Awarded
Kueng Caputo: Sarah Kueng / Lovis Caputo
'Copy by Kueng Caputo' (diploma work) and 'Five Stars Cardboard'
Product and Industrial Design
Awarded
'Copy by Kueng Caputo' (diploma work) and 'Five Stars Cardboard'
Product and Industrial Design
Delightful until Dismantled
Sarah Kueng and Lovis Caputo, aka Kueng Caputo, have been awarded a Swiss Federal Design Grant for their degree piece 'Copy by Kueng Caputo' and for their 'Five Stars Cardboard' design.
The famous upmarket design objects imitated in 'Copy by Kueng Caputo' make no bones about being fakes, for they are clearly different from the originals. Hence, this is not an instance of copying for the sake of reaching a broader market or making design products more accessible. Instead, Kueng Caputo are interested in exploring and analysing the very essence of the object itself. They quite literally dissect the original. Once they have distilled its essence, they take what they have found to be the signifying characteristic of the object and heighten it in their remake, often with a touch of wit and irony. The resulting new objects can thus be seen as tributes to the respective authors and as well-informed commentaries on the original designs. What is particularly refreshing about them is that all the works appear to have a whimsical levity and light-heartedness; they convey a sense of the process involved.
'Five Stars Cardboard' was developed in 2007 for the SaloneSatellite Milano - a section of the Milan Trade Fair that showcases the work of young designers. Kueng Caputo touched on the dream, or rather the nightmare, of many a visitor to such events: endless hours and days of trailing around the trade fair without any opportunity of finding a place to sit down, let alone lie down. And suddenly, like a mirage, the 'Five Stars Cardboard' hotel hoves into view. Four individual suites are available, all made of cardboard: the 'Classico Romantico', the 'Sogni dei bambini', the 'Italian Lover' and the 'Bosco in Hawaii'. Inside each one, a whole new world opens up like a pop-up book. There are trees growing alongside wonderful, with finely wrought leaves and plants and flowers meandering over the walls. There is a comfortable pillow and a little lamp that can be switched on and off for subtle ambient lighting. For a moment, happily immersed in an oasis of calm and privacy, trade fair visitors can forget the hustle and bustle all around them. Each suite can be constructed in seconds; an instant product that is dismantled as quickly as it is set up. Ephemeral and quite simply exquisite.
Patrizia Crivelli
Lovis Caputo
Born in
1979
Education
Industrial Design
Group name
Kueng Caputo
Sarah Kueng
Born in
1981
Education
Product designer
Group name
Kueng Caputo