Hot on the heels of Milan Design Week we are still talking about exceptional design in the form of the Design Museum’s annual Design of the Year Awards. Celebrating the most innovative, interesting and forward-thinking design, the awards honour the most talented designers across a number of categories including product, transport, architecture and furniture.
Konstantin Grcic for Matiazzi, Medici chair. £810
As winner of the Furniture Design of the Year award, the Medici chair is a triumph of originality from Konstantin Grcic. Manufactured by Matiazzi, the chair is an intelligent design combining three types of wood in a striking seat with ergonomic properties and irregular angles. At the forefront of outstanding design, The Conran Shop stocks the Medici chair alongside a number of other pieces from Konstantin Gcric. If this was not enough, we are also proud to stock pieces from the new collection by rising stars Muller Van Severen. Nominated for the same award, the Future Primitives collection of units,
combine seating, shelving and lighting in a series of cutting-edge, minimalist designs.
Rack and Chair, Muller Van Severen, £4,295
About the awards…
Organised by London’s iconic Design Museum, the Design of the Year Awards recognise the brightest design talent across seven categories. Known as the ‘Oscars of the design world’ the 2013 awards includes 99 nominations and is accompanied by an exhibition at the Design Museum which is open until 7th July so you can see all the nominees under one roof. This year has seen the likes of Amanda Levete, Nicolas Roope and Ilse Crawford on the judging panel. For further info click here.
About the designer…
Konstantin Grcic originally trained as a cabinet maker at the John Makepeace School before studying Design at the Royal Academy of Art in London. He has designed for some of the most prominent furniture and lighting companies including Matiazzi, Flos, Magis and Vitra amongst a host of other recognised names. A paired-down ethos is evident across his works and he has a signature simplicity that pervades his style aesthetic. His passion for materials and technology is perfectly matched to Matiazzi’s woodworking obsession and their focus on local skills and network of manufacturing workshops.
Speaking of the design process, Konstantin Grcic says “designing for Mattiazzi was like a personal time travel. It took me all the way back to my professional roots. At the very beginning of my career, I was trained a cabinet-maker. Working with wood is what I learnt from scratch. It is where it all started for me. Mattiazzi make furniture in wood, using both traditional means of production and the newest digital production technologies. Medici was born on Mattiazzi’s factory floor. The chair was inspired by the material, the machinery and, of course, the skill and craftsmanship of the people we worked with. Right from the beginning, I was looking for a distinct grammar for my design, a language that would express the characteristics of wood. I liked the idea of working with planks. They signify the very beginning of the production process – a tree trunk that is cut into slices. I like the way in which a carpenter joins wood. It is immediate and direct. The construction remains visible and easy to read. Structure turns into form.”
*Courtesy of Matiazzi.com