In Milan this year one of our highlights was the Stacked Series designed by Ma'ayan Pesach and Sander Wassink. The designers, (both Design Academy Eindhoven graduates) had chosen to work collaboratively on a commision for a hotel interior in Amsterdam. The result was a light that took them first to Rossana Orlandi's showroom for the Milan fair but also into continued production for the pieces that drew attention from the design industry and journalists alike.

As part of 'Show 9' our showcase for the 2014 London Design Festival we decided to introduce the lights to a UK audience, because, as Sander and Ma'ayan put it themselves "Although it is still in a premature phase we have shown that with relatively simple techniques it is possible to create a new range of products that can compete" with similar products made using conventional systems of production.

We were delighted to talk with the pair about their future projects, methods and inspiration which you can read in full below...

What first sparked your interest to design and how did your collaboration begin?

Ma’ayan :  I always liked to dream and wonder about the possibilities of improving and changing existing objects and products. Ever since I was young I collected and kept (too) many items and memories. I grew up around nature and most my findings often end up in/on/with one another. My interest in design/art was the combination of being highly curious about a variety of things and places, with a feeling for materials and beauty. Along the way I realised that my practical point of view is very much related to my emotional and conceptual way of thinking and creating. 

Sander : Being able to make the imaginary tangible and real has always been one of my favourite hobbies. I loved to imagine about alternative realities that where entirely designed around my personal interests. I would sketch, make models and build life-size mockups in the my Grandfather's shed. Luckily he was kind of a hoarder and left me with an endless amount of materials and tools. With blunt saws and rusty nails I would try to materialise my fantasies. I think this is where I learned to appreciate the art of improvising. This process of making and imagining in a state of flow was, and still is, very powerful and I believe this is what triggered me into studying design.

At the beginning of this year we decided to join forces. Our first collaborative assignment was the interior of a hotel in Amsterdam. As a part of Collaboration-O we were asked to design the hotel concept and all it’s interior and furniture . Together we created the Stacked Lamps for the hotel bar.

What drew you to design lighting and how did the idea of  the ‘Stacked Series’ emerge?

M & S : Many of our projects begin at the second hand shop. When we are asked to design something new we often look at the abandoned and leftover to imagine what potential is still unexplored. 

Second hand shops and dumps are a great resource for cheap materials, textures and shapes. While gathering the materials for a specific project we had to obtain an enormous amount of glass. At first we used these glass shapes merely as the geometry for plaster moulds. Because we had so many pieces of glass in our studio we automatically started stacking them into new combinations and imagining new possibilities for them. 

The new stacked pieces revealed an unexpected beauty that transformed the seemingly worthless glass into new valuable objects. We put this idea on hold until we were asked to make lamps for a new hotel in Amsterdam. We now had a useful application for our glass stacking. We searched for methods of merging the glass together and experimented with different light sources. After that we decided to show a new series at the Rossana Orlandi Gallery in Milan and we have been producing them by hand ever since. 

The reuse of materials is an important theme throughout your projects, why? 

M & S : The re-use of materials is something that interests us both very much. We believe that the abundant debris of modern consumption culture is enough to work with. Creating something from scratch would be a waste of time in our super-fast throw away society. Materials, textures and shapes are given to us almost for free. Besides the interesting aesthetics that are revealed while combining existing objects, it often becomes a vessel for new meanings. While reusing objects you automatically also reuse existing meanings and connotations. Therefore the challenge of making something of value is even bigger and we always want to make sure that the combination and selection of materials tells a sensible story.

Being relatively new to the design world, what have you found a challenge when starting out as a designer? 

M : The biggest challenge for me is to be able to find the balance between projects that make a living and more conceptual ones. After I finished the Academy (in Eindhoven) and the graduation show ended – reality started kicking in, and forced me to realise that as much as we have been trained to dream/fantasise/research and wander around freely, it’s not going to be my daily rhythm. There aren’t as many topics handed by a mentor or organisation that offer the endless possibilities we got used as students. I am trying to figure out these days how to maintain my naivety and curiosity, and next to it establishing a steady functioning studio!

S : Being independent means dealing with a lot of work that simply doesn’t relate to your qualities and interests. Starting up and managing a studio is very demanding and can distract you from the things that you are actually good at. Finding the right people to work with is therefore key to a successful studio. For me it’s still a challenge to keep the clutter away and stay open to the imaginary and creative within the daily projects.

In which direction are you both headed for your next projects? 

M & S : For the Stacked Series we would like to keep making unique pieces and installations for specific contexts. But alongside this we are ready to take the project as a consumer product to the next level. Transforming our lamps into a mass produced product is in itself quite challenging as we are working with reclaimed glass as a raw material for our product. At the moment we are depending on second hand markets as our main suppliers. They are pretty reliable because they always supply us with enough options and our process of production allows this diversity.When thinking of mass production we need to take a different approach, but one that is equally interesting!

It is a great challenge to find new systems of production, sourcing and distributing that can compete with modern day consumption culture ethics. Namely; faster, cheaper and less connected to any cultural reverence. Although it is still in a premature phase we have shown that with relatively simple techniques it is possible to create a new range of products that can compete with the products in it’s range. We would like to explore this field of production more in the future.

In the coming period we both are going to explore our individual paths and this will probably lead to unexpected collaborations in the future. 

M : I plan to work on assignment based projects in the future between graphic, product and installations. For the coming year I want to explore the possibilities as a freelancer in those fields.  

S :  I am planning to make my studio lighter and more mobile in order to move around and adapt faster to new situations and projects. For the coming year I want to explore new fields of interest. I am planning to travel back to China to work on a project concerning the relations ship between Chinese and Western production. I am greatly fascinated by the bizarre effects of this curious interaction. Furthermore I am working on a project where I explore the possibility of a machine that could become smarter, more sensory and locally orientated; able to create products which incorporate the global as well as the local.

Find out more about both designers via their respective websites:

Ma'ayan Pesach and Sander Wassink

Photo Credit: Ronald Smits.