CGD

Luxurious and traditionally made, yet visually fresh. That is the continental Libra Bed designed by Jan Plecháč for Czech producer Johann Malle. The original design of the headrest makes it possible to place the bed against the wall or in open space. In the latter case, the headrest creates a sort of partition. With Libra, a piece of furniture becomes small-scale architecture – it is worth mentioning that Jan Plecháč graduated from the Studio of Architecture and Design at AAAD, Prague, thus combining both fields.

The rich upholstering of the bed is offset by the technicist legs and side tables with stone tops. By doing so Plecháč succeeded to meet the requirements of luxury sleeping while remaining faithful to his fresh style.

Plecháč made his way among top designers with his witty concepts. He is a bold experimenter, doesn’t complicate things unnecessarily, and presents nice products with lightness and charm, which enables him to address both Czech and international clients. In interviews, he doesn’t search for the complicated missions of a designer artist and is not afraid of self-irony; he confesses to being competitive, but his ego seems to be just fine. He seems to have come to a grown-up age last year. The past months were very challenging for Plecháč: after nine years he separated from his colleague Henry Willgus a has become the art director of Moser, a traditional huge glass maker company, which has been searching in vain for its identity for many years. It is obvious that Plecháč is very good at combining tradition and innovation. Johann Malle, originally a saddle and shoemaker workshop, was manufacturing his first mattresses at roughly the same time when Ludwig Moser was founding his glassworks. 

Tereza Kozlová