“Joyful Glassware” by Irina Flore – A re-imagination of everyday objects
Irina Flore is a multidisciplinary designer and the founder of Studio Flore, a design studio focusing on design research, functional art objects, and innovative products. Flore received her MFA and BFA in Design, graduating with honors from Haute école des arts du Rhin in Strasbourg, France. She started working as an assistant designer in the Studio Sebastian Herkner in Frankfurt, Germany, where she worked on notable projects.
Her design practice focuses on functional art – everyday objects. The statement pieces that Flore likes to design are objects that tell a story. Each design has an elaborated process with research on material, form, and function. The fabrication and the process is essential aspect of the narrative of her designs. She collaborates with artisans, and this is a significant part of her practice because she grew up in a family of craftspeople in a small town in Romania. Her design practice focuses on advanced technologies but also on old traditions and crafts.
In her “Joyful Glassware” collection, Flore reflects on her need to surround herself with more colorful materials and shapes and to work with therapeutic methods that bring her joy in the design process.
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While being isolated at home, drinking every day from the same glass or eating from the same plate became monotonous, and Flore felt the need to explore the shapes of these everyday objects she was surrounded by. In her work, she enjoys playing with materials and starting to work on something without planning the resulting object. This process is very different than her everyday design process, where she starts from an idea or a notion of what the final product has to be. In this case, she started playing with paper and made collages, imagining how her everyday objects should look if she wanted them to bring a little bit of joy into her home.
The resulting sculptural drink-ware set is colorful, naive, and will add a decorative element to our tables, while also remaining functional.
