The participating designers include Annina Gähwiller, Bilge Nur Saltik, Dagny Rewera, Diana Simpson Hernandez, Jule Waibel, Lina Patsiou, Lucy Norman and Rive-Roshan. The influence of the cultural background of each individual designer is reflected in their work, drawing inspiration from nature, science, culture, personal journeys and human behavior. The common aim to tell stories through design and add value to daily life objects binds the works together.
The work of Jule Waibel consists of collapsible structures reflect how our world is constantly changing and the work employs a folding process integral to the design ethos. Entfaltung is a particular folding technique that can transform simple sheet materials into three-dimensional objects, with the additional capability that they can expand and contract. A dress which changes its shape according to the movement of the body, an expandable bag and an umbrella are all made of Tyvek®, a lightweight water and tear-proof synthetic paper. The project celebrates the beauty to be found between geometry, transformation and play. Their elegance, efficiency and beauty enhance my life on the move. Jule’s work is influenced by the geometry and simplicity of the Bauhaus. She playfully combines objects, fashion, performance with a strong focus on geometric shapes, transformation and aesthetics. Her current clients include Green Berlin, Kangoroos and Bershka.
Nuts on Circles is an emotive tool for a person with dementia. It is designed to stimulate an interaction between the person and the object, highlighting the moment of activity. The tool can be configured using a series of modular elements embodying links to the individual’s biography. The elements can be joined and twisted and, with the aid of haptic and acoustic feedback, stimulate senses and evoke associations. Swiss designer Annina Gähwiller finds inspiration in the unique characteristics of the Swiss alpine culture. Exploring the origins of traditional crafts and reaching for future potential, she creates objects that invite us to reinterpret values of our cultural context.
OP-jects are series of daily life objects with optical illusions designed by Bilge Nur Saltik. She aims to change the perception by giving the brain maximum information. The function of the objects triggers the effect of illusions and it reveals hidden visual secrets. She is manipulating the information brain receives by distorting the image with layering different materials. Playing with color and geometrical patterns enhance the optical illusions. Hand-made dimpled glassware creates kaleidoscopic effects on top of colorful patterns. This collection contains series of objects to surprise you in your daily life by revealing this secret, magical, playful effect. Bilge Nur Saltik is a product designer from Istanbul. Her approach to design merges culture in a contemporary way. She focuses on stories behind the objects and human behavior as a result of it. Working with traditional craftsmen, she introduces them to new materials, thus utilizing their knowledge and techniques while originating a fabrication of products combining the old with the new. She is particularly interested in the human behavior and narratives, which result from the objects she designs.
Winter Tide is a collection of lights which continually transform. When the warm bulb is on the icy substance around the light will slowly start to melt. After half an hour the light turns cold and the clear melted liquid begins to freeze again. Over time crystals form and expand across the glass, generating an elaborate network of shapes. The ice crystals polarise the light making shadows and light patterns. By encapsulating a small amount of material and instigating a rhythm of continual transformation, Winter Tide draws attention to subtle alterations of material and the perpetual movement of time. The glass vessels are hand blown in London by a scientific glassblower. Lucy and Dagny are interested in bringing ephemeral moments and hidden transformations into our daily lives, through the products they design. Dagny Rewera is a Polish designer based in London. She is the co-founding member of Born An Idea Creative Lab. Her work is strongly inspired by nature and science, choreographs, captures and translates invisible dimensions and moments into our everyday lives. Lucy Norman is born and based in London. Her designs explore the science and the mechanics of the world. Her recent focus is on the concept of time and light. Many of Lucy’s projects explore health, human awareness, and sustainability.
Back and Forth presents a series of collapsible objects that are the results of a slowed down conversation between Swiss designer Annina Gähwiler and British designer Lucy Norman. The objects must fit flat into an A4 envelope and expand into three dimensions. Object ideas grow via an exchange of letters between London and Zurich, being improved and developed at every stage.
The work of Diana Simpson Hernandez combines the techniques of traditional Mexican craft practices with the contemporary tools of digital technology. Intricate patterns inspired by Aztec neck plates and papel picado, are laser cut into leather chest plates, producing multiples of the patterns and product. The digital fabrication employed ensures that these unique and multifaceted accessories can be easily manufactured and affordable. The Mexican born designer is based in London, she focuses on designing within the context of local cultures, to find alternative ways in which design can nurture communities and empower individuals. Her work is influenced by Mexican culture and she seeks to link manufacturing technologies with Mexican ancient crafts to create products that reflect the resourcefulness that she believes is intrinsic to her culture of origin.
The Sun Clock collection is a series of clocks lined in natural leather that has been exposed to UV light. Employing a solarium lamp normally used for cosmetic tanning, the clocks of this collection present patterns inspired by the change between night and day. The daughter of an economist and a philosophy teacher, Lina Patsiou has always maintain a balance between the poetic and the practical. An engineer by training and an artist by temperament, this designer seeks inspiration in the facts to produce works of fantasy. Her design explores time and place and the ways in which those may influence the tangible characteristics of the outcome object. Identity, narrative and the fantastic are recurring themes throughout her work.
Like the ripples in a pond, the dunes in a desert or the waves of sound, nature seems to present us with patterns of regularity and harmony. But as humans we’ve always had the urge to look further than this tranquil surface. Science has shown us the microscopic and even molecular structure that make up our world. What we discovered were complex and wild landscapes of small particles and energy. This collection tries to satisfy this human desire to look beyond the surface and see what’s beneath it. The ring refracts our vision, showing the detail of the weave, the resolution of the print and it distorts the patterns into wild, unpredictable shapes and colours. The scarves are fine silk surfaces of graphic pattern, with hardly any volume or substance. The scarf rings are clear transparent handmade glass volumes, almost invisible. The scarves have been designed as abstracted visions of nature’s perfection. The rings are designed to question it. Rive-Roshan is a London based design duo consisting of Dutch designer Ruben de la Rive Box and Australian/ Iranian designer Golnar Roshan. Having met whilst working in the design studio of Marcel Wanders in Amsterdam they both relocated to London in 2012. Their work aims to reinterpret human cultural heritage into new forms and is based on the belief that the adorned surface can be a carrier of culture in past, present and future. They release their own collection of personal accessories and collaborate with other designers and brands. All their products are locally produced.
Featured video ©Jule Waibel
All images ©of the artists