Jan Čapek: The Perfect Form
February 8, 2005 | Levent OZLER
Designer Jan Čapek has recently drawn interest for creations as varied as packaging for the new Mattoni bottle and his Washman washing machine at the Elektrolux Design Lab competition.
Jan Čapek, a recent graduate of the Institute of Applied Arts in Prague, first studied precious stone grinding at the Vocational Secondary School of Applied Arts in Turnov, and for a year and a half he worked in the same field at Tiffany's in New York.
He suggests that could be why his current approach to design is rather precise. In 2000, the Czech Design Center awarded him with his first prize for the design of the Ego tea set, made of porcelain and carbon fiber, whose egg-shaped form forecast a later Čapek product. Last year he designed a gift package for presenting the new Mattoni bottle from the renowned Italian studio Pininfarina. "I chose the oval egg shape as an archetype for the birth of something new, and polystyrene as a typical packaging material. But until now it hasn't been used in art," says the designer, who wanted to demonstrate the hidden potential of an otherwise inconspicuous material.
"I'm relatively technically focused, and rationality plays a large role with me. So I also see design as responsible work primarily involving the correct blending of function, shape, technology, material, and price," Čapek explains.
more: prague-tribune.cz/2005/2/17.htm (412)
73 impressions - 41,325 clicks
