Konstantin Grcic, born in 1965, was trained as a cabinet maker at John Makepeace School in Dorset, UK, and studied design at the Royal College of Art in London. Since setting up his own practice ‘Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design’ in Munich, Germany, in 1991 he has developed furniture, products and lighting for major design companies such as Authentics, BD Barcelona, ClassiCon, Flos, Flötotto, Magis, Maharam, Mattiazzi, Muji, Nespresso, Plank, Serafino Zani and Vitra. His products have received important design awards and his designs form part of the permanent collections of design museums (MoMA, New York; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris). In 2012 he was responsible for the exhibition design of the German pavilion at the 13th Architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy. In 2014 Vitra Design Museum, Weil, Germany, presented the largest solo exhibition on Grcic and his work to date.
Konstantin Grcic
Trottoir Tortoisis “The ‘Chaise A’ by French company Tolix is an icon in the history of chairs. Made of sheet metal and tube, it combines lightness and strength, industrial esthetics and craftsmanship. When Kilian Schindler and Tolix invited my office to create an object based on the model A, it was absolutely clear to us that, whatever we do, it mustn’t be a chair. Charlotte Talbot, my assistant, came up with the construction of a large vessel made of the chair’s sheet metal spine (in Tolix lingo referred to as ‘Palmette’). 14 × Palmettes determined the size and shape of the bucket. The object couldn’t have been made without the chair, yet, it doesn’t pander to it. It is simply a large bucket made from sheet metal and tube at the Tolix factory.”
