(smow) blog compact Vienna Design Week Special: Frugal Collection Cape Town at harald bichler_rauminhalt

In context of Cape Town’s tenure as World Design Capital 2014 Franco-Austrian design and architecture studio Celia-Hannes spent six weeks on the Cape of Good Hope working with local residents and craftsman on questions surrounding contemporary living conditions and furniture.

The first results of the cooperation are being presented during Vienna Design Week 2014 at design gallery harald bichler_rauminhalt.

And no, it wasn’t some neo-colonial “white man come help” project, or at least wasn’t as far as we can ascertain. Much more it appears to have been a sort of Passionswege ex loco with Célia Picard and Hannes Schreckensberger cooperating with local crafts folk as equals to develop new ideas.

A central focus thereby is/was traditionally woven grass mats. Historically such grass mats were used by the people of Cape Town and environs as sleeping mats, these days mattresses are preferred, and so Studio Celia-Hannes sought new uses which not only helped maintain the local craft tradition but which also created products that were functional and appropriate for the people of the communities in which they were to be produced.

From the developed objects we were particularly taken with the “wall tiles”. Presenting a very pleasing squared off fishtail geometry the wall tiles can not only be used for “tiling” interior walls, and so providing easy and accessible acoustic elements combined with a dash of colour, but can also be joined together to create hanging room dividers.

We’ve never been to the townships of Cape Town and so must rely on Célia Picard and Hannes Schreckensberger’s information that in the homes of the townships storage space and private sphere are at a premium. As such an attractive, high quality room divider system has a real value.

In a similar vein the project also saw Studio Celia-Hannes together with grass weavers from the township of Dunoon and metalworkers from nearby Delft develop a series of wall mats incorporating powder coated steel hanging elements; wall mats which can be used, for example, as clothes racks or in the kitchen for small, lightweight objects. In a particularly nice touch the metal elements repeat forms the metalworkers regularly use in the fences, gates and security grills that form the backbone of their business and thus not only create an instant familiarity but also ensure that the production of the wall mats fits in with the workshops established process: increased efficiency, reduced cost.

In addition the project saw the creation of a rope and steel hanging/display system for cooking pots and a delightful steel wire stool with integrated storage space. Or space for storing thin magazines/newspapers. Or pamphlets.

All in all a very nice collection of objects which although clearly created for the residents of the Cape Town townships have, thanks to their easy, relaxed form language and obvious functionality, a universal appeal. And as such potential.

In the introduction we noted that the Vienna exhibition is displaying “the first” results, for although the formal project phase is completed the objects on display in harald bichler_rauminhalt are prototypes and further development work is planned.