A regular Design Indaba Expo participant, Andy de Klerk Cabinetworks took a hiatus this year because the installation the team wanted to build for the Expo took longer than expected. But the Escher-inspired installation will make its debut next year at Design Indaba Expo 2014. The design is a handmade, modern interpretation of M.C. Escher’s "Waterfall" lithographic print.
In other news, Andy de Klerk Cabinetworks has recently started producing freestanding pieces of furniture for OKHA Interiors, including stools, tables and servers. Each piece is designed by OKHA’s creative director, Adam Court.
The team at Andy de Klerk Cabinetworks tells us about the Escher-inspired kitchen that will be on display:
At Design Indaba 2012 we introduced a kitchen island and utility unit that left visitors wondering why a European kitchen was being showcased at a South African design show. The message we were trying to get across was just that European standards are being reproduced and surpassed by South African kitchen designers and manufacturers. For 2014 we intend to further raise this bar.
We have been working on our piece, designed specifically for Design Indaba 2014, for the last eight months, focussing on the introduction of never-before-seen bespoke elements that will set a new standard for kitchen designers and manufacturers in South Africa. The materials we have chosen are predominantly locally manufactured and obviously the actual manufacture of the unit itself will take place in our workshop in Kommetjie. Designed and built by South Africans, this will be a product we can be truly proud of.
The inspiration for the concept and physical design came from Dutch graphic artist Escher. Many of Escher’s later works were based on impossible notions, yet they communicated a unique and aesthetically pleasing sense of continuity and flow. In terms of the concept for our kitchen, we felt that Escher’s defiance of impossibility resonated with our intention for our kitchen to defy the seemingly huge environmental challenges we are currently facing. While the physical design subtly reflects Escher’s perpetual waterfall with its unbroken lines and internal grey-water filtration system.
