01_The box
MOSCOW / 2020
With Recycle.object
The boxes came about for two reasons: first, my long-standing desire to try designing objects, and second, my acquaintance with Polina, the founder of a production company making items from recycled plastic.
During the COVID period, my perception of time and the constancy of life’s flow began to change significantly, leading me to reflect on the objects that seem most essential in our life. At that time, I started studying chests, which, in many cultures, could serve both as luggage for transporting items and as stationary furniture. I developed several design options, but the project stalled there.
A few months later, I met Polina, who had just started working with recycled plastic, focusing primarily on jewelry and keychains. I had long been interested in working with recycled plastic, so I proposed that Polina and I create something together. Chests had never quite left my subconscious, so the object of our collaboration became a jewelry box - also a chest of some kind, holding treasures.
The design of the boxes became a logical continuation of my work on chests. A simple cubic shape is divided into two equal halves, and at the point where they split, a small cube emerges, serving as both a handle and a fastening mechanism. The exterior, made of recycled plastic, contrasts with the bright red interior.
We developed three sizes of boxes: S, M, and L. The first (and ultimately final) batch of prototypes consisted of eight pieces, for which we specially produced sheets of recycled plastic in various colors.
The production of the boxes was handled by Mikhail Kurdov.
