Pere Ventura Sala

Leatherworker

Lola Moser ©Michelangelo Foundation

A free spirit in Barcelona

Pere draws inspiration from the functionality of objects
He likes to combine modern design with manual traditions
I still feel like a child, who at age 68 is still playing every day'

Aged 16, Pere Ventura Sala started studying at a design school and working for an architecture firm. However five years later he “became a hippy” (this was 1971, after all), a lifestyle that was incompatible with working in an office on a fixed schedule. At the time he happened to live with a person who made leather handbags, and he taught Pere to make them too. There followed several years of travelling throughout Europe and Morocco, learning his craft along the way. He first set up a workshop in Morocco, before later returning to Spain, initially to Ubrique. In 1989, he opened a workshop in Barcelona, focusing on small-scale production of pieces designed in-house as well as by external designers.

Interview

Lola Moser ©Michelangelo Foundation

Did you pursue any formal training in leather?: My academic training was in design. The rest, let’s say, was learned on the street: in Formentera, in Ibiza, in Mallorca, in Morocco, in Ubrique… In each of these places I collected techniques of different origins, which I continue to use at my convenience for everything.
What was it like working in Morocco?: A complete culture shock. It was a radically different culture to what I knew in Europe, so setting up the workshop and explaining to artisans what I wanted was a very memorable and exciting experience – and pretty intense, too!
Do you only work with leather?: I have dedicated so many years to leather, and that’s what I work with most. But I also like wood and metal. For my pieces I do everything from the beginning to the end, because I am a curious craftsman, so I like to do it myself instead of entrusting it to someone else.
What inspires your work?: Everything. Normally what inspires me is necessity. For example, I am currently trying to make an armchair. What do I want from an armchair? For it to be comfortable, aesthetically beautiful and easy to build.

Pere Ventura Sala is an expert artisan: he began his career in 1967