Pour les Alpes: With a Cabinet above the Roofs, in Rocks, and on Glaciers

(adam štěch) The Franziska Kessler Gallery in Zurich has recently presented a project by the Pour les Alpes designer studio, thanks to which, one finds it easy to always be in the mountains. The collection of three cabinets treats traditional alpine motifs and topics in its own way.

More and more often, contemporary furniture design shows how designers are trying to break free from an omnipresent and globalized society and return to the traditional values of the individual countries and regions in order to melt these values into the present by means of new methods and technologies. Designguide has demonstrated this approach, which the Swiss designer duo of Tina Stieger and Annina Gäwhiler (aka Pour les Alpes) has used, in a series of projects.

They presented their latest project of three cabinets entitled “Echos” in the Franziska Kessler Gallery in Zurich during December. Each furniture piece treats traditional alpine motifs and topics in a different way with an unusually precise handicraft approach. The Neugierde is a small cabinet covered with hand-made wooden shingles that refer to typical alpine roofing. The interior is, to the contrary, brightly red. The Ehrfurcht is a lacquered black cabinet. Having opened it, one experiences an earthquake or even an alpine avalanche. Nearly one half of this cabinet opens in the form of a broken off piece of rock with a completely uneven edge. The interior, made from hand-sawed Swiss pine, has the form of a rough geometrically treated stone. This object is an homage to the rich diversity of the Alps and an appeal for visitors to explore them – it is enough to shift the stone a little bit. The last piece of the collection is the Sehnsucht, a chestnut cabinet covered with a traditional lace that evokes mountain glaciers. Its drawer is equipped with several small compartments.

The Echos collection really is a traditional project in the non-traditional sense of the word. It urges us to discover the rich cultural and natural heritage of the highest European mountain range and brings dutiful workmanship back to top design. For that matter, the phenomenon of workmanship plays a key role, as does the issue of identity.

< back