Warsaw - Having grown up with the shortages of the communist era, a bright new generation of Polish designers is capitalising on the spirit of ingenuity those hard times bred to win recognition worldwide.
Typical of Polish design is the "vice clock": a small, metal three-sided cube with a clamping mechanism so it can be attached to any number of household items, from drainpipes to bookshelves to a stack of post-it notes.
"I try to design simple and smart objects. I like to use simple materials, like metal and especially wood," said Bartosz Mucha, the 37-year-old behind the idea.
"I heard that resourcefulness is characteristic of Polish designers," he added about an industry that is becoming a growth engine for Polish commerce.
"Because we are still not a rich country. We were in the east communist bloc and this history influenced us," he told AFP, referring to the quintessential Polish talent of creating something out of nothing, of seeing the possibilities in objects and transforming them.
Considered one of the country's best designers today by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, which promotes Polish culture abroad, Mucha represents the young generation of artists who are making up for lost time.
AFP
