May 21, 2013

Ones to Watch: Thinkk Studio


Educated as interior architects,

Thinkk Studio

founders Decha Archjananun and Ploypan Theerachai work together by looking for the overlooked. Their pieces maximize potentially forgotten space, or provide answers to common human behavior that may not always be acknowledged in everyday furnishings. Shown at Milan’s 2013 TSRRJD exhibit curated by Cotto in Ventura Lambrate, for example, the pair’s Lavanity project ponders improvements to bathroom design.

While traditional thinking separates sinks and showers from spaces for dressing or makeup application, Thinkk’s design acknowledges that most people need to go quickly between those areas when preparing for the day. The lavatory-plus-vanity has a powder-coated aluminum and teak frame that supports a sink, a mirror, and a chair, with leather pockets for smaller accessories—an arrangement that the designers explain can “minimize space redundancy, and blur the boundaries between the bathroom and the vanity area, offering a more functional space that better suits real-life usage.”

Their Workaholic collection applies the same thinking to office settings: wooden trucks made of ash and steel look like toys but actually help organize desk space, while concrete vases can be topped with various wire frames depending on the desired use for the vessel.

THINKK
Earlier this year, the Bangkok-based designers announced a new collaboration with furniture maker MilliMatter, and another with Thai manufacturer KUN. The pieces for both companies combine natural and industrial materials, an area of particular interest to the team. “We are in the process of design and development on several topics, including Thai traditional handcrafts versus modern industrial architectural structures and furniture design,” says Archjananun. “We are also experimenting with new concrete techniques.”

And as the young designers are learning, experimentation often pays off in Milan. In an email sent from the show, Archjananun wrote that the response to the Lavanity design was “more than we expected. At first, we thought that our design is just a concept but many people would like to see it real in market.”


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