CGD

For this project, Jiří Krejčiřík designed charming and playful lightings based on Japanese origami – the folding and layering of paper. These lightings show Jiří’s unique style in the best light, being hand-made from a single piece of B1-format paper. They were produced in the SKOBA enterprise that employs people with special needs, so the design had to be adapted to their abilities and overall work process.

The workshop has much experience producing amazing notebooks created from a diverse range of materials. For example, the pocket notebooks made for Czech Scouting were bound like the old Junák magazines and made of paper from the estate of Jaroslav Foglar. The workshop similarly used paper from the National Gallery archives to create limited-edition sketchbooks and notebooks for the institution’s 220th anniversary.

The collection of paper lamps was in this sense a step outside of this established bookmaking workshop’s comfort zone. Jiří’s clear design and technological solutions respect principles of sustainability, functionality and affordability, and the production process remains ecological, local and focused on meticulous craftsmanship. The lightings are made of high-quality paper impregnated with bees’ wax, transforming the paper into a luxury material that is firm and provides highly nuanced light.

The Designblok event featuring SKOBA’s founder Václav Pišoft was certainly one of the most interesting and pleasant moments of the entire festival, also in part because of the atmospheric lighting provided by these paper lamps. They come in two shapes and various color combinations and they also include Jiří Krejčiřík’s signature packaging design. Fingers crossed that this bold and meaningful project will receive the appreciation it deserves!

Tereza Kozlová