Budapest Design Week started in 2014, initiated by the Hungarian Design Council. The festival is around September and October, it’s more than a week, this year it was 10 days long, started the 6th and finished on the 15th of October.

The design week is better and better every year, the festival had more than 120 programs in 2017. My favourite parts are the Open Studios and Workshops. You can choose from many events, design & interior design exhibitions, roundtable discussions & talks, presentations,  tours, openings and parties.

There are main events featured with famous design figures, such as Marcel Wanders, Michael Anastassiades and Johannes Torpe.

The concept was Start, which intended to promote new and/or small- and medium-sized businesses too.

This year the guest of honour was Denmark, so many events and exhibitions were dedicated to Denmark: exhibition and showroom about Arne Jacobsen’s design, roundtable discussion about the secret of happy life, introduction about Danish design then & now, just to mention few events.

The events are announced a month before the festival’s start, so make sure to register for your dream events, because lots of them have limited places. I wasn’t fast enough to get into the Marcel Wanders’ presentation, but could visit some open studios like this:

iamart Cement Tile Manufacturer workshop

The iamart name has a double meaning. The Latin “iam” word means now, by now, immediately, which reflect the modern and quick production technology. The “art” word speaks for itself. The 2nd meaning is “I am art”, of course.

Csaba and Kristóf started iamart Cement Tile Manufacturer in 2005, since that time they’ve experimented a lot to produce the perfect high-quality cement tile. Finally, their factory opened in 2017. Iamart isn’t just an average Marrakesh cement tile manufacture, their tiles can be used indoor and outdoor as well with a properly impregnated surface.

On the workshop we designed and created our dream tile, choosing from their patterns and colours. The tiles are classical and modern at the same time thanks to 60 vibrant colours. It’s also possible to plan your own pattern idea with some requirements and the 3D printer will produce it for you.

They will have workshops before Christmas in November and December when you can make your Christmas tree patterned cement tile. Be sure to book your appointment in time, because only 4 people can attend a workshop.

Address: 1211 Budapest (Csepel), Varrógépgyár utca 5.

 

Paper Up! Studio visit

I visited the studio of Rita Koralevics, the founder of Paper Up!. Her motto is: “It’s all about the paper!” She processes and recycles the paper by herself and creates beautiful eco-friendly products. She produces mainly lamps, vases and boxes. The professional photos from her site:

Rita is super nice and very friendly. She showed us the ingredients, her working process, the experimentations and the final objects in her studio.

The main advantage of the paper is lightness, so she can produce big lamps too. The surface of the lamps looks a little bit different, depending on the paper’s mixture and consistency.

Nowadays she adds cement to the mixture, so this way the surface is smoother, but the lamps can’t be that big because of the additional weight of the cement.

The colour depends on the type of paper, so it can change between the shades of grey and white. She also prepares colourful objects by adding colour pigments into the paper mixture.

Address: 1163 Budapest, Cziráki utca 26-32. EMG Industrial Park

 

H6 contemporary jewellery exhibition

H6 is a group of six young Hungarian jewellery designers. The designers are Anna Börcsök, Veronika Fazekas, Fruzsi Fekete, Kinga Horányi, Zsófia Neuzer, Nóra Tengely.

Six different ways of thinking. Their pieces of jewellery are different but made with the same goal: to tell a story with their works. One of them defines the concept of jewellery with light, dance and space. One of them plays with alternative uses for materials and how to wear the jewellery. My personal favourites is the colourful concrete jewellery.

Exhibition at FUGA Budapest Center of Architecture

Address: 1052 Budapest Petőfi Sándor str. 5.

 

Noha Ceramic Studio and School represents the design in gastronomy

During the design week, you could visit the Noha Ceramic Studio and School for workshop, exhibition, fair and roundtable discussion too. Visitors could get an insight of the different techniques, materials and the education of the studio.

The exhibition presented the works of ceramics students and ceramicists. My friend, Nóra is a student at Noha Ceramic School 1,5 year ago, so she gave us a little private tour in the studio.  Look, how talented she is.

Beautiful gastronomy objects were displayed, such as cutlery, mug, plate and other tableware.

Address: 1137 Budapest, Pozsonyi str. 12.

These were my favourite venues this year. What about yours? Have you visited the programs of the Design Week?

See you in 2018 Budapest Design Week!