portrait of  Wai (right) & Lanzavecchiai (left) photo: Davide Farabegoli

portrait of  Wai (right) & Lanzavecchiai (left)
photo: Davide Farabegoli

Guest Contribution by An Michiels

Last Thursday, the innovative design brand Normann Copenhagen held the opening of the exhibition of the 2009 winning project of the Time To Design – New Talent Award in their Copenhagen Flagship Store. The duo Wai & Lanzavecchia, won the award earlier this year and are now presenting the fruits of their prize, a 3-month residency at the National Workshops for Arts and Crafts. The “Spaziale Series: New expressions of Skin and Structure” collection is a balancing act between design, fashion and human behaviour.

Spaziale Series by wai & lanzavecchia shelf detail photo: Davide Farabegoli

Spaziale Series by wai & lanzavecchia
shelf detail
photo: Davide Farabegoli

Spaziale Series // The 'family of organic domestic creatures' is made of Danish maple tree and covered in changeable stretch fabric, which adapts depending on contents and usage. This results in sculptural interior products that swallow, embrace and wrap possessions.  In the words of Wai & Lanzavecchia: “We would like to see the Spaziale Series as injections of fun in your living space, as objects that trigger conversations, encourage interaction and proposed new perceptions in how we use our furniture.”  Spaziale Series is smart too. It is designed flat-packed and easy to assemble, to move with you to your next home. Changing the colors of this furniture is exactly like putting on different clothes, the colored skin can be replaced or customized to your taste.

Spaziale Series by wai & lanzavecchia commode detail photo: Davide Farabegoli

Spaziale Series by wai & lanzavecchia
commode detail
photo: Davide Farabegoli

If you are in Copenhagen, you can still catch the exhibition – it runs until the 10th of December 2009 in the Normann flagship store at Østerbrogade 70, 2100 København, Denmark / +45 3555 4459 / (map)
Follow NormannCPH on Twitter, and you will be the first to hear how you can win Time to design in 2010.

Spaziale Series by wai & lanzavecchia shelf detail photo: Davide Farabegoli

Spaziale Series by wai & lanzavecchia
shelf detail
photo: Davide Farabegoli

Spaziale Series by wai & lanzavecchia shelf detail photo: Davide Farabegoli

Spaziale Series by wai & lanzavecchia
shelf detail
photo: Davide Farabegoli

FACTS Time To Design – New Talent Award
// The award is a cooperation between the National Workshops for Arts and Crafts, Normann Copenhagen and Link UP and consists of a 3-month residency at the National Workshops for Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen, 50.000 DDK donated by the Cultural Ministry of Denmark, a two week exhibition in the Normann Copenhagen Flagship Store and career coaching.
// The 2009 jury consisted of designers Thomas Benzen, Mathilde Aggebo and Dorte Østergaard Jakobsen, as well as Frederik Hardvendel, director at the National Workshops, Poul Madsen, CEO Normann Copenhagen and Ida Marie Nissen, architect and co-founder of Link UP.
// The award was established in 2008.
// The 2008 winner was architect Anne Romme, read about her project 'Saturated Porosity – freestanding screen' in this Yatzer post published earlier this year.
// The Normann Copenhagen brand created by Jan Andersen and Poul Madsen, launched in 1999 with a vision to make a difference in the design industry. Three years later, they launched the first product, the lamp Norm 69. Within five years more than 38 products followed, as well as collaborations with established design names and new talents from around the world.  They are selling their products worldwide now and continue to challenge the conventional design rules.

Spaziale Series by wai & lanzavecchia shelf detail photo: Davide Farabegoli

Spaziale Series by wai & lanzavecchia
shelf detail
photo: Davide Farabegoli

Spaziale Series by wai & lanzavecchia chair detail photo: Davide Farabegoli

Spaziale Series by wai & lanzavecchia
chair detail
photo: Davide Farabegoli

About the designers
Hunn Wai, educated as an industrial designer at the National University of Singapore and Francesca Lanzavecchia, who received her BA in Product Design from Politechnico di Milano teamed up at the Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands. They both graduated with a Master in Design under the direction of Gijs Bakker, co-founder of Droog Design.  Lanzavecchia's main interest lies in the relationship objects have and can have with the human body and soul and Wai is fascinated by the collisions and fusions of materials, meanings and forms.  Design projects to them are research journeys, characterized by the pursuit and selective use of different design disciplines and professional competences, to be curated, cross-bred and nurtured into concepts and products that propose possibilities and inspire new perspectives.

Spaziale Series by wai & lanzavecchia chair detail photo: Davide Farabegoli

Spaziale Series by wai & lanzavecchia
chair detail
photo: Davide Farabegoli

Time to Design Award 2009 // Wai & Lanzavecchia

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