designers unite with historic viennese manufacturers for passionswege

designers unite with historic viennese manufacturers for passionswege
image courtesy of postlerferguson

vienna design week sets itself apart from the others by hosting the passionswege program — an initiative which sees festival director lilli hollein curating a select group of international creatives, and partnering them up with historic viennese manufacturers. the collaborations are experimental, but the development process and the realities of market feasibility play a huge role in what each partnership realizes. together, the parties discuss and exchange their individual expertise, resulting in contemporary design objects and installations that reflect and highlight the traditional craft techniques and methods of the participating viennese companies.

postlerferguson designed a set of bespoke recording tools for musician and producer ken hayakawa
image courtesy of postlerferguson

UK studio postlerferguson (martin postler and ian ferguson) was paired up with jewellers A.E. köchert, that founded in 1814 and was once the former imperial-royal purveyor to the court; as well as the inventor of the diamond ‘sisi stars’ which were worn by empress elisabeth as either a necklace, diadem, pendants, brooches and accessories.

the functional tools were created using A.E. köchert’s specialized jewellery making techniques
image © kramar / fischka.com

with jewellery being something of an accessory, postlerferguson wanted to create a set of functional tools that exuded the refined skills of A.E. köchert’s craftsmen, and made a personal statement. they developed a range of bespoke recording tools for vienna-based musician and producer ken hayakawa that serve as attachments for his AKG C1000s microphone. at the heart of the collection is a large brass cone which shields the device and helps distribute the emitted sound, while acting as a means of balancing the microphone on flat surfaces for ambient recordings. a cable clip that can be attached to large bags, but that can also function as a hook in which to hang the microphone for hand-free usage accompanies this. the resulting pieces express postlerferguson’s own technical personality, while carrying on the tradition of the ‘sisi stars’, and the unique line of jewellery that A.E. köchert makes.

detail of the brass cone which distributes sound, while also functioning as a balance for the microphone on flat surfaces
image © designboom

brass cable clip that can be attached to bags or act as a hook in which ken hayakawa can hang his microphone
image © designboom

ian ferguson of postler ferguson
portrait © designboom

pedrita collaborated with industrial sheet glass manufacturer stiefelmeyer to create a set of delicate containers
image © designboom

from the delicate to the industrial — the portuguese team of pedrita (rita joão and pedro ferreira) were partnered with stiefelmeyer who has been making sheet glass for commercial applications, such as window panes, mirrors, or glass furniture since 1917.

cut down, the glass and mirror sheeting takes on a completely different appearance
image © kramar / fischka.com

to contrast stiefelmeyer’s expertise in large-scale production and installation, the lisbon-based duo wanted to shape a collection of refined design pieces. they cut down the sheets of structural and reflective material to form small multifunctional boxes, along with table and wall mirrors ideal for desktop use. the polished containers give no indication that they have been fabricated by heavy-duty glass, and the addition of colored commercial felt, normally used in the protection and transportation of the sheets, acts as a soft buffer while adding a graphic boldness to the geometric objects.

glass and mirror typically used for commercial installation is used to create small containers and mirrors
image © kramar / fischka.com

colored felt is added to pedrita’s designs to act as a buffer, while also softening their tactility and appearance
image © designboom

pedro ferreira and rita joão of studio predrita
image © kramar / fischka.com

‘j(oy) & l(ove)’ friendship tumblers by BCXSY for J. & L. lobmeyr
image © kramar / fischka.com

like pedrita, BCXSY also cooperated with a glass producer J. &. L. lobmeyr. founded by josef lobmeyr, the viennese manufacturer has been crafting glassware since 1823. while a lot of attention and care are put into the smallest details into their offerings, lobmeyr’s collection is intended for every day use, and the dutch studio of sayaka yamamoto and boaz cohen wanted to emphasize this in their collaboration.

glasses waiting to be sandblasted and personalized
image © designboom

taking the classic biedermeier friendship tumbler that is a definitive part of lobmeyr’s history, BCXSY has developed ‘j(oy) & l(ove)’, a set of wine drinking vessels that are meant for a couple. each pair has two distinct glasses which are used independently, but whose profiles intimately hug one another; in a way acting as a metaphor for sharing a moment together, and allowing us to ‘rediscover the joy of daily rituals‘. the glassware is meant to be personalized using a combination of sandblasted motifs, and hand engraving, more specifically the etching of each couple’s faces — one on each tumbler — turning them into personalized keepsakes.

sayaka yamamoto and boaz cohen ‘s profiles captured for placement on lobmeyr’s glassware
image © designboom

sayaka yamamoto and boaz cohen of BCXSY
portrait © designboom

big-game utilized the skills of wiener silber manufacturer to shape a lampshade
image © designboom

the skills and craftsmanship of wiener silber manufacturer [vienna silver manufactory] who specializes in a different type of tableware — cutlery, tableware and other accessories — were harnessed by big-game. like their assigned viennese workshop, the swiss studio have a strong belief in developing objects which subtly enhance and embellish everyday life.

detail of big-game’s planished metal lampshade
image © designboom

with the desire to create functional, but optimistic products, big-game designed a lamp whose shade has been planished — a technique which involves the repeated hammering of sheet metal so that it becomes smooth, or brings forth an ornamental indented finish.

profile of the lamp
image © kramar / fischka.com

installation view of studio deFORM’s mirrors and chair conceived jointly with shoemakers rudolf scheer & söhne
image © kramar / fischka.com

studio deFORM (jakub pollág and václav mlynář) worked jointly with bespoke shoemakers rudolf scheer & söhne who since 1816, have been moulding the very best leather into quality, made-to-measure footwear. for their passionswege project, the czech studio wanted to bring forth an alternative tangible and sensorial, all-encompassing experience of the hides used by rudolf scheer & söhne.

studio deFORM have designed a chair from wood and sheet leather, which envelopes the sitter in the smell and feeling of the hide
image © designboom

a lounge chair whose high-back rest is made from a crude leather sheet, envelopes one into the smell and feeling of animal skin; while a series of hanging wall mirrors — steel sewn onto leather — expresses the suppleness of the material, as evidenced by their mounting holes which become stretched over time, forming ellipses. the family of furniture which studio deFORM has envisioned not only demonstrates hand-crafted precision, but also responds to how high-quality products should seamlessly mature over time.

wrapping up the passionswege program is stani polsterie, who joins the program for the first time and is the youngest of the participating viennese companies. local creatives mathak + mahlknecht (magdalena akantisz and peter mahlknecht) worked with the 16-year-old upholsterers. employing stani polsterie’s expertise in furniture restoration, the vienna-based studio have fabricated a seating unit, but nothing like the conventional sofa.

in their entirety, the combination of the modular green upholstered pieces allude to a cultivated landscape
image © kramar / fischka.com

the low-sitting island is a composition of numerous modular upholstered seating and reclining elements in various tones of greens, so that collectively they aesthetically refer to a cultivated landscape.

designers unite with historic viennese manufacturers for passionswege

VIENNA DESIGN WEEK 2014 (6)

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