Kilómetro Zero is a project that encourages reflection, reevaluation and union. A curated collection of objects conceptualized during the Spanish quarantine and crafted within one kilometre of each designer’s home.

The project invited Spanish-based object and furniture designers to reflect upon time spent in quarantine and to connect with their immediate surroundings

The initiative was launched by Sanna Völker during the spring of 2020 to demonstrate that in the era of abundance, the superfluous and consumption, one can imagine a different, more sustainable and inclusive dimension on one’s own territory.

Based between Barcelona and Madrid, the designers were asked to materialize their experiences and impressions into a piece that represent the limitations, and possibilities, of the current situation. The designers were to produce their piece with the exclusive use of materials and collaborators found within one kilometre of their homes. The same restricted area that, after several weeks of complete lock-down, they were slowly invited to enjoy.

They were asked to materialize their experiences and impressions into a piece that represent the limitations, and possibilities, of the current situation. The designers were asked to produce their piece with the exclusive use of materials and collaborators found within one kilometer of their homes. The same restricted area that, after several weeks of complete lock-down, they were slowly invited to enjoy.

This condition prompted each designer to rediscover their neighborhood and new corners of their own city. It was given the opportunity to invest in the surrounding small activities establishing new relations and collaborations. The creating process was reinvented, seeking simplicity and essentiality, and the concepts expressed through the design emerged more strongly and reinforced. The difficulty imposed by the quarantine made the designers change their realization’s approach, giving rise to a new creative process, with three new phases: contemplation, community and collection.

The objects created are of different types: there is furniture, home furnishings and domestic accessories.
Each designer has been pushed and inspired in the realization of their reflections arising from the period of emergency health. The emerged themes concern not only the creation of objects but also society, the way we live our cities, the search for simplicity, the rediscovery of traditions. Time has taken on a new centrality, it has regained value, it has been given the opportunity to appreciate the present without chasing the future, re-evaluating memory.

Km Zero is a wish to document a paramount impact on our lives and the need to come together while staying apart. A wish to explore and to highlight the importance of locality and collaboration.
Based between Barcelona and Madrid, the designers which took part to the project are: Isaac Piñeiro, Júlia Esqué, Marta Ayala Herrera, Omayra Maymó, Paula Clavería, Sanna Völker and Turbina Studio.