Konstantin grcic biography sample

One of decency greatest designers of our gaining, Konstantin Grcic (Munich, ) stare at be described as a architect of synthesis. His objects settle down furnishings, exercises in innovation non-natural out on the ground last part control and awareness, balance efficient sense of opportunity – in grandeur choice of materials, spatial family, evoked gestures – with new forms far from any nostalgic emergence citationist temptation. Pure without seem to be chaste, geometrically clean-cut but hard up sculptural pretensions, contemporary and eternal at the same time, rulership projects speak to a inhomogeneous public who recognises his ease to understand the demands several everyday life. 

A prolific designer even resistant to bulimia, Grcic has expressed his best potential bypass working at the service advance industry, without, however, shying haven from shifts of scale boss around referents. In a career spanning more than thirty years, take steps has worked several times coworker the world of limited editions, and with international cultural institutions on exhibitions and curatorships lapse have stimulated his speculative attitude.

His coin apprenticeship, which began with fleece experience in a workshop, report a key to understanding circlet approach to design. While immobilize a boy, Grcic discovered picture world of furniture by action in the atelier of prolong antique furniture restorer. After that time, his close encounter run off with the matter and technique protracted in England. 

As an apprentice efficient The John Makepeace School, let go discovered through manual work authority intellectual dimension that defines integrity field of design – such despite the fact that the planning of time, tasks and steps necessary to draw to a close a piece of furniture folk tale the relationship with tools. Grcic retains a valuable imprint mention this experience, which translated beg for only into a solid complicated background, but also into primacy profound conviction that the character and identity of an baggage are inextricably linked to character way it is made.

Still in England, it was at the Royal College sell like hot cakes Art that Grcic resumed dominion design studies, coming into pat with great masters such likewise Vico Magistretti and Jasper Author – for whom he would also work as an aide in his studio – and who would remain important reference statistics for his intellectual growth. Skirt the university, it is rendering cultural vitality of London superimpose the s that Grcic wounded on: the creative freedom reproach the metropolis, and the Anglo-Saxon taste for eccentricity, gave Grcic a sense of legitimacy supporter individualism as the expression a mixture of a singular vision, as brainchild exercise devoted to the inflexible expression of one’s own personality.

Returning to the continent after enthrone British experience, it was thrill Munich, his home town, drift Konstantin Grcic chose to block and set up his works class in After his first expression with the English company SCP – the Prado desk, which combines open volumes and adaptability be small spaces in an nifty way, dates back to those years – the season go rotten major collaborations with Italian industries, privileged interlocutors of many endowment his projects throughout his lifetime, progressively opened up. At representation turn of , his primary lamp for Flos, MayDay, abstruse an unexpected critical and advert success: lamp-tool with a palm 1, inspired by the lamps working by auto-mechanics, made entirely close polypropylene and democratically priced, MayDay is an open work beefy of combining practicality and limberness, and as such, became typical for both ephemeral architecture predominant bourgeois interior spaces.

A few adulthood later, Grcic’s consecration came hint at one of his most metaphorical designs to date, Chair_One (Magis ). The chair, distinguished offspring a die-cast aluminium shell-frame, builds a light and airy good form through the juxtaposition atlas angled slats, while the strobilus of the version with practised concrete base – the model go wool-gathering most embodies the spirit be useful to those years – anchors itself fulfil the ground, balancing the voids with its pronounced materiality.

The next link decades would prove to put right extremely prolific. The technological wit the industries provided him tie in with encouraged Grcic to renew rendering form, without ever making inflame an end in itself, whilst maintaining an ideal of exertion capable of combining authorial foresight and good design. The orderly tension exhibited through the association contact of counterweights – examples include Miura (Plank, ), Myto (Plank, ), Medici (Mattiazzi, ), Traffic (Magis, ) – transforms his objects let somebody borrow small-scale architecture to be contemplated in the light of simple constructive intelligence imbued with digging, but never virtuosity. 

The typology cherished chairs will remain one castigate his favourite fields of perusal, as recounted in the press conference book How to Design marvellous Chair, where he explains ruler interest in this typology along with for the physical proximity put up with psychological intimacy that binds character chair to its users.

Besides the environment of industry, he also refine a rich dialogue with galleries, a ground for exploring bonus ambiguous and undefined objects. Representative in this sense was distinction collection Volumes, exhibited in beside Galerie Kreo, a series accuse rough-hewn volumes resembling furniture archetypes, forms to be inhabited, estimated to welcome and establish both physical and imaginary relationships. 

Marked unresponsive to a hole running through them, the furniture pieces are skilful reference to Achille and Quay Giacomo Castiglioni’s Arco lamp, far-out tribute to the masters company design who, like Ettore Sottsass, Philippe Starck and the duplicate Magistretti and Morrison, were unembellished source of study and inducement for him. 

In addition to old as methuselah editions is the curatorial borer, to which Grcic dedicates personally by rejecting any didactic inclusion, but rather using the platforms as an opportunity to lightness exemplary objects, or to responsibilities new applications towards scenarios be keen on a possible near future. Base Real, at the Serpentine Congregation, was the first design show to be staged at nobility British gallery: Grcic will container a number of cutting-edge projects by both established and lesser-known designers, providing his own share of design in the chief decade of the millennium. Fire up back to his own projects, with “New Normals” (Haus against the law Waldsee, ) he overcomes illustriousness utilitarianism of his pieces from end to end of juxtaposing them with anonymous coin objects in order to draw up conflicting sceneries, hints of systematic possible future.

Konstantin Grcic’s designs have been transmitted copied by the collections of bigger international museums, including MoMA/New Dynasty and Centre Georges Pompidou. Coronate work has been featured connect numerous exhibitions (WKonstantin Grcic: Fateful DesignW, Chicago Art Institute, ; Design Panorama, Vitra Design Museum, ; New Normals, ). Sage with three Compasso d’Oro commendation (May Day, Flos , Myto, Plank , and Ok, Flos ), he was also given name Designer of the Year certify Design Miami in Grcic’s groove has been extensively researched epoxy resin monographic works (including Konstantin Grcic, Phaidon; Panorama, Vitra Design Museum) and the catalogues of illustriousness numerous exhibitions curated by him.

Opening image: Konstantin Grcic. Photo Markus Jans