It takes no small amount of courage to take that step. So does
taking part in an international design trade show as a furniture brand
while barely presenting a single piece of furniture, or celebrating the
handicraft production without showing a single hand. Instead: faces. In
close-ups, larger than life, covered with sweat and highly focused, they
appear on the screens of a video installation through which ClassiCon
was represented at the renowned “Designers’ Saturday” trade fair.
The concept was created by designer Sebastian Herkner. He had the
glassblowers who make the coloured base of his “Bell Table” filmed
as they worked. Their mimicry alone conveys the sense that they are
doing both strenuous and precise work, and the appreciation becomes
noticeable especially in close-ups that focus entirely on the people. For
Herkner and ClassiCon, these men are “heroes”. And that is the title of
the installation. It received the honour of winning the trade fair’s “Grand
Prix”, and it says everything about the importance of handicraft for
ClassiCon as well as the challenge for the manufacturers with whom the
company works. It also clarifies how the relationship contributes to the
identity of both parties.
ClassiCon has its furniture produced by craftspeople, enabling
designs that exploit and expand the possibilities of handicraft. In the case
of Eileen Gray’s famous “Brick Screen” designed in 1925, the flawlessness
of the surfaces is part of the design. It is achieved by coating each of the
movable panels with piano lacquer, sanding them by hand, and lacquering
them again – eight times in total, as is the case with a grand piano – at
a workshop that, coincidentally, is specialised in making grand pianos.
The “Mars” chair, designed by Konstantin Grcic in 2003, looks like it was
folded from a complex cut-out sheet. The special difficulty is to add a
fabric or leather cover to its surface geometry of slanted planes and edges
that not only fits like a second skin but also emphasises each of the folds
with a straight, ornamental seam. For the highly skilled and experienced
upholsterers, this demands the maximum degree of precision.
The “Euvira Rocking Chair” by Brazilian designer Jader
Almeida (2013) draws its characteristic lightness from the two side
elements, above all. The trapezoid frames made of solid oak form the
armrests and skids, slightly tapering on the top and bottom. Their
surfaces flow from straight to organically formed shapes; the subtle
curve in the wood that creates this effect is turned and sanded by hand –
and a small masterpiece in itself.
