We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer Andrea Cecilia Alcocer Carrillo about their original and creative Work Table design work. Andrea Cecilia Alcocer Carrillo is an award-winning industrial designer, that makes our world a better place with their original work table works.
Andrea Cecilia Alcocer Carrillo ("ACAC") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work Timbiriche Work Table. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
ACAC : The main idea is to reinterpret the conception and function of a piece of furniture from the point of view of Architecture, since it wasn’t enough that a furniture was only awarded by its aesthetic value. It was necessary the creation of a complete design which understands the user as the human being who seeks to reinvent himself and constantly reinvent the space he inhabits, understanding it as something that constantly changes and that doesn’t belong to a static world. The Timbiriche Table is inspired by life itself, since the needs of the human being are not static but changing. That’s the essential characteristic of life: change and transformation at all times.
ACAC : Our main focus was the redefinition of the concept of the furniture, since it should not only respond to the simple need of the human being to fulfill only a basic function, but the need to experience and create a living scenario; Not to perceive it as a static object, which only moves if it is placed in another site, to conceive it as an object that is transformed according to its moment of use.
ACAC : Take advantage of its recognition to continue with conceptual experimentation in redefining the meanings of furniture and how they interact with people's lives, as well as their introduction in the international market.
ACAC : It’s departing from observation how the questioning about the furniture’s labor in people’s lives emerges. The research process took about three months. Once the results were obtained, the design was developed in one night.
ACAC : Because we realized that the essence of furniture has not changed much since early times, and despite of technological advances and plastic and aesthetic experimentation, they have always had a basic function that has not evolved according to the emergence of the new needs of the contemporary human being.
ACAC : The Timbiriche Table is a prototype that we have made for ourselves, but we are open to new possibilities about production.
ACAC : The questioning of the actual labour market, and despite many options truly exist, these only have variations on a formal level and only accomplish a basic function. There are very few that actually provide something more to man’s lives.
ACAC : In thinking about the design function of architects such as Juhani Pallasmaa, who describe and analyze their work not as a project or a product but as life.
ACAC : The contemporary man and the future one.
ACAC : His concern to establish a dialogue with man, meaning always being able to give an answer to every need, to the extent that it becomes a habitable space.
ACAC : It comes from the traditional game "Timbiriche", because, in the game as in the table, you can choose the spaces to occupy in a grid, depending on the needs of the moment, and whose term is purépecha origined which goes back to the order from of chaos.
ACAC : We worked and analized during the whole process with the design and the ergonomic measurements of different external objects which interact with man in his everyday workspace. We also managed standard measurements of the materials with it was manufactured in order to reduce waste.
ACAC : Its ability to continuously transform in order to adapt itself to the needs of the human being at every moment.
ACAC : The manufacturing process was carried out together with artisan carpenters and blacksmith craftsmen.
ACAC : The use of technology in this particular design consisted in the incorporation of steel as the table’s frame, which due to its strenght allows us to achieve a light appearance and yet have a steady structure.
ACAC : The research starts with this question: How many pieces of furniture does the contemporary man need to live?. A table is chosen as the subject matter and also the observation of the human being interacting with his workspace when he tries to organize it. We realized that he doesn’t only need to organize it but to transform and personalize it. So we established this hypothesis: The piece of furniture is not fully design until the user owns it and makes it his own personal space. The project’s goal was not designing a piece of furniture but giving it the worth of a living space.
ACAC : The challenge started with the reinterpretation from the Architecture’s point of view of the conception and function of furniture. The dare was to create a piece of furniture that synchronizes the changing temper of the working man and the plastic needs of the table.
ACAC : The Timbiriche table participated in the 9th National Design Competition of Furniture Dimueble (Guadalajara, Mexico) in which it was recognized with the first prize, which is why we decided to try our work in the international ambit with the purpose of making it known and introduced it to the world rankings.
ACAC : It is true that we always grow with each project, especially when the biggest challenge is to make it work; However, our greatest achievement was to question the meaning of conventional objects in our lives, that is, to put into practice the old saying: "If you want different results, do not always do the same."
ACAC : No, that’s all. Thank you.
