Prague hosted the 28th iteration of DesignBlok, Central Europe’s premier design and fashion festival, wrapping up its five-day run after featuring contributions from more than 300 creators, studios, and international brands headquartered in the Czech Republic.
According to the festival director, Jana Zielinski, “What makes Czech design particularly rich is that we still produce glass here. We still produce porcelain. You can experiment, and you do not have to search for production in some other countries. You have the tradition, you have the crafts.”
The festival featured various designs, including Rider, a sleek galvanised steel bicycle stand created by Adéla Bačová for Arqsit, a Czech family-owned manufacturer specialising in metal and public-space furniture.
Another notable design was a modular seating system, also created by Adéla Bačová for Arqsit, which features cushions with organic shapes that fit into a light metal frame made from bent steel tubing. This versatile collection includes various types of sofas, lounge chairs and tables, allowing for numerous configurations.
Profil Nábytek, a Czech family-owned company, showcased Manual Ritual, a collection of elements that can be manually swapped around to make various pieces of furniture, such as coat hooks, benches, and shelves.
The S-Tool seating collection, designed by Paris-based studio Index Office, was inspired by bicycle handlebars and tube bending, and features a deceptively simple yet refined design.
Tomáš Král’s Materra table lamp, which showcases traditional slip-cast ceramic craft, was awarded the festival’s Best Launched Product by a Producer accolade.
The theme of this year’s exhibition was light, with various installations paying tribute to Czech glassmaking and the continuity of the craft, including a spectacular installation executed by Brokis, based on a design by Lee Broom, and the Splash installation by glass specialists Lasvit.
Jílek 1905’s monumental luminaire also played with the archetype of traditional crystal chandeliers, evolving the form for the present day. Notably, the Czech street furniture and urban design brand was at the festival’s main hub – the Functionalist Trade Fair Palace of the National Gallery Prague.
