Israeli designer Nir Meiri studied Industrial Design at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. In 2010 he founded his own studio in London. Meiri’s works are sold in limited editions or one-off pieces, though he states he has “an eye towards” large scale production. He says his work explores the relationship and “tension” between opposite concepts.
Carefully selected materials, often raw and wild, are shaped into clean-cut forms, creating innovative products that play on the tension between the domesticated and untamed.
His newest collection, “New Mexico,” also plays between opposites, this time between handcrafted materials and “industrialism.” The set was exhibited by 19 Greek Street for the London Design Festival in September.
The set reflects Meiri’s reflections on the ethics of design.
This series addresses the key issue of design consumption today, versus green thinking, and the possibility of creating a lifestyle in which design is strongly present, alongside an awareness to the environment and to values like recycling, up cycling and locality.
The use of readymade clay pots, 3D printed parts and wood, opens a discussion of the user as the center of the design process and suggest the option for future customization of such products.
The thesis becomes more apparent when the designs are broken down into their component parts. They’re enhanced through functions that are increasingly industrial in nature. They run a spectrum from a simple planter, to a more complex pendant light and terminate in a small speaker.
The run was produced with Fab Lab Il (Fab Lab Israel), a community digital manufacturing lab for projects such as CNC design and 3D printing.
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Nir Meiri, plant pots for the “New Mexico” collection, 2015
Nir Meiri, speakers for the “New Mexico” collection, 2015
Nir Meiri, pendant lamps for the “New Mexico” collection, 2015. Photographs courtesy of the designer.
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