Inspired by tradition

It’s not often that designers feature pictures of rugged, bearded men in promotional material for their latest project, but that’s exactly what Hungarian duo A Plus Z Design have done for their latest furniture collection.

A Plus Z Design, named after designers Attila F Kovacs and Zsuzsa Megyesi, wanted to celebrate the survival instinct, community cohesion and vividness of the Gypsy people of Hungary and Transylvania in their collection and were keen that the real people and artefacts behind their products were not forgotten about.

The collection, which will launch at Tent London in September, features traditional Gypsy handicrafts that have been transformed for a modern, more urban environment. Upturned buckets double as light shades and traditional bread-making utensils have been transformed into benches. There’s even a chair modelled on an ancient Hungarian shepherd dog.

The duo, whose Budapest studio is located in an old weapons factory, say of the collection, ‘The products of the Gypsy people and folk culture of our region have become overlooked or rendered unnecessary but all have stories, souls and extinct crafts behind them. We wanted to give them new lives in a contemporary design context, keeping the narratives and its soul but translating them with a modernist vocabulary.’  

The Gypsy Collection launches at Tent London 2010, Truman Brewery, from 23-26 Sept.