(Archive) Kadim - Modern Architypes

Archeology yet to come

Kadim - a collection of contemporary human habits, captured in shape and matter. Shortlist of Modern Architypes we all have at home: the water carafe, the cookie jar, the fruit bowl, a coffee to go cup, a shaker and a "made in china one".

These containers seem trivial at first glance. We collect them because we need some space to store our daily routine. We pick these objects randomly, or with extra care. And after a while we replace them with new ones. We feel the need to refresh our choices, or they simply erode.

Studio fe has redesigned these containers as New Pottery: now made of thin metal, coated in earthy tones. As if archeology yet to come.

Their new design allows us to take a step back, and reflect on our lives today. The assembly represents what we eat, drink, grow. What we consume. What we collect. How we decorate, why we decorate. Our addictions. The trash we produce. What we recycle.

With this vocabulary, do we now have everything that we need ?

Second Nature

Consumerism has become our second nature. Everything that we buy becomes our second nature. Literally. The trash we produce will soon replace our landscapes.

The waterlilies vessel collection, coated in evergreen tone, stands as a metaphor for shape and matter. Such that can last forever, or can be forever lost. With this project Studio fe hopes to gain some time. Time to rethink our needs, our consumption habits. Time to be considerate. Time to reconsider. Time to desire without being impulsive . A life time to collect the objects we appreciate. Well-crafted design that we can pass forward to next generations. Designs that have many lifecycles, or can be recycled.

The waterlilies vessel collection, now rewritten in metal, gives validity to all that stuff that is here to stay: our water carafe, a cookie jar, a fruit bowl, a coffee to go cup, a shaker and a "made in china one". How long will it take until they become our landscapes; still life.

Where is this place all these containers we throw away – go to ?

This is waste!

Pretty things make us happy - aesthetics, colors, shapes, compositions and flowers. We humans like stuff. Is there space for such needs? Is ornament a crime? Are we being harmful to the environment when we design meaningful vessels that symbolize codes, cultures and human habits? Can artifacts be considered sustainable?

We humans need containers to store our emotions, thoughts, memories. What is important to us in the way we live, and what habits we are willing to give up? Are we allowed to hold on to emotional containers? If we stick to buy only necessities, are beauty & esthetics considered functional?

As a designer I sometimes feel ambiguity about filling up earth with more and more designs. Kadim is a manifestation of the way we live. Through this vessel collection the studio explores not only the consumer’s conflicts, but also the designer struggle between the need to design beautiful things, bearing in mind the toll it will take on our environment.

Kadim highlights the struggle between Form, Function and Waste. As sometimes we wish we were different, but don't really know how to change.