designboom investigates on contemporary craft.
we met the artecnica people in new york.


what was the evolution of artecnica's 'design with
conscience' collection?
'design with conscience' started as an interesting project
to do through either offering opportunities for artisans that
otherwise would not utilize their craft commercially,
and/or turning recycled materials into beautiful objects
that could be reused.

our first project started with the 'come rain come shine'
chandelier, handmade in brazil by female brazilian artisans
who had a great talent of crocheting fabrics.
enrico (bressan) and tord (boontje) went to the favelas
around rio and collaborated with artisans of Coopa-Roca
on how to construct the piece.

the second project is 'tranSglass', which tord boontje
and emma woffenden had done earlier in limited production
in their own studio. we decided that if we wanted to take
on this project, we needed to commit to using recycled bottles.
it was a lengthy process and took us about 1 year to set up
the right manufacturing system.
training the artisans entailed enrico and tord going to guatemala and bringing machinery.

we had always been a big fan of hella jongerius‘s work
and had been talking about doing a 'design with conscience'
project together. we sent her samples from different artisan
communities. she liked the black ceramic from peru and
asked us if she could work with beads on the ceramic.
we researched different possibilities and ended up with
the bead work from the shipibo tribe located in the coca
leaf-growing region of peru and their main source of
income is harvesting coca leaves. this project presented
a different way of creating income for the shipibo ladies
that have so much unused talent.

'tatu' ('three' in shona, a zimbabwean dialect) is a collection
of 3 piece furniture designed by american designer
stephen burks and made in south africa by a native
artisan community.

most recently, our collaboration with the amazing campana
brothers uses recycled tires and natural wicker.
we are still in the process of making the production work,
combining the two materials that are so different in nature
work beautifully together.


what have you learned from it?
as a company, it feels right to do these projects.
perhaps if we only did these kinds of projects, we would
hardly survive as a company, but we find them to be the
most rewarding. we’ve actually seen that it can be profitable,
but one must endure all the hard times that it comes with
setting up a partnership with partners that are not very
commercially – minded. it’s not that they do not want to be,
it’s just that we all need time to adjust to one another and
understand each others way.
our goal is to learn from one another.


if you could give an advice to others who might want to
'imitate' your approach ...
approach it with the understanding that you are going to
hit many obstacles and surprises. be ready to give a lot of
guidance. teach what you have learned in your business,
so that these communities can actually put it to use.
give yourself much bigger time lines for introductions and
deliveries. respect different cultures of the communities,
and have fun.


quantity and quality
the promise of creating a great quantity of products
at low cost initially attracted designers in the hope
of reaching a larger audience.
but now that ‘designer products’ have become
commonplace, they have begun to realize that quantity
invariably dilutes quality, both actual and perceived.
the more ubiquitous the product, the lesser the demand,
resulting in thousands of products nobody wants
anymore, thus depleting resources, contributing to the
accumulation of garbage and environmental degradation,
and resulting in negative backlash from third world
populations.


future plans?
today’s sophisticated consumer recognizes a need for
change. what may once have been nostalgia for crafts is
now becoming an appreciation of all that sustainable
craft has to offer, including shared work and profit
across borders, cultures, races, and religions.
artecnica currently is working on two new DWC projects
with long time collaborator tord boontje. one country that
has been selected for the production is guatemala.
they both are going to be launched at the salone del mobile,
in milan in 2008.




---

artecnica
was founded in 1987 as a studio focused on providing design
solutions for architectural, product development, and other
creative enterprises.
their multidisciplinary approach and the varied interests
of the studio personnel exposed artecnica to diverse
clients and industries, creating opportunities to engage
problems in numerous markets. the transition from design
studio to design production company was a logical next
step, and in 1993 artecnica launched a collection of
designer objects in the USA. since then artenica has
expanded, most recently focusing on the development
and marketing of design objects for home and industry.
while current products are produced both by conventional
factories and by artisan communities, the launch of
artecnica’s ‘design with conscience’ campaign coincides
with the significant expansion of production within the
artisan community.



‘design with conscience’
is a program to manufacture and produce products in
accordance with humanitarian and environmentally
friendly principles, founded by artecnica in 2002.
artecnica had invited talented designers of international
fame to contribute new ideas to an ever-expanding
design collection and to team with them with artisans
in need around the world, invigorating commerce and
assisting surrounding communities.
the mission is to promote self-sustaining communities of
talented artisans in underdeveloped countries.
the model is simple: the value of artisan-made goods has
always been appreciated. but with the globalization of
trade, village artisans have become divorced from their
traditional markets, insulating them from the potential
demand for their craft. artecnica’s vision is to introduce
into the world’s artisanal communities two essential
components: the designer and the project producer.

the designer can dovetail the capacities of artisans with
the needs of the international market-place.
the project producer provides the logistics, marketing,
and art direction necessary to bring the work of the
designer and the artisan to the consumer.
as the project producer, artecnica partners with such
nonprofit organizations as ‘aid to artisans’ and the
‘british council’. the challenge is to develop a competitive
product that will encourage the survival of indigenous
craft. fulfilling this mission requires a smart designer,
a savvy and visionary project producer, and a willing
and ambitious artisan. out objective is to avoid the
mechanization of the artisan, which devalues his
work and undermines the project from both a design
and an economic standpoint.
in accomplishing these goals they try to avoid the
assembly line production, exploitation of third world
labor, and displacement of workers that often results
from monopoly-oriented marketing organizations with
global reach.





---
see page 2

‘tranSglass’ , recycled glass
by emma woffenden and tord boontje