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Cocoon Wine Rack by Moritz Proell |
Home > Winners > Design #62113 >Interview |
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FS: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
MP: Principle: An abstracted form of an infinity loop shapes the light-appearing frame which is made of solid oak. The cubic concrete base gives the object the necessary weight to avoid it from tipping over and acts as a contrasting volume. Forged steel bars run in between the vertical parts of the frame and allow the leather pockets to hang on. Up to six wine bottles can be put into them to showcase and store them. A clear but exciting structure and appearance with a minimalistic approach was important as well. Idea and inspiration: The original idea was based on the thought to develop a storing system for bottles which is different and extraordinary compared to other racks. On the one hand it should be functional but in addition to that the overall appearance was a very important aspect of the design. The wine rack should give wine lovers the opportunity to present and showcase their favourite bottles of wine and use the piece of furniture as a display case whereas it can be used for temporarily storing wine bottles that will be served soon as well. Nature can be a great source of inspiration and in this case the natural cocoon of insects gave me great input for the design. It is fascinating how nature found a way to protect them until they show their true beauty. Similar to this concept, the leather pockets wrap around the bottles until someone wants to find out their real beauty – the taste of wine.
FS: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
MP: Mainly, I wanted to achieve a new and innovative way of storing (wine) bottles. Most wine racks have the same functioning principle and are often stiff and look a bit boring. So, I came up with a unique system where the bottles rest in moveable leather pockets and almost seem to float in between the oak frame. Furthermore, I wanted to create a piece of furniture which can be seen as an object of art but the same time maintain functionality. The choice of materials and the shapes of the components should have a strong connection to the items stored inside which are bottles of wine. For instance, the oak frame shapes an abstracted form of the infinity loop which reflects the long-taking process of the wine production and is made of the same material like the wine barrels used for storage and the fermentation process. The different colours, materials, textures, and volumes are partly contrasting but still in balance with each other and create exciting composition. In addition to that, I wanted to form an interplay of lightness and mass which is given by the cubic concrete base and the delicate looking wooden frame on top of it.
FS: What are your future plans for this award winning design?
MP: I am now going to bring it to the market and present this piece at wine tasting events and showcase it at wine stores in order to get sales moving. Exhibiting this piece would be great to make people conscious of innovative furniture design and also to gain general recognition.
FS: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
MP: From start to finish almost seven months passed but I did not only concentrate on this project – during that time I worked on other designs as well. The rough sketching process did not take that long for this design because the idea of the hanging cocoons suddenly came to my mind and I was happy with the result soon. Of course, things had to be planned in detail afterwards and a couple of changes had to made that every thing works out and looks properly. The making of the prototype was great fun and took about a month. So, I would say I took me about two months in particular to create this wine rack. Now it is ready for production.
FS: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?
MP: In this case, I pursuit an idea that occurred to my mind. I wanted to create an extraordinary and unique piece of furniture used for storing bottles of wine. The design clearly shows my style and the quality of my works.
FS: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?
MP: It is not yet used by another company but it is planned to be offered for sale in furniture stores. I am not going to lease the design rights to any company but I might lease the production rights depending on the offer and as long as my brand logo and the designer’s name remains unchanged and is visible to the costumer.
FS: What made you design this particular type of work?
MP: I wanted to design a new concept for storing bottles of wine. It should be different to all the existing wine racks and the materials and the shapes of its components should be connected to the items stored inside of it. A harmonious and interesting pallet of materials, colours, textures and volumes was important as well and a great challenge to me to incorporate all these elements in one piece.
FS: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?
MP: No – every aspect and all elements of this object were completely designed by myself
FS: Who is the target customer for his design?
MP: People who appreciate extraordinary pieces of furniture and who love unique and innovative design are mainly the target group. This sideboard might be also the right choice for people who are interested in individually adjustable objects that adapt to their own requirements.
FS: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?
MP: I did a lot of research after the design was finished and did not find any type of (wine) bottle storing system which was similar to this one. All other types are made of stiff and solid materials and functionality is often above their look.
FS: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?
MP: The name is based on natural cocoons that appear in the nature to protect the insect while they are in the stage of development. Since I adopted this concept in an abstracted version, “Cocoon” seemed like the right choice of name. It might also make people curious about the design.
FS: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?
MP: Basically, I just simply started sketching a couple of ideas in my sketchbook. After I figured out the main concept, I did some experimenting with the bags used for storing the bottles. I made full scale models and kept on working on some more detailed drawings. The choice of materials was also very important for the design and I thought about them since the very beginning of the project. Not only form and function mattered for this piece. Ones the sketching and experimenting was done, I created 3D models on the computer to get an overall impression of the proportions and the interaction of the materials, colours and textures. After that, I had to draw the detailed construction plans on a CAD software. They were necessary to build the prototype and once that was done, I spent quite some time in my workshop working out the piece of furniture. This stage is especially important because you get to know the order of production processes and you clearly see which parts still need some improvement. The very last step was to take high resolution pictures of it in my photo studio and do all the calculation to be able to finally determine a prize.
FS: What is the most unique aspect of your design?
MP: The hanging cocoons that almost seem to float and which offer space for the bottles of wine to be placed into are the unique features of the design. Also, the combination of materials like wood, concrete, leather and steel is quite unusual and gives the object its distinctive look.
FS: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?
MP: I designed and worked out every element and detail on this project on my very own.
FS: What is the role of technology in this particular design?
MP: Technology like drawing software helped me in the design process and for drawing the detailed plans for the construction. In addition to that, modern machines, production techniques and materials were necessary to make the prototype and the actual selling pieces in order to ensure a high quality and precision. But the piece itself does not need or use any type of technology or software to function or to be used – all parts work mechanically.
FS: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?
MP: Not really – I tried to only use the inspiration of my mind. That way I do not unintentionally plagiarize any other design and it feels more comfortable to me to just freely draw and sketch relying on my imagination.
FS: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?
MP: The challenging part was basically to create a reinterpretation of a wine rack which offers an innovative storage and showcase system that has never been designed before and that combines all aspects of the wine production, the wine storing and what we most commonly connect with wine. The shape and structure had to be simple and clear but exciting as well. Also, appropriate materials had to be chosen to achieve the desired look.
FS: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?
MP: I am a young designer and I just started my own business offering a unique pallet of furniture pieces. The competition and the market in the field of furniture design is quite big and it is important to become known and attract attention to your products. As a designer, I have already heard about this competition and the A’ Design Award before and so I decided to give it a try. My main goal is on the one hand to gain recognition of society which will most probably help increase contracts and moreover, I wanted to know how good my designs are. And I am pretty happy with the result: It is the first year I joined a design competition and both of my submitted pieces of furniture won an award.
FS: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?
MP: My overall understanding for furniture design and the interplay of functionality and art increased. I also learned more about certain materials like leather or concrete and improved my processing techniques when I made the prototype. Moreover, I learned to “think outside the box” and creating unusual but very exiting and elegant pieces of furniture.
FS: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
MP: I would really appreciate a publication of my design. If you are interested in buying this piece of furniture or if you would like some more information about the sideboard or myself, you can contact me anytime via email or give me a call. I would also appreciate if you follow me on Instagram. Thank you! On my website you will find all of my other designs and pieces of furniture including high resolution pictures, detailed descriptions and many other information. Email: office@moritzproelldeisgn.at Phone: +43 660 9007980 Instagram: moritz_proell_design Website: www.moritzproelldesign.at
FS: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to interview you.
A' Design Award and Competitions grants rights to press members and bloggers to use parts of this interview. This interview is provided as it is; DesignPRWire and A' Design Award and Competitions cannot be held responsible for the answers given by participating designers.
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