THE NEW VINTAGE COLLECTION BY marta adamczak

 

marta adamczak—owner of furniture renovation workshop kosmiko studio—is giving a second life to classic polish furniture design with her ‘new vintage’ collection of renovated armchairs. the work redefines and modernizes examples of design from poland’s communist era, showing the transformation of the armchairs, which have undergone carpentry and upholstery renovation.

 

the armchairs retain their function, but thanks to the application of various finishing techniques they take on a different character. adamczak treats each renovation as a process of writing down the history of the found object, and the piece of furniture itself as the basis for turning away from repetition, an expression of individuality.

vintage in a new way cosmic armchairs from poland 1
new vintage collection

images by dawid majewski

 

 

THE INTERNATIONAL STYLE CONTRASTS WITH INDIVIDUAL EXPRESSION

 

the presented collection consists of polish armchairs arranged in pairs of twin models. the iconic armchair type 300-190 designed by h. lis, called lisek, the armchair type b-8502 produced in radomsko, the cubic armchair bolek from the 1980s or an unidentified model referring to the armchair 300-177. pairing them is meant to show the contrast between the transformation of furniture in different styles.

 

on the one hand, in the contrasting pairs we find a return to the international style – exposing the nobility of the wooden material in combination with the matching plaited fabric, maintained in subdued colors, exemplifying the preservation of the aesthetics of a simple form. on the other hand, the transformation of the armchair results from the need to give it an individual expression. the applied colors and contrasting combinations are a reference to the memphis style, op-art or abstract art.

 

the presented armchairs are a combination of modernity with respect for history and craft. they encourage the search for creative solutions so that the restored furniture meets the contemporary needs of individuals.

vintage in a new way cosmic armchairs from poland 7
cosmic dancer and fantastic voyage armchairs

 

 

kosmiko studio is a furniture renovation workshop orbiting around armchairs. it was created by marta adamczak, a humanist by education, who turned her interest in art and pop culture into handwork with matter. she learned the craft in a small furniture restoration workshop, and then in a polish-german manufactory under the watchful eye of a master upholsterer.

 

she feels that it is the skillful selection of new fabrics, the way of sewing and modeling the shape of the upholstery that determines whether an old armchair can be transformed into a contemporary piece of furniture. when asked if it is worth modernizing old furniture designs, she always says yes. adamczak is a strong advocate of restoring, reworking and reusing everything that has already been produced so as not to contribute to the overproduction of new furniture.

vintage in a new way cosmic armchairs from poland 5
space oddity and little wonder armchairs

vintage in a new way cosmic armchairs from poland 8
space oddity detail

vintage in a new way cosmic armchairs from poland 3
lady stardust and spaceboy armchairs

vintage in a new way cosmic armchairs from poland 6
lady stardust detail

 

 

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dizzy and ziggy
dizzy and ziggy
dizzy
dizzy
cosmic dancer
cosmic dancer

project info:

 

name: new vintage collection
design: marta adamczak / kosmiko studio

photography: dawid majewski

 

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: lynne myers | designboom