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Open Doors at Openstudio, Designblok Prague

Openstudio was one of the highlights of my first visit to Designblok in Prague. As with all the events of the festival, it was held within a building normally closed to the public – in this case in Dum U Minuty (The house “at the minute”) on Prague Old Town Square, a stunning example of high-Renaissance architecture outside and more contemporary functionalism inside.

10.30.14 | By
Open Doors at Openstudio, Designblok Prague

The Diploma Selection was a showcase of the best graduates from fashion and product design courses across Europe’s universities and art academies. German designer Laura Jungmann collaborated with glassmaker Cornelius Réer, to reform existing mass-produced glass products using traditional glassblowing techniques.

Designblok Open Studio

Being in The Czech Republic, it was inevitable I’d see a lot of glassware, and I really liked the refined lines of this collection by Kristyna Petrova.

Designblok Open Studio

This vase, available in a range of colours, by Romana Vyhnankova of Studio Muck caught my eye – I liked the pairing of bold colours with natural wood.

Designblok Open Studio

Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design (AAAD) student Barbara Pribylova won the Designblok Talent Card for her Lollykov floor lamp, as part of a long-term project supporting students from Czech Universities.

Designblok Open Studio

New designer Petr Hak perfectly balanced natural wood with luxe copper shades to create these simple yet striking pendants.

Designblok Open Studio

One of my top finds from the whole of Designblok was Michael Tomalik’s duvet-filled, metal-framed chair complete with storage for anything you might want to hand on a lazy Sunday morning. I love its playful ‘form-follows-function’ design.

Designblok Open Studio

Drzmiskova Ceramics were showing some gorgeous products and filled their space with a cloud of dispersed scent, making for a completely immersive, and very pleasant, experience.

Designblok Open Studio

Another top find was Dechem Studio, aka Michaela Tomišková and Jakub Janďourek. With the slogan, ‘We tell stories in Bohemian glass,’ their combinations of materials and forms were absolutely stunning.

Designblok Open Studio

Jan Plechac and Henry Wieglus seemed to pop up all over the festival – these are their handblown glass pendants.

Designblok Open Studio

And to finish on, two chandeliers. Above is the Super Light Freestyle by Fehling & Peiz and below, the Maria SC chandelier made from laboratory test tubes.

Designblok_Open_Studio_11

Check out our feature on this test tube lamp here.

Katie Treggiden is a purpose-driven journalist, author and, podcaster championing a circular approach to design – because Planet Earth needs better stories. She is also the founder and director of Making Design Circular, a program and membership community for designer-makers who want to join the circular economy. With 20 years' experience in the creative industries, she regularly contributes to publications such as The Guardian, Crafts Magazine and Monocle24 – as well as being Editor at Large for Design Milk. She is currently exploring the question ‘can craft save the world?’ through an emerging body of work that includes her fifth book, Wasted: When Trash Becomes Treasure (Ludion, 2020), and a podcast, Circular with Katie Treggiden.