New Work / LUCIE KOLDOVÁ, VRTIŠKA A ŽÁK FOR JAVORINA
Javorina, a traditional Slovak furniture brand, presented its new collections in the premiere at the current Designblok in Prague in October. It is the second collaboration with designers Vrtišek and Žák, this time for the first time with the LOPA and TUBA chairs and for the first time with the XX table collection by Lucie Koldová. And there was also an award, the Designblok prize for the best furniture collection. Javorina thus confirms that it is a traditional brand that behaves unconventionally in our environment. Regular collaborations between manufacturers and designers are still not a very standard practice in our country. Of course, there are furniture brands with a long-standing distinctive and high-quality profile, such as BRIK, DOMARK (they also participated in Designblok and with dignity), but collaborations with new designers are not very common in their portfolio. On DOMARK’s website, for example, the names of the designers of their products are absent, and for BRIK it’s almost exclusively the original designs of Ivan Čobej (founder and owner of the brand).
Javorina, is going a new way for the second year. It is behind this, among other things, an effort to establish itself more on the Czech or Czechoslovak market (in addition to the German market). Perhaps that is why the brand is approaching designers known in the Czech environment. Behind this decision, however, there is perhaps also knowledge of the real situation. Czech designers have more experience in designing products for real production. Among Slovaks, Javorina has worked with Boris Klimek, but he is based in the Czech Republic (he also studied there) and with Tomáš Král, a Slovak designer who has been working in Switzerland for a long time. It’s worth thinking about….
XX
Javorina’s decision to approach Lucie Koldová is both confident and strategic. This internationally sought-after designer is currently one of the best in the Czech Republic. Her collaborations with manufacturers are growing exponentially. It is enough to mention that last year she designed the large installation DAS HAUS for the IMM furniture fair in Cologne – a very prestigious assignment and one of the most watched events at the fair every year. The designer’s handwriting is quite clear. She likes very clean, minimalist but sensual forms. And she often looks for subtle accents to accentuate these forms. Her collection for Javorina is also like that. The main element of her tables is just a distinctive, esovite, X-shaped base on which she has placed a gently rounded top. All in beautifully crafted oak. Clean, efficient and spectacular. Delicate, feminine and, thanks to the material, timeless.
Lucie Koldová, Collection XX, dining table.
Chairs
Similarly busy (although more in the Czech Republic) is Studio Vrtiška and Žák. They have already cooperated with several manufacturers such as MM CITÉ, Jitona, UP závody, Lasvit. Their portfolio is very diverse, but they also tend towards clean and reduced forms with a more dynamic silhouette. This is the second year they have been working with Javorina. After smaller home accessories and tables, they designed new chairs.
Yes, a chair is one of the hardest assignments, there are countless of them and countless good ones. Vrtiška and Žák were looking for a universal, classic shape. Alongside this, they wanted to highlight the high quality craftsmanship that is typical of the brand’s products. Thus the LOPA dining chair was created, which has a simple, utilitarian shape and the nice thing is that, thanks to the technology and craftsmanship used, it has no screws. The seat is O-shaped and resembles a flattened disc. The backrest is a simple, softly sculpted longitudinal oval. Its sister, the TUBA chair, then has nimble armrests and a minimalist but dynamically shaped frame, but at the same time looks and feels, thanks to the workmanship, solid and durable. A nice detail is the seat cushion, which flows gently over the supporting structure.
