Kilómetro Zero: creare pezzi di design, durante la pandemia, recuperando materiale nel proprio quartiere

Una delle problematiche passate in secondo piano, durante le settimane del lockdown, è stata la difficoltà — per studenti, artigiani, artisti e designer — nel reperire materiali e strumenti (mi è rimasto impresso il bottiglione di Verdicchio utilizzato dall’artista dell’animazione Beatrice Pucci, che doveva realizzare diversi video ma era costretta a usare solo quello che aveva già in casa).
Questo ha portato a un’ondata di nuovi progetti che, sfruttando uno dei pilastri del pensiero creativo, “fare di necessità virtù”, hanno dimostrato come, nell’era dell’abbondanza, del superfluo e del consumo usa-e-getta, si possa perlomeno immaginare una dimensione differente.

Un bell’esempio è Kilómetro Zero, un’iniziativa ideata e organizzata da Sanna Völker. Svedese ma di base a Barcellona, Völker è una designer che da qualche anno cura delle mostre che provano a riflettere su quello che è lo spirito del tempo, nel mondo del design: due anni fa, con Perception, si chiedeva se lo scrolling da social network avesse cambiato il modo di fruire il design, domandandosi «riusciamo ancora a capire e apprezzare la complessità della progettazione di un prodotto e della sua costruzione?»; l’anno scorso, con Sisters, evidenziava invece la prospettiva femminile e metteva in risalto le ingiustizie sociali.

(foto: David Leon Fiene | courtesy: Sanna Völker)
(foto: David Leon Fiene | courtesy: Sanna Völker)

Lo zeitgeist del 2020 ovviamente lo conosciamo tutti: ci siamo in mezzo da febbraio e chissà per quanto ancora, e Völker ha quindi pensato di lanciare una sfida ad alcuni designer, tra Barcellona e Madrid, chiedendo loro due cose: di tradurre in un prodotto l’esperienza e le impressioni della quarantena, e di connettersi con il mondo a loro più prossimo, utilizzando esclusivamente materiali e collaboratori trovati nel raggio di appena un chilometro dalla propria sede.
L’idea, spiega Völker, è nata dal «desiderio di documentare un impatto fondamentale sulle nostre vite e la necessità di unirsi, rimanendo separati» e di capire «quali possibilità, tradizioni e artigianato ci sono da scoprire nei nostri quartieri?».

Il risultato è appunto Kilómetro Zero, che è diventata una mostra virtuale, esposta su un account Instagram appositamente creato per l’occasione: @kilometro_zero_.
Ciascuno dei partecipanti — Isaac Piñeiro, Júlia Esqué, Marta Ayala Herrera, Omayra Maymó, Paula Clavería, Turbina Studio e la stessa Sanna Völker — oltre a progettare un pezzo, ha anche prodotto dei brevi testi, raccolti in tre fasi: quella della “contemplazione”, con una riflessione sulla situazione; quella della “comunità”, la più interessante perché parla dell’arte di arrangiarsi e della scoperta di possibilità e realtà sconosciute a due passi da casa; e infine quella della “collezione”, che è poi la raccolta finale delle descrizioni — materiali e concettuali — dei singoli pezzi.
Su Instagram ci sono inoltre le foto dei luoghi dove sono stati recuperati i materiali o fatte le lavorazioni.

Di seguito le immagini e le descrizioni delle opere realizzate.

SABU, di Isaac Piñeiro

The idea of ​​working with a piece of bent laminated wood that I had in the studio had been in my head for a long time. It was not clear what I wanted to do, what would come out of this piece or if it would end up in a corner. Until now, it has only been one more material among the standard pieces that I have as a working base, which I usually turn to at the beginning of some projects.

After analyzing various ideas and possibilities I thought of a seat, the curvature was comfortable and helped me to adopt a good posture. Immediately I thought about taking advantage of the maximum surface of the piece and from there I arrived at the bench. The option of building a wooden base seemed the most logical, for using the same material and for being close to the joinery workshop.

I wanted to use the minimum number of processes and elements, both in the workshop and in the structure. It was clear to me that it was an exercise in simplicity, taking advantage of another panel in the workshop and working with the thickness and proportions to build a coherent, light and simple shape.


(foto: David Leon Fiene | courtesy: Sanna Völker)

Indoor Landscapes, di Júlia Esqué

The project reflects on the inherent beauty of standard industrial materials within the limitations of Km Zero’s briefing. The outcome is a collection of dynamic domestic accessories that can inhabit different areas of one’s home. The serie is composed of three pieces that can lean forward and stay in the new tilted position without losing balance. Each piece is built from a tube diagonally cut in its lower section and welded to a counterweight to allow different positioning. Dimensions are based on the availability of leftover parts from the workshop of Iñaki Bahamonde.


(foto: David Leon Fiene | courtesy: Sanna Völker)

2/1, di Marta Ayala Herrera

2/1 is a piece that reflects on contemporary western society. This society that looked at the disease from a distance and in which the pandemic exploded. Western society is an unconsolidated sum of independent units. In other words, we are a group of individuals with interests that orbit around our own ego and that share a common space. The context in which we live rewards and encourages this tunnel vision and the construction of everyone’s bubble.

However, the arrival of a crisis in the space where we live has exposed the shortcomings and inconveniences that this type of society offers us. Confinement has allowed us to reflect on the limits and correlation of our existence with other people.

The piece is presented as a bench for two people with individual seats. In this way, people can sit independently but not together. These seats are delimited by functional elements that represent the individualistic limits of each person. In turn, there is a structural part underneath that is essential for the bench that connects both seats.


(foto: David Leon Fiene | courtesy: Sanna Völker)

1927 stool, di Omayra Maymó

During the easing of lockdown I discovered the work of Juan Sánchez, who for the past 20 years has run the esparto grass shop that his grandfather opened in Madrid almost a century ago. Using his know-how and the wood found at a local boards and mouldings shop, I have created this stool, using resources found within barely 100m of my home.

Rietveld’s DIY and the De Stijl movement inspire the structure of the stool, which became popular in the Netherlands at the same time as in La Latina Juan’s grandfather opened his esparto grass shop in 1927. Reinterpreting the characteristic “Rietveld union”, wood battens overlap creating a structure in the form of a spatial composition. The neoplastic character of the base is complemented by the traditional and rustic nature of the seat, made by Juan in vegetal rope, a classic material used to make chairs, backrests, decorations and other crafts.


(foto: David Leon Fiene | courtesy: Sanna Völker)

No2, di Paula Clavería

Personal representation and self-production stool made with materials inhabited from houses in La Latina and Lavapiés (Madrid). No2 is an introspective reflection about a street network made by improvisation over time in the old Madrid centre where “the Rastro” is.

A wide range of people, people talking confidently with strangers in small stores. Gipsy churches, worship, the sound of bell towers. The lack of class hierarchies. A neighbourhood where the stability of long generations coexists with young people from abroad. Noisy streets.

And now, we abandoned the streets, the old wood workshop and bars are closed, abandoned rubble bags, granite pieces of raised roads, furniture on the streets. Inhabited “urban materials” and abandonment are part of this network.


(foto: David Leon Fiene | courtesy: Sanna Völker)

Presence, di Sanna Völker

Presence is an object that explores the personal experience of truly slowing down. Through combining the tea ceremony with the soothing sound of water, the project reflects on time and on staying present. The piece questions our constant search for efficiency and optimization and invites for a shared moment of stillness by focusing on sensorial information. By rethinking the traditional teapot, the substance is prepared in a manner in which the dripping sound of water, and the sudden absence of it, will indicate when the tea is ready to be savoured.


(foto: David Leon Fiene | courtesy: Sanna Völker)

Future Archeology, di Turbina Studio

The Object as connection and symbol to understand past and future times. The pieces are inspired by traditional pottery and made up intersecting earth and stone through fired clay and stone cast. The concept starts from the concave and circular shapes of the bowl and plate, depriving them of their original functionality. As an archeological site, the pieces operate as time capsules: searching leads from their material remains, thinking of possible futures in the past.


(foto: David Leon Fiene | courtesy: Sanna Völker)

Un messaggio

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