Mayice

Name and surname? Marta Alonso Yebra e Imanol Calderón Elósegui
Nickname/stage name? Mayice
Nationality? Spanish
Place of birth? Marta Alonso Yebra was born in León, and Imanol Calderón Elósegui in San Sebastian, both Spanish cities.
Place of living? Madrid, Spain
Age? 42 42
Single or in a relationship? In a relationship.
Children? No
Your studies? Architecture
A brief introduction of yourself as designers/crafters/artists: Mayice is a multidisciplinary studio based in Madrid and founded by architects Marta Alonso Yebra and Imanol Calderón Elósegui in 2014. Their work combines hand-crafted methods, history and technology, and their collaborations with local artisans are a key element of their process. Over recent years, they have worked on interior design projects and items that have been exhibited in Design Weeks in cities such as London, Milan and NYC. Some of their pieces are permanently on display at Spazio Rossana Orlandi.
Awards:
2021 Architectural Digest Awards, New talent
2021 Premio AD 2021 al Nuevo Talento Campari
2020 Dune for LZF designed by Mayice. Best of The Year, Interior Design Magazine and NYCxDESIGN Awards, Pendant Fixtures
2020 VIII Premios de interiorismo 2020 Casa Décor. First Mention, Best interior design for Niessen
2019 BUIT for Gandia Blasco. Winner Archiproducts Design Awards, Category outdoor
2019 BUIT for Gandia Blasco, NYCdesign / Interior design magazine, Winner outdoor seating
2019 VII Premios de interiorismo 2019 Casa Decor. Special mention, Best interior designer
2019 Filamento Verticale, shortlisted for Dezeen Awards
2019 2018 Mayice studio, shortlisted for Dezeen Awards
2018 Filamento, shortlisted for Dezeen Awards 2018
2018 IED Design Awards, Filamento Best product design
2018 Born Awards Spain, Filamento, Category Home
2015 Architizer Awards. Special Mention, New York
2015 Elle Deco EDIDA. Best young Spanish Designer, Spain

At what age did you start being designers/crafters/artists? Since we have had the use of reason.
How do you begin one of your works? From abstract ideas.
Does anyone else help you create your works, or do you do everything by yourself? We always work with masters, craftspeople, engineers… We work with so many different suppliers; everyone is important, even the person working at the company that ships our work.
How do you choose the name of your works? We try to find a word to sum up the abstract idea behind the project.
In your projects, what does your design dialogue with? I.E. painting, sculpture, graphic design, digital…? It is always a dialogue between technology, crafts, and materials.

How would you place your works in a house/office/hotel? We used to work with interior designers and architects, and there is always dialogue. If it were a project where we had designed the interior for, it would depend on the customer and budget. However, we always look for harmony and proportions to achieve well-being and a comfortable environment.
Do you have any of your works at home? Yes.
If you had the chance to place one of your pieces in a public or private place/home/location, what would it be? One day, we would love to see one of our pieces at Donald Judd’s in NYC, or at Sejima and Nishizawa’s in Tokyo, as well as in any interior by Axel Vervoordt and John Pawson.

What is the most beautiful house you have ever seen? Villa Necchi by Piero Portalupi, and House in Mallorca by Jørn Utzon.
A work created by another designer that you would have liked to do? Malitte sofa by Roberto Sebastian Matta, Konstantin Grcic – Man Machine, Ombré Glass Chair by Germans Ermičs, or Equilibrium Table by Guglielmo Poletti.
A designer you wish could create one of your pieces? Konstantin Grcic.
If you weren’t a designer, what would you do? Something about the creativity of new concepts.
What designer (even from the past) would you like to know? Achille Castiglioni and Lina Bo Bardi.

An anecdote with Rossana that you will never forget? September 2021: during a magazine photo shoot, Rossana decided to get on some podiums with five crystal lamps. We were really worried about her, not about the lamps! But she kept on smiling, telling us how lucky we were. The portrait was stunning!
Your favourite city? San Sebastián, Spain.
A trip that you would like to take? Brazil, an architectural trip led by one of our friends there.
A trip you would never take? A trip far from Earth.