Zizeilu
A redesign of the zizeilu — a centuries-old Basque furniture piece that once served as shelter, seating, and storage in the traditional home. The brief was to reinterpret it for young urban apartments without losing its cultural roots. The result combines exposed steel, local pinewood, and juta linen in a flat-pack structure designed to last.
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Overview
What was the challenge?
The zizeilu was a central piece in Basque farmhouses, used for sitting, eating and storing. The brief was to bring it into a contemporary apartment without losing what made it meaningful.
How did we approach it?
We started by mapping the original object's six functions against what still made sense today. Once the user was clear (a young professional couple in a small apartment), the aesthetic direction followed naturally: industrial minimalism, warm materials, honest structure.
What came out of it?
A flat-pack furniture piece in local pinewood, recycled steel and juta linen. It folds, it stores, it adapts. Made to last and designed to feel at home in spaces that do not have much room for anything that does not earn its place.
Design Process
The original zizeilu had six distinct roles in the Basque home: shelter, seating, storage and more. Understanding what each function meant helped decide what to keep, what to let go and what to reinterpret. The target user became a young professional couple looking for a home that was functional, personal and built to stay.
Methods
- Desk Research
- Product Analysis
- Context Mapping
- User Persona
Visual references came first to lock in a direction: exposed steel, raw wood, the quietness of urban lofts. From there, rapid sketching tested how bench, table and storage could coexist in a smaller footprint. A weighted matrix comparing faithfulness, functionality and sustainability shaped the final concept.
Methods
- Moodboarding
- Rapid Sketching
- Concept Matrix
Every material was chosen for ecological reasons first. Local pinewood, juta linen and recycled steel were each selected for their durability and low impact. Flat-pack assembly kept transport lean and made repair and recycling straightforward.
Methods
- Material Research
- Ergonomics
- Technical Drawing
- Sustainability
Final Product
The result is a piece that does more with less. The table folds out, the chair moves, the shelves display. It fits a small apartment, references a centuries-old tradition and is designed to still be worth something in ten years.
