Uprooted by Jorge Penadés

From February 8 to 22, 2025, during the Madrid Design Festival, an exhibition highlighted the reflections of the Andalusian designer on Spain’s olive oil industry

From 8 to 22 February 2025, at Espacio Gaviota during the Madrid Design Festival, Jorge Penadés presented the exhibition Uprooted which explored Spain’s olive oil industry.

Curated by Seetal Solanki, the project unfolded in three distinct phases. The first one, spanning from 2015 to 2024 and carried out in various stages, focused on meticulous research about the olive oil production systems of Andalucía — Penadés’ birthplace and the world’s largest olive oil producer, responsible for over 20-25% of global production and 80% of Spain’s output.

This first part of the exhibition uncovered the extreme industrialization of nature, particularly the shift from traditional manual olive harvesting to super-intensive methods. This process was documented by the architectural photographer, based in Berlin, Max Creasy during a research trip to Jaén, Córdoba and Granada, last September 2024.

The second face concentrated on physical experiments with olive roots to understand the potential of this discarded part of the tree.

Throughout this period, Penadés encountered different technical challenges due to the unpredictable growing logic of the roots: unlike the trunks, which grow in a linear vector looking for sun, roots grow in all sorts of different directions looking for water and nutrients, making it almost impossible to understand grain behaviours. As a consequence, roots are often cut with a chainsaw and sold as firewood for 0,10€/kg.

The third face is a furniture collection that is a reflection of the ongoing process of experimentation and prototyping. A shelving unit, a coffee table, two chairs, a wall lamp, two side tables and two wall shelves were crafted by Penadés for the exhibition, underscoring the exhibition’s main impetus: a realigning of how we control the environment.

Born in Málaga in 1985, Jorge Penadés is a research-driven practitioner who designs new possibilities for our built environment. Deeply rooted in the Mediterranean landscape, his office engages in objects, spaces and ecologies. Often inventing materials and techniques, the main ambition is to develop work that has not yet been possible to be developed.

Recent projects include Camper’s store next to the Centre Pompidou in Paris (2023); the exhibition The Final (Group) Show, co-curated with Matylda Krzykowski at Dropcity in Milan (2023); a limited-edition furniture collection for Berluti, LVMH (2021); a vase collection for Spanish manufacturer BD Barcelona (2019); and a glass chair for The Future Perfect gallery in New York (2019).

Jorge has delivered lectures at leading cultural institutions – including the Victoria & Albert Museum – and his work has solid international recognition in the form of design awards and media coverage: T / The New York Times Style Magazine listed him as one of the best 16 “things” to see during Milan Design Week 2017. His Structural Skin project is part of the permanent collection at the Vitra Design Museum.