What if we went back to the nature’s origin and looked closely to our local traditional crafts and materials? It’s amazing how the Egyptian culture is rich with different forms of art and crafts. In fact, this inspired Cluster to collaborate with Al Fabrika and Peacock for Art and create ‘Design, Craft, Brand’ project.

The main focus of the project was exploring the traditional furniture craft and local materials. Consequently, there will be production of furniture prototypes based on the principles of social furniture. This refers to affordable and modular furniture design that uses basic materials, simple construction system and is easy to assemble.

The First phase – Workshops

First, there were preparatory workshops that took place in Fayoum and Ard al-Liwa. Participants, of art and design students, got to map out the existing furniture workshops to get a grasp of the industry. Then, they got to practically apply their design concepts through design-build workshops. Mainly, workshops aimed to exchange knowledge and skills between local craftsmen and design students. They worked with natural palm reed creating various forms and structures.

End Products – The Exhibition

Between the 14-16 January, “Design, Craft, Brand” exhibition took place at the British Council Egypt in Giza. It showcased the end products of students’ work during the workshops. “Sustainable and eco friendly” were the main key words of the designs. Pieces are totally made from intersection of palm reeds together while maintaining the original color. Furthermore, the products are ideal for both home and common workspace. Here are some of the innovative products “Design, Craft & Brand” exhibition:

The Chair

Dimensions: 90×80×80 cm.

This Ready-to-assemble Chair adopts a sustainable approach towards contemporary furniture. Comprised of only six parts, the sleek design of the chair allows easy disposition, and maximum comfort.

Baby Crib

Dimensions: 120x45x95 cm.

What’s unique about this design is that it introduces cost-friendly, light weight, and mobile alternative for baby cribs. Moreover, the design ensures safety while giving minimal and contemporary look. This clearly opens the door for creating more prototypes with natural materials that offer new solutions for daily tasks.

The Lighting Unit

This patterned lighting unit lights your space efficiently without glare. The product is divided into two parts. The upper part is the light unit. The bottom part has a shelf that serves for multiple purposes. Consequently, this piece goes from just a lighting unit to a functional decorative piece.

The ‘S’

Dimensions: 80x45x45 cm.

The S. unit is a modern stackable piece of furniture. It can easily serve a variety of functions with minimal space consumption. You can flip or stack according to your need. Also, it can possibly function as a desk, seating, or a storage unit

The Cell

The cell is a multi-functional piece that can double as furniture and as a storage unit. This easy to assemble design is inspired by the ‘Hexagon’. Therefore, this allows it to function as a seating unit in multiple positions. The Cell is highly mobile, and multiple cell units can be stocked together creating a variety of designs, for maximum functionality.

The environment is already crying for help. Therefore, it’s our role to derive our focus towards ecofriendly and sustainable designs. In fact, materials are everywhere around us. All what we need is to work with what the environment is offering. Creativity is never about inventing something that is totally brand new. It’s rather about mixing elements that already exist. And eventually, there will be innovative solutions.