konstantin grcic elaborates on replicas

miura barstool by konstantin grcic for plank, 2005 image courtesy of konstantin grcic

as part of the opening week of experimentadesign lisboa 09, a number of conferences were hosted at the teatro camões located in the expo area of lisbon. one of this year’s speakers was konstantin grcic who returned to experimentalisboa, 10 years after his first visit to the biennale. grcic addressed the issue of time in furniture manufacturing and discussed the notion of production… and how easy it has become to replicate pieces.

the ‘replica konstantin grcic miura stool’

a web-site of a furniture distributor sells the ‘replica konstantin grcic miura stool’. they have noted that the stool is a ‘high quality, unlicensed replica of the original design by konstantin grcic. matt blatt is not affiliated or associated with the designer konstantin grcic or with plank colleziiono srl, the manufacturer of the original miura stool.‘

a website selling a counterfeit version of the miura stool under a completely different name, the ‘hexa’ stool

chair one by konstantin grcic for magis, 2004 photo by tom vack image courtesy of konstantin grcic

the ‘replica web chair’

copying grcic’s original design ‘chair one’, this web-site has now called their versionthe ‘replica web chair’. they describe it as, ‘inspired by the original ‘chair one’ designed by konstantin grcic and sold under license by magis, this contemporary chair is stackable and made of aluminium. the legs are made of polishing aluminum, the seat of die cast aluminium making this chair lightweight and strong!‘

air-arm chair by jasper morrison for magis, 2002-2005 image courtesy of magis

the ‘chinatown chair’ which is a complete copy of jasper morrison’s air-armchair

the web-site states that the ‘chinatown chair’ is ‘based on an original chinese design, brought up to date. it is now a versatile dining, side or even outdoor chair. comes in a soft white finish.‘

one of the examples which grcic provided of other designers works being replicated was a home-made DIY cardboard version of naoto fukasawa’s muji wall-mounted CD player image via vvank

designboom was there to film his speech.here’s an excerpt from it.