Art, ceramics, concrete and wood - Magnetic Latvia

Starting my weekend with some snapshots of our visit at Riga. a little while ago, 

 where we got the chance to admire the most beautiful and inspiring places in 

the field of ceramics, glass and art. In my previous posts about Riga I told you about the University | Academic center of natural Sciences (here) and Riga chair (here) and 

today I'm sharing the workspace (at the society of art in one of the cities
 most creative neighborhoods) and ceramics of designer Beate Snuka and an
 impression of the Riga Highschool of Design and Art.

Beate Snuka is a Latvian designer based in Riga and in Eindhoven (the Netherlands) 

After graduating from the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2014 she founded her own

 design studio and her work has been published in design and interior magazines including ELLE Decoration and vtwonen. As well as showcased in several design fairs including 
Salone del Mobile Milano, Dutch Design Week and London Design festival. Her inspiration
 ranges from contemporary crafts to industrial architecture and everything in-between. 

One of Beate's main goals is to deliver beautiful, timeless pieces that are functional, 

well detailed and act as subtle story-tellers. 

For her projects Beate makes use of local clay with a high iron content causing
 the pottery deep black. The Classic collection features raku fired plates, classic red pottery and elegant porcelain. Her white dotted edge series was created for Salone del 
Mobile 2015.The used technique dates back to ancient times and looks amazing ! 

In the Netherlands you can find the designs of Beate at Frozen Fountain in Amsterdam. 

 For me personally, visiting the special renovation project of the wooden school 

building of  the Design and Art High school RSDA,  was a very inspiring experience. 

 This modern and prestigious educational institution is internationally recognised as

 the European art and design education and Innovation Center. 

 Besides the amazing building and its beautiful interior I just loved admiring all the 

artworks and ceramics spread throughout the building. 

  It was so special to be there! 

The renovation and interior design of this wooden building

 (the oldest one in Riga - built 1820) is done by architect and awardwinner Gaile.

 The special feel of the building is created by the harmonious blend between the 

environment and constructed elements with the added value of the ambience of an art school. The feeling of authenticity results from many small decisions and details that altogether form the totality of the work of art. 

The purpose of the project was to draw public attention to preservation of neglected wooden architecture heritage by developing an example which would reveal the unique qualities of Riga’s wooden buildings and show contemporary way to their renovation. 

In my opinion a beautiful successful project,  there really is so much to see and to admire...
Definitely worth a visit if you're in Riga!

                                                                                                                  photos elvs - elveravanschaik

Riga Chair

 As I told you in one of my previous posts I have visited Riga for a 

design tour with a group of bloggers, photographers and journalists and once again 

I must say it really was a surprising and very inspiring visit and definitely

 worth a second visit in the nearest future!

In addition to the nice people, the amazing historic (Jugenstill) buildings, 

the tastefull food and the green parcs, we also learned more about Latvia 's minimalist 

design during the tour! One of the companies that we visited was RIGA Chair.

RIGA chair is a trade mark of Riga Chair factory and since its founding in 1999 they 

 quickly become a leading brand that produced serveral collections for home and 

office with natural materials as birch and beech wood combined with fabrics in 

different shades.  Besides the Red Dot Design Award winner - the flowershaped stool 

designed by Aldis Circenisa -  I was attracted immediately by the stunning 

kids chairs collection and in particular the Roo rocking toy!

"The basic idea behind the Roo rocker was to find a shape with the potential to be 

produced out of a single package of flat plywood sheets.  The minimalistic, archetypal

 shape gives the immediate impression of a rocking toy.  For some, it may look more

 like a sheep, or kangaroo; for others, it still looks like a good old rocking horse, "

Roo has received the IF Product Design Award 2013 and the German Design Award: 

Special Mention 2014 and is available in birch, beech, oak, walnut veneer or 

laminate in various colours. It 's that I no longer have small children but otherwise

 I was definitely tempted to buy the Roo... only the stunning decorative value 

would be a good reason, don't you think so?!

                                                                                                                                                 photo's elv's 

Magnetic Latvia

I was not very familiar with the Baltic area and in particular Latvia,  

but I am really pleasantly surprised after our visit last week! If you follow me on

 instagram you might have noticed that I have visited Riga where I was invited to join a

 design tour with Dutch journalists, editors and bloggers and it was amazing!

 In a four-day press trip we explored the Latvian design culture under the name 

Magnetic Latvia and it was so inspiring to visit and discover the various Latvian 

designers and locations in Riga and Latvia's West coast. The kindness,  

the nice people who enthusiastically told us all about their country,

their designs, their handmade products and their history really made it very special!

Besides well-known design styles of Latvia to discover, including Art Nouveau and 

Jugendstil,  Latvian designs are characterized by the minimalist and functional style of 

Scandinavian design.  The designers make use of neutral tones and natural materials  

Just beautiful and simple as I love it so much!  

One of the stunning locations that we've visited was the University of Latvia

 (Academic center of natural sciences) The modern interior which sees use of untreated 

concrete is brought to life through the use of wood,  the curved lines of railings,

 the use of lot's of greens (loved the compositions), wall paintings (by artist Luīze Avotiņa)

 and enormous glass walls as well as beautiful minimalistic furniture. 

Each floor of the building has its space assigned to student relaxation or independent work and I was attracted immediately by the used MAFFAM FREEFORM basalt fiber hanging

 chairs ( made from volcanic basalt fiber and natural resin) created by Raimonds Cīrulis.

  Basalt is a rock that can lie happily at unbearable temperatures as well in the cool depths of our oceans, where it comprises majority of the Earth’s crust. The basalt lace seashell is specifically made in a way that makes it perfect for meditation, self-exploration, and 

energy rejuvenation and felt so comfortable. It also made me and my fellow bloggers,
 dream of having a huge garden where we could hang the chair in a big high tree and 
enjoy the sunny moments in a very relaxed way!

Fortunately for us there are different sizes of the hanging chair but there are also 

several other designs available...  Chairs, tables... 

you will find all the information here!

                                                       

                                                                                                            photos: elv's