FURNITURE IN PROCESS
The new space inside Hopa Studio required something more than just furniture. We asked some designers for help and together we created a series of interior design objects adapted to offices in creative industries. Everything was created in the process: 10 people, workshop meetings, design, production, arrangement and a full mix of skills.
This is a story of a project that was borne out of successful group collaboration. The goal? Functional interior design objects for a branding studio.
No one expected an innovation, i.e. an universal system that would solve all the arrangement problems in offices around the world. The aim was to recognize the needs and characteristics of a specific group of people. This time, however, the work was embedded in a creative environment, which allowed for interesting solutions where interior architecture met design. We wanted the design of the furniture for the new offices to be the result of conversations between people with different expertise. For us, the most important was the process itself, the conversation within the group and the combination of its members’ individual skills, as this is where we see most value. The question of aesthetics, although the most important one, was left unanswered till the very end.
MEETING
When it was time to move Hopa Studio, we found the perfect spot: a loft with high ceilings and a lot of sunlight. It soon turned out, however, that the furniture market in Poland does not offer optimal solutions for this type of space and for people like us. Good items are always either too expensive or unavailable. What we were looking for were unique, functional objects with personality.
So we gathered a team with a task of creating something new. On the other side of the brief was a group of students: Karolina Kamoda, Maria Gajewska, Alicja Pałys and Szymon Najder, all preparing their diploma theses. For this project, they prepared workshops that preceeded the creation of brief meeting. A whole range of questions would result in the development of forms closely linked to the specificity of offices in creative industries. All the ideas helped to gradually give shape to the project.
EFFECT FOR EVERYONE
For us, this year-long cooperation ended with the implementation of several elements that turned out to be needed, at that time, in our studio in Mokotów. For everyone it resulted in the creation of a universal furniture system: a multi-element set of objects for design offices.
The aim of the system is to support the work process in a creative environment and its inner dynamics through mobility and different configuration possibilities. The objects can be moved across the entire space and combined into new forms, thus allowing to effectively organize the office, regardless of its size and layout.
CONTINUATION
The furniture was produced by Grzegorz Gdula, a graduate of the Wrocław Academy of Fine Arts and the creator of the Kujto brand. Gdula designs and produces handmade metal furniture and creates unusual steel structures. For Hop, he created minimalist shelving units, stairs and accessories.
Arkadiusz Szwed was also invited to cooperate in determining the final form of the System. It was his objects that crowned the project by delicately complementing the rawness of its other elements. He is a designer, a ceramic technologist, a specialist in the field of industrial forms and a head of a ceramic workshop and a lecturer at the Poznań School of Form. Ceramics helped to find the right balance between the minimalism of furniture, the loft-like character of the interior and the need for a creative, homely atmosphere where the human is at the center.
SYSTEM
The aim of the multi-element set of objects is to support the work process in a creative environment and its inner dynamics through mobility and configuration possibilities. The objects can be moved across the entire space and combined into new forms, thus allowing to effectively organize the office, regardless of its size and layout.
By combining different shelving units we can create separate areas in the office and set apart zones of different character and atmosphere: ones that facilitate creation, focusing, organization of meetings, relaxing and having conversations. The System has two important functions: to organize and to stimulate. It is a collection of elements that will allow to control chaos, while also giving a sense of privacy.
Objects from the Organization section, i.e. shelving unit, separator, kitchen, hanger, ladder, stairs, cubicles, shelves and connectors not only allow to display and store things, but also help to separate empoyees’ desks from the meeting area, organize the kitchen area and create a tidy place for interactions.
The Stimulation section, which includes minimalist hanging lamps, plant lamps, acoustic panels and a rocker, creates atmosphere, helps find the right balance between focus and work and stimulates to action. The Stimulation section contains items that serve as a counterbalance to the organized, coherent world of the Organization section, giving it a subtle ambience.
Team
Klient: Hopa Studio
Furniture design: Karolina Kamoda, Alicja Pałys, Maria Gajewska, Szymon Najder
Furniture production: Grzegorz Gdula/Kujto
Ceramics designed and crafted by: Arkadiusz Szwed
Furniture design: Karolina Kamoda, Alicja Pałys, Maria Gajewska, Szymon Najder
Furniture production: Grzegorz Gdula/Kujto
Ceramics designed and crafted by: Arkadiusz Szwed
Photoshoot
Photographer: Piotr Hołub
Photographer’s assistant: Adrian Obręczarek
Model: Marcin Paściak
Set design: Piotr Hołub/Marcin Paściak
Photographer’s assistant: Adrian Obręczarek
Model: Marcin Paściak
Set design: Piotr Hołub/Marcin Paściak
