spanish Design Studio Yonoh. During this conversation, Clara took us through the process of how Yonoh were inspired to create different furniture collections for both Ondarreta and Treku.

A decade after Aura’s launch, Treku wants to celebrate its most international product’s birthday. To mark the occasion, it is collaborating with illustrator Ricard Jorge, who has created a limited edition of three prints as a tribute to Aura. The choice of Jorge was not a random one: although he works in a different context from Treku (two-dimensional illustration), the Barcelona-based artist uses the same toolkit as the Basque company: clean lines, sparse geometry and combinations of light and dark.

Discover Ricard Jorge through this video where he presents his work:

Treku is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its most international product, the Aura system. Gorka Aldabaldetreku, company co-director and the founder’s grandson, remembers the history of this innovative product that has resonated with the tastes of design lovers in more than 50 countries.

Perhaps 2011 was not the ideal year to launch a product that had so little in common with what was on the market at that time. Perhaps it was not the moment to present something with that formal appearance and those finishes. Perhaps that is why Treku presented an innovative furniture system, full of subtle details and offering countless ways to personalise it and adapt it to spaces. They christened it Aura and it allowed Treku with nearly 75 years of history to expand the portfolio of international markets in which it works.

Aura emerged at a strange time, not only for the furniture sector, but for the world in general. In 2011, a global financial crisis that would last several years began, and uncertainty was the norm for people and companies alike. Treku was not immune to those circumstances. “We needed to create something different. It wasn’t enough to present just another collection that matched what was already on the market. We had to take more of a risk,” explains Gorka Aldabaldetreku.

Treku contacted designers Angel Martí and Enrique Delamo for them to give substance to the idea the company had in mind: a modern modular system that could work in such a turbulent, complex time, and that could, at the same time, penetrate more foreign markets. “The fact that it was aimed at an international market brought with it some very specific conditions, such as making the collection easy to configure.” What did they develop? A piece of furniture whose light feet create the appearance that it is suspended, hypernatural finishes combined with a very judicious selection of colours… After a year of briefings, meetings and prototypes, Aura became a reality.

The Leap

It was time to present it to the world. Treku had taken this step before on other occasions, but never with a product like Aura. The Basque company embarked on a tour of the main European furniture fairs, such as Berlin, Cologne, Paris and Milan. “At fairs, you can see immediately whether people like the product a lot, a little or not much. People fell in love with Aura from the beginning,” explains Gorka Aldabaldetreku. The system was presented to society, thereby starting the wave of orders that would go on to encompass some 50 countries around the world. The minimalist concept of Aura even influenced the marketing strategy. For the first time in its history, Treku did not edit a catalogue to promote the new product, but rather produced a case of posters that showed details of the furniture, with precision and audacity. “Looking back now, it was very innovative – daring, even. There was another sort of energy, a lack of awareness that, from today’s perspective, might be surprising,” Gorka remarks.

Ten years have passed since that moment and Aura has achieved a sort of iconic status, having connected with so many styles and countries. Although Gorka avoids the idea of Aura as an icon, he is nevertheless very positive about how it has been received: “The system has worked particularly well in countries where there is a tradition and a culture around design, such as the United States, much of Europe, and even niches like South Korea and Singapore.”

Functions and compositions

One of the secrets to Aura’s popularity is its versatility and its capacity to adapt to and serve different spaces and environments – something that has surprised its own creators. “It offers many options for personalisation, the possibility to choose finishes in various natural woods and a broad menu of finishes and lacquers. You can do what you want with it, whatever you can imagine. In fact, clients have devised functions and compositions of the Aura that we had never imagined. Aura in a bathroom as a basin stand? It’s all welcome!” explains Angel Martí, one of the designers.

Gorka Aldabaldetreku smiles when he wonders how Aura will look in 2031, when it has its twentieth anniversary and remains, steadfast, in the company’s portfolio. It will have evolved, and will continue to evolve, but he doesn’t know how. “Aura is a timeless product, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be updated. Updates are necessary, as long as the product doesn’t lose its essence or turn into something else,” he concludes.