design without borders – exhibition

She learnt knitting from her grandmother when she was young. Her enthusiasm for creations made from a single yarn hasn’t diminished since and her career is defined by experimentation. She got her degree at the Zurich University of the Arts, and although her studies had essentially focussed on woven materials, ever since buying her first knitting machine she has almost exclusively designed and made crocheted fabrics. Her works do not follow expectations or rules; she has a penchant for mixing luxury-quality and raw-feeling materials. These unexpected mixtures result in exciting experimental compositions that are playful, are usually 3D and give the human body a sculpture-like appearance. Besides clothing Feilchenfeldt also creates accessories that take shape as either spectacular jewellery or unique hats.

After graduating she almost immediately won the Brunschwig Prize for Applied Arts which established her career both in Switzerland and abroad. In 2000 she moved to Paris and opened her own studio. She began working as a costume designer, creating progressive and impressive costumes for theatre and various other stage productions for nearly a decade. She subsequently returned to the fashion industry where she now creates breathtaking pieces commissioned by haute couture fashion houses.

Cécile Feilchenfeldt
textile designer

cecilefeilchenfeldt.com

Imagination can be seen as the ability to advance beyond the objective world. It is based on our imagination, which enables thinking in all its forms. Imagination is a prerequisite for empathy, the ability to empathize with other people and enables purposeful actions. As part of my design, I address the importance of fantasy on the basis of dealing with imaginary places and questioning realities. Inspired by dreams and nature, I use natural finds such as tree barks, branches, stones and precious stones to model compositions that have an earthly and at the same time supernatural appearance. Precious metals and composites, as well as a touch of magic, are assisting me to create an extraordinary contrast between imagination and reality. Objects are formed that give the appearance of originating in the nature of another world. Artifacts of distant worlds as jewels for earthly moments. My jewelry is a homage to nature and a call to dream. Dreams form thoughts, thoughts form words, words form actions, actions form habits, habits form personality. We are what we think. We shape the world with our thoughts. I see my jewelry as a reminder of the importance of fantasy in our lives. Dreaming Jewelry!

Jil Koehn
jewellery designer

jilkoehn.com

”The main component of LINOLEUM products is the material PVC, the floor covering which we know mainly as lino. Klatovská Floor coverings PN collects PVC scraps in a container; and I decided to take these scraps and use them interestingly. During the tests where I wanted to see how PVC behaves during processing I discovered several ways of working with lino. Some
even ended up imitating various materials. I used technologies that are not completely typical for working with lino, such as turning.”

Text: Monika Beníšková

Home is a brand based on the handicraft traditions of the designer’s hometown and aims to provide more opportunities for the local craftspeople.

The town of Ada used to be the small-craft centre of Yugoslavia; nowadays locals mostly move away. This collection mingles local values and professional knowledge with the toolkit of contemporary design to create a new market opportunity for the community. The long-term goals of the project include creating personal relationships between the creators – so products are deliberately created to require the cooperation of several workshops.

Set out collectively and under Bálint Szalai’s direction, the product range includes small-batch high-quality everyday items that not only serve functional needs but reinforce the sense of homeliness. Reserved and radiating serenity, the collection includes stools, various storage bins, serving plates and candle holders. They are organically united in being natural and using primarily earthy colours, but bear the mark of their creator’s hand upon themselves. The uniform appearance and the webshop are the essence of the initiative, since they provide a springboard for creators, who can now reach a broader and even international audience.

The name comes from the designer’s personal experience: A simple and unambiguous answer to the question „Hi, are you home?”.

Supervisor: Panni Pais 

The sculpture-like objects of this Catalan designer are a unique mixture of flowing shapes and precision typical of the digital age.

A testament to Quittlet’s talent is that already in 2001 – at the start of his career – he was noticed by French design genius Philippe Starck and they ended up working together for many years. They have created many objects together that can nowadays be considered iconic.

Quittlet founded his own studio in 2011 in Barcelona. Form and function are indivisibly locked together in his creations. His style is easily recognisable, and his perspective impresses both the emotions and the tactile senses. He usually designs seating furniture and furnishing accessories, which then appear in the range of renowned manufacturers such as Alias, Christofle, Desalto or Kartell. Quitllet was born on Ibiza, and the island still influences his works. As he puts it: For me Ibiza is not just a place, it’s a state of mind.

Made at the request of Vondom of Spain, the Ibiza series is part of the brand’s first environmentally conscious collection, which was made using recycled fishing nets and other plastic waste washed up on the island’s shores. Fit for indoors as well as outdoors, this chair family beckons for a long sit-down. „The wonderful terraces of sunny Ibiza with their characteristics wicker furniture are a defining experience for me. I am evoking the memory of these finely curved pieces.”

A winner of the 2020 Red Dot Design Awards

eugeniquitllet.com

gyártó / manufacturer:
VONDOM

partner:
BUDAPEST BARCELÓNA KFT

The special objects and installations of Shahar Livne are born out of her research into nature, natural sciences (specifically biology) and philosophy, their narratives embodied by various raw material experiments.

The basis of the design project, which also contributes to scientific research, is the idea of an imagined future. „Environmental changes triggered by the waste generated by humanity inevitably endanger and even transform nature. Microplastics penetrate the earth and the ecosystem so deep that they combine and transform into a totally new raw material that is a peculiar and utopian mixture of nature and culture.” This is only partly a figment of the imagination. In 2014 a “rock” was discovered on the beaches of Hawaii. It was made up of sand and waste and was dubbed a plastiglomerate. In her proposal the artist asks questions like ‘how do humans relate to a new material that is synthetic (man-made) in its origin’ or ‘how can its specific properties become the basis of a design process’.
Beazley Designs of the Year 2018 finalist
New Material Award 2018 finalist

shaharlivnedesign.com
Design Academy Eindhoven

Recycling plays an ever more important role in the work of designers. Nowadays it is vital, a most fundamental element of a designer’s way of thinking responsibly.There are many exciting examples for reprocessing paper, metals, textiles or even leftover food, but substantially fewer ones for recycling mixed household waste that is generated every single day. In Europe a significant proportion of municipal waste still ends up on landfills. A smaller proportion is incinerated to generate electricity. One residue of incineration is bottom ash. There haven’t really been experiments regarding the usability of this ash, although a single Dutch one-person household generates almost 60 kilos of it in a year. Carissa Ten Tije offers a progressive special/unique way to repurpose this lifeless gray mass as a secondary raw material. Modular segments were pressed from the ash and were used to make this stone bench. Although it hints at the ash from whence it came with its colour and terrazzo-like texture, it appears fresh and impressive.

The creation of the bench was preceded by thorough research into the topic, the results and observations of which were compiled by the designer in a useful publication.

carissatentije.nl
Design Academy Eindhoven

Balázs Csizik uses plastic waste found on the beach to create artistic compositions reminiscent of suprematist images

One of humanity’s most pressing issues is to reduce pollution in the oceans, because according to predictions they will contain more plastic than fish by the year 2050. So far ca. 150 million tons of waste have made it into the seas, however this figure is rising daily at a disturbing rate. The sight of discarded straws, plastic cups, soft drink bottles and other piles of synthetic waste has alas become part of the beach landscape; but even more worryingly these slowly but surely choke wildlife too. These various pieces of plastic occasionally arrange themselves into interesting compositions that reveal – at a push – certain aesthetic features. This is what this series endeavours to demonstrate, where the viewer sees the objects as artworks and as documents of a problem that needs to be tackled at the same time.

Balázs Csizik has a master’s degree in visual communication, his field of research is the situation of contemporary Hungarian abstract photography. He is primarily interested in contemporary architecture and abstract art styles. Beyond this he mainly studies the work of constructivist artists from the turn of the 20th century and their works based on the reduction of colour and shape. His images are characterised by the play with plane shapes and the compositions originating from them.

The series is a personal salute to Kazimir Malevich, the genius father of Suprematism.

balazscsizik.com

Hot Wire Extensions is a young sustainable design brand lead by Swiss designer and material researcher Fabio Hendry.

Fostering material innovation and experimental engineering, Hot Wire Extensions presents an innovative manufacturing process, applied to a range of products, furniture, installations and special commissions. The process was developed as a response to the changing material landscape, critically analysing and questioning the consequences of technical innovation. Using waste SLS 3D nylon powder, a material that is currently not recycled, and inspired by the way a vine grows around a tree, a nichrome wire is shaped and placed within a container filled with nylon powder and silica sand. An electric current is sent through the wire, causing the mixture to solidify around the form leading to endless possibilities in shape, scale and application. Pieces are defined by the process’ unique organic bone-like aesthetic and characterised by the mindful exploration of material landscapes.

Rado Star Prize Switzerland for Young Talents 2019 nominee

hotwireextensions.com

Micheline Nahra has disassembled a four-person dinner setting and rebuilt it for one person, in a bid to make absence visible. A Dinner for one tells a story of loss, it is a signifier of absence, a former normalcy of life that is absent, and a situation that has been transformed into a memory. Starting from a table and four chairs, she deconstructed the objects into their constituent parts, worked on the individual elements and reconstructed the new table and chair.Raised in war-torn Lebanon, this process of deconstructing and reconstructing is a way of exploring the relationship between objects and the layering of stories in them.“Where I come from destruction is a reality and reconstruction is inevitable”. The pieces reflect the human need to retrace the past, preserve memories, and rebuild what is broken.

https://www.instagram.com/michelinenahra/
Design Academy Eindhoven

This expanding series features photos where the “landscape” is dominated by the former Berlin Wall. The project fits well into Meyer’s artistic praxis; she is fundamentally interested in the physical, sociological and psychological aspects that shape the character and spirit of a location. In her works she uses an analogue technique which she combines with the visual language and toolset typical for digital imaging. In the colour photos of the Berlin series one can see blurred and pixelated bands created using hand-embroidered cross-stitch that signify the former location of the Wall. Most of the photos show the central city districts, where the path of the former structure that divided the city for almost three decades can clearly be traced. There are also many photos, shot in the suburbs or the typical forested areas surrounding Berlin, where one can only find subtle traces or barely-visible clues.

The gesture of embroidery is a radical intervention, used primarily to highlight the unnaturalness of the Wall. The obscured, blurry sections make the landscape translucent, invoking something that is no longer there but to this day occupies an important place in individual and collective memory. „I was curious to see what lasting tangible effects the Wall still has – even though it was torn down decades ago. Memories and photos turn history into a nostalgic object; but how much do they influence our objective judgement of the past?”

dianemeyer.net

A brand where traditional weaving techniques from all over the world meet an exciting way of recycling.

The result: A slew of unique handmade lamp shades. The initiative was conceived by designer Alvaro Catalán de Ocón in 2011 following his first visit to the Colombian Amazon. The thrown-away water bottles he saw there made him realise that the problem isn’t solely limited to the developed areas of the world. The project’s goal, besides creating an attractive design object, is to preserve a traditional handicraft method that is present in nearly every culture. Following the principle of ‘think global – act local’, the shades are created with the involvement of craftspeople local to Chile, Ghana, Ethiopia or Colombia among others; some of whom employ techniques that are more than 500 years old.

The design of the lamps was inspired by the bamboo tea whisk used for Japanese tea rituals, which is handmade from a single piece of bamboo and is split into 100 strings. Bottles are cut up into thin vertical strings which are basically the warp threads for the weaving process. The unique patterns, colours and shapes of the shade are worked onto this by the local weavers. And the electric wire can easily be fed through the bottle’s neck.

The concept is an uncanny combination of industrial production and handicraft. Just as the number stamped into the PET bottle indicates where it was made, so does the work of the craftspeople indicate their culture like a sort of grid reference number, providing an ethnographical and anthropological overview of the astonishing diversity of basket weaving.

https://www.rossanaorlandi.com/collections/pet-lamp/

This  projects are about food; however, the subject is not food itself – rather its wider context, woven around a story.

Certain foods guide us back into the past like Ariadne’s thread; calling upon collective memory they create a sense of belonging and show us where we come from. The Churut series is comprised of dried fermented milk products from different parts of the world – from Mongolia through Central Asia and the Middle East all the way to Switzerland. Although the milk of different animals and similar fermentation processes are used, the shapes and usage are all the more diverse. The method originated in Mongolia, where it is called aaruul.

A spicy variant is part of the traditional cuisine of Armenian expats, who use it to flavour broth. A similar foodstuff is called kurt in Kazakhstan, qurut in Uzbekistan – where it is eaten as a snack with beer; in Afghanistan it is known as quroot, whereas the Jordanian variant is called jameed and is used for making broth. There is dried fermented milk in Iran and parts of Iraq inhabited by Kurds too. There it is called kask, and is dissolved in water and used as a sauce. The Greek and Cypriot variant is named trahanas. There the milk is mixed with grain and serves as a soup base. Another European variant is the schabziger from Switzerland; it is made from dried whey and the blue fenugreek plant. Its uses include grating it on pastas.

geschmacksarchiv.de
Milch für die Ewigkeit

Developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) by the Swiss designer duo, this chair fundamentally changes our ideas about sitting down.

Patrik Künzler studied molecular biology and wanted to become a race car driver; and Mark van Raai is an astrophysicist. The Limbic Chair is based on their diverse knowledge. When sitting down on a chair, we make a series of tiny movements without even realising it. These micro-movements activate the brain’s limbic system, which is responsible for adaptability, memory, learning efficiency, and even for motivation. This chair was designed so that we can easily adapt the most comfortable posture while the chair contributes to stimulating our brain. Instead of a fixed seat there is a rotating carbon fibre shell – mounted on a base with casters – that is in constant motion, but it still enables a lax and balanced posture. While performing activities we will feel relaxed, we will work more creatively, with more focus, and thus with greater efficiency. The Limbic Chair strengthens the spine muscles and can thus aid the rehabilitation of certain spinal problems. Coupled with the proprietary VR application it also works as an interface: like a computer mouse or joystick, it makes work quicker and games more exciting. All chairs are custom-made to the user’s body size and habits.

Winner of the Design Prize Switzerland 2019/2020

limbic-life.com

Through their work Zsófia Zala and Ádám Tóth not only show the beauty hidden in waste, but also sneak the cycle of nature back into the objects. All the pieces of the collection were made using plant waste abundantly available to the designers in their immediate vicinity, as well as other 100% bio-degradable materials. After a lengthy search they opted for pine needles, available at the Budapest Forestry Company, and coffee grounds, sourced from local companies.

The coffee table top was pressed from a mixture of chopped pine needles, sawdust and a milk-based adhesive called casein glue. It was then treated with vegetable oil to give it better protection against potential spillages. The base of the vase is made from coffee grounds, the top used to be a wine bottle. Again, the final form was achieved by pressing, the special texture was created by polishing.

Closely linked to the objects is an installation which comprises samples of the household and industrial plant waste (e.g. orange peels, tea leaves or carrot peels) used for the tests.

DeltaCraft (craft + contemporary Design)DeltaCraft is a collaborative platform set by Romanian NGO Ecopolis in 2015, that aims at creating connections and experiences between the Danube Delta artisans and crafts people and contemporary designers. The concept of DeltaCraft is to create unique working experiences between the artisans and the designers in the specific environment of Danube Delta.The Danube Delta is a very precious space, geographically defining the place where the Danube flows into the Black Sea, an UNESCO natural heritage reservation and hosting communities of no less than12 ethnic groups. Yearly, since 2015, we are trying to look for new collaborative methods between designers and crafts people from the Delta, to promote their work, the deltaic aesthetics, resources and communities. By now the platform hosted over 20 crafts people and artisans from the Delta and 9 Romanian designers.The four concepts presented incorporate natural materials, crafts skills, practical and aesthetic properties and are created by four talented Romanian designers. They were all made by the designers themselves, working alongside the crafts people from the Danube Delta, during a workshop organised in Letea Village, the most reclusive and best preserved village in the Danube Delta.

DELTACRAFT