Smile! It’s Christian Vivanco! Because that’s what the 25 years old Mexican designer tries to achieve through his projects. And maybe this is quite easy for someone who believes in “no bad days” and uses the human factor as an inspiration… He loves mixing materials and ideas with a touch of history and culture. Alux lamp or Lool vase may sound exotic but not for Christian who uses Mayan words for many of his concepts. Each one of Christian’s projects has it’s own character, a successful combination of different ideas and expressions.

The result? Not excessive, neither complex. Just simple and functional.

Our Little White Sofa
This proyect started with a couple of ideas; i had an atraction to shelters (you can tell) and also with the challenge of identify the "face" of a sofa, its front view, the facade, and then discovery a new one without loosing the expression of the sofa. I tried different ways and methods to simplify it as much as possible. In the end OLWS is a piece of furniture that can be observed from diferent angles creating different expressions. The idea of one single surface coming trough it helps a lot. To complete the picture i use the same concept on the hole structure, leaving it outside of it, so you have the chance to take a look at it from behind.

Describe yourself in five words.
observer, believer, dreamer, restless, happy
If you could be a different nationality, what would it be?
I cant relate my identity with the place where I borned. So, I really dont see any difference in nationalities. But I would love to learn and understand japanese culture
What's your favorite movie?
"spirited away", "Paris, je t'aime", "Amelie", and a lot more...
What kind of music you like to listen?
I love Coltrane, Jose Gonzales, Satie, Yann Tiersen, Ely Guerra, DaftPunk... in general i really enjoy discovering people expressing themselves, so, I cannot fit my preferences in a specific kind of music.
What is your favorite design material?
Well, I love to work more with the idea of "mixing" materials to create new sensations and expressions: right now I'm looking for recipes like wood/porcelain, crystal/terracota, fabrics/steel, etc.
What inspires you?
People around me, my friends, my family, kids, spontaneous reactions, I'm really bad to remember important things but I'll never forget little moments that happens in my everyday.
You are going for a weekend "somewhere" and you have to invite 7 famous people, dead or alive. Where would you go and who would they be?
Thats hard for me, but could be nice to have a nice breakfast next to the beach at Holbox island in México with Mario Benedetti, Jaime Sabines, Basho, John Maeda, John Lennon, Alphonse Mucha and noone else.
Are you afraid of the future?
No,I really believe that there´s not bad days to live. ( and I'm lucky as well)
Describe me the perfect day?
Im easy to please, so, any day can be a perfect day as long as you learned something from it, and i think thats easy.
What does light mean to you?
Light... is contrast. I found it more valuable when is mixed with darkess,i love the shadows.
Of your own design work, what project are you most proud of?
Each design is just an expression of a bunch of ideas, all of them different. I cant choose any. Sorry.
Luxury is?
Excess : Pollution : Saturation : Complexity : not for me. (simple is better)
Design is?
A way to think, to feel and live. An attitude, as designer you cant design only objects or services, but as well you design your sandwich, your route, your day, your everything. At least you try, (hahahaha).

The 6:00 pm Chair
The name of the proyect express the entire concept: Not a chair for eating, not a chair for offices, not a chair for something else; just a chair to be used at 6:00 pm, to rest, to wait, to lay there and take a look around. Wasnt only about ergonomics, but also about the language of the chair; for me was really important to giv the feeling of a really simple chair, but with the proportions and personality of a classic one. An strong chair but refined as well. The detail of the white legs at the end helps to "lift" it and add more character.

The Insitu Low Chair
This one is really new. The concept started with the battle between permanent/temporal, object/building, etc. A chair can help us to express a concept that surrounds not only that chair, but a lot more. In this case a tried to made a tribute to "the chair", creating an statue. Using that language, that expression available in parks and museums. TILC is made in concrete and white powdercoated steel, produced "insitu" if you want to.

The Alux Lamp
Alux means "goblin of the forrest" in mayan. Is a lamp and a table, or a table with a lamp. The design process start with the analisis of the cone as geometrical volume; a series of plans in different heights and angles cuts the cone to create new surfaces: the lamp is the top part of one of the cuts, and the table is the projection of that shape. The rest was easier.

The Lool Vase
Lool means "flower in mayan". The concept for this object was to create a new element for offices, not just a vase or a pen holder, actually is a join of those 2 functions and an extra one thanks to the small angle on the main surface: allows you to put your bussines cards and take them easily. Is an small object, a couple of pens, no more, one flower and a few cards. Lool is proposed in porcelain.