The 47-year old Grcic is recognized for his innovative solutions in designing even the most mundane products, ranging from laundry baskets and kitchen appliances, to furniture, lighting, and more. His approach to design often looks beyond form and function, investigating how an object should work and look in the context of its relationship to the user, and the suitability of materials and fabrication methods for fitness of purpose, durability, cost, and broad availability.
Trained in England between 1985 and 1989, first in cabinet-making and carpentry, then in furniture design, the work Grcic produced in his first decade of practice reflected his grounding in the spare rational design language of the Modernist tradition. By 1991, after a year working for the English designer Jasper Morrison, Grcic returned to his native Munich, where he opened his own design studio, and by the end of the decade, was experimenting with computer-aided design software, creating more fluid forms while continuing to rethink conventional home products. His later designs often incorporate a wry humor as well.
Ryan, Zoe, Konstantin Grcic : Decisive Design. Chicago, Ill: The Art Institute of Chicago, 2009.
Phaidon Design Classics, vol 3. London, New York: Pahidon Press, 2006. no. 965.
www.designmuseum.org/design/konstantin-grcic
www.konstantin-grcic.com
