There is nothing novel about using glass to divide space. Yet the Crystal Shades by Koncern Design could make you believe, for a moment, that the Snow Queen has passed by. It is the play of light reflected from crystals of the glass that give it an illusion of fragility. Could it melt?
Crystal Shades is a prefabricated modular system of digitally designed crystal glass components that enables users to engage in the design of a unique partition or wall application. Combining two base and three end (or corner) glass components, one can create up to twenty different patterns ranging from the purely geometric to highly decorative and organic in form. It is the choice of crystal glass that makes this partition shine. When freestanding, the rays of light penetrating the crystals of the glass reflect and refract from all sides.
Jiri Pribyl and Martin Imrich of the Koncern Design studio noted that the method of digitally repeated patterns is reminiscent (although only remotely so) of the processes used to create forged bars in the medieval castles of Central Europe. The designers often work with glass, which is traditional material used masterfully by Czech craftsmen and designers, particularly in 1960s and 1970s Czechoslovakia.
Crystal Shades freestanding installation / photo:Filip Slapal, courtesy of Koncern Design
Crystal Shades diagram of modular system / courtesy of Koncern Design
The Koncern Design studio received many awards for their glassware collections, and press attention for their conceptual approach to design. With a typical Czech sense of humor, Pribyl and Imrich often address social issues in their conceptual work. Their ‘Domestic Violence’ collection consists of glasses, vases and bowls with distorted form as if they had been broken in a fight. The collection ‘Fake It Easy’, presented last year at Salone del Mobile in Milan, challenges the Western approach to piracy in design – who is copying what and when, the East from the West or the West from the East? The collection includes standard glassware with strange elements ‘added’ to it. One can find a car gear stick on a bowl, rearview mirrors as part of a plate, or the handle of a kitchen knife serving as the stem for a glass. Provocative lettering emblazoned in Chinese and English ‘Fake of Koncern’ expresses the designers’ belief that someone somewhere will eventually copy also this collection.
'Domestic Violence' collection by Koncern Design / photo: Filip Slapal, courtesy of Koncern Design
'Fake It Easy' collection by Koncern Design / photo: Filip Slapal, courtesy of Koncern Design
'Basic Quotation' from the 'Engineering Collection' by Koncern Design / photo: Filip Slapal, courtesy of Koncern Design
The Koncern Design studio excels beyond glass. Their design of the child safety seat Cybex Solution X-fix for Honk Kong based company Cybex received the prestigious 2009 Red Dot Design Award in the product design category. Crystal Shades were displayed in Zona Cortona during Salone Internazionale del Mobile 2010 as part of the installation for the Czech company Lasvit.
Solution X-fix Child Restraint System designed by Koncern Design / photo courtesy of Cybex.com
Filed under: Design, Prague Tagged: | Czech, Design, Glass, Prague, Product, Product Design, Salone del Mobile 2010
