Frugal Collection

Celia-Hannes collaborated with local craftsmen from Cape Town to create a simple furniture collection that interprets in a contemporary way traditional materials and technique.

Frugal Collection
Hannes Schreckensberger and Célia Picard, founder of Franco-Austrian design studio Celia-Hannes, stayed six week-long in Cape Town – the World Design Capital 2014 – to collaborate with local craftsmen from limited resource areas of Cape Town.
The duo did an observation of frugal and simple crafts techniques and materials to highlight the potential of contemporary interpretations of traditional materials and techniques, geared to work in both the context of the northern hemisphere as well as the south.
Frugal Collection
Celia-Hannes, Frugal Collection Cape Town

Studio Celia-Hannes spotted a metal wire bender as well as a group of grass weavers in the townships and started a creation process which was a direct exchange of skills and collaboration with the craftsmen. The Frugal Collection comprises a metal wire stool with integrated storage space, grass mat wall tiles, a rope and steel hanging system, and grass wall mats that incorporate steel hanging elements.

The wall mats that incorporate the steel hanging elements inspired by the beautiful visual language of the Xhosa people could be used, for example, as clothes racks or in the kitchen for holding small, lightweight objects. By seeking new uses for the traditionally-woven grass mats, historically used as sleeping mats, Studio Celia-Hannes have not only helped maintain a local craft tradition, but also created products that are functional and appropriate for the people of the communities in which they were produced.

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