PLANT BASED DESIGN RESIDENCY #2 - CANE
The collaboration between designer Christian Haas and craftsman Domingos Vaz during the residency organised by Passa Ao Futuro, created the mini-collection of cane baskets blurring the boundaries between craftsmanship and design.
About
12 – 23 February 2024 | Companhia das Culturas, Castro Marim, Portugal | Passa Ao Futuro
Designer: Christian Haas, craftsman: Domingos Vaz
Designer Christian Haas collaborated with a cane basket weaver crafsman Domingos Vaz. Together they created a small collection of contemporary utilitarian objects ready for production. This residency was hosted and supported by Companhia das Culturas, a small hotel in the South of Portugal that has adapted all its rooms to the pre-existing old farm buildings where the whitewash of the walls, the levelled concrete and the cork prevails.
photos: Passa Ao Futuro © Inês Silva Sá
The collaboration during the residency created the mini-collection of cane baskets. “Sundays” baskets are utilitarian with a distinct character, blurring the boundaries between craftsmanship and design. Crafted from cane harvested and prepared by the basket weaver himself.
For decades, this abundant and invasive plant has been primarily utilized in the South of Portugal to create simple and rugged basketry, often serving as an additional source of income for families.
This collection marries traditional cane weaving techniques with subtle yet functional innovation. The handles prominently showcase the raw material, crafted from thick, untrimmed cane that is later shaped into slender strips and interwoven within the basket structure.
SUNDAYS #1, Small cane basket, 26 x 14cm (approx. dim.); SUNDAYS #2, Big cane basket, 44 x 25cm (approx. dim.); SUNDAYS #3, Medium cane basket (one handle), 42 x 18cm (approx. dim.); photos: Inês Silva Sá, Passa Ao Futuro
Designer:
Born in Germany in 1974, Christian Haas lives and works in Porto, Portugal where he established his Studio in 2000. The Industrial Designer creates ever since products through multiple disciplines from furniture and lighting to porcelain and glassware. His design approach merges simplicity and elegance. His sense of aesthetics is driven by the harmony between sobriety, usefulness, emotionality, longevity and uniqueness. The Studio works for international brands such as Rosenthal, Karakter, Arita2016 and Tecta as well as for selected design galleries. Throughout the years, his work was honored with awards like the Red Dot Design Award and the Elle Decoration International Design Award.
Craftsman:
Born in Odeleite, a small town in the South of Portugal known as “capital of cane basketry”, Domingos Vaz began learning the craft in a very organic way, from watching older people working. Like most other kids in his village, he started by making small toys and baskets that wouldn’t require the use of a knife, and gradually began developing pieces that required more strength and to be cut with tools. Everyone learned the craft as a means of survival – to make objects for use in agriculture and shepherding, and to sell. However, the passion for cane and all that is nature related always accompanied him, and he has been fully dedicated to the art since his retirement, in 2011.
