The idea used in Blow can also be seen in the Air series, containing an armchair and three types of stools, all based on the same concept: an inflated pillow placed in a simple oak frame. The Wool & Air series also benefits from the versatility of inflated objects, but has a slightly more cozy touch: the metal frames serve as a contrast to felt pillow covers.
Apart from chairs and stools, Malafor also experiments with tables. Inspired by the theoretical works of Oskar Hansen, they created Table – a countertop with interchangeable boards of different wood treatment. The designers used oak wood, both in its natural and a slightly burnt form. The remaining boards were made using ash and maple wood, resulting in a big variety of colours and textures, allowing the user to compose the countertop according to their liking. The designers were concerned about the local aspect to their products, which is why they only used wood from lumber mills in the Kaszuby region of northern Poland.
Bolo Acoustic Men, shown for the first time in 2008 at the Łódź Design Festival, is one of Malafor’s most striking projects. It is a suspended loudspeaker system from epoxy resin, bearing a visual resemblance to soap bubbles.
The designers also took a look back at Agata’s graduation project. Activ Basket is a grocery basket for wheelchair users. The designers consulted with disabled people, making it truly responsive to their needs, and is compatible with all kinds of wheelchairs. It is at the same time the first product that Malafor created with the idea of mass production in mind. They also launched a website for it: www.activbasket.com. In 2012, Activ Basket won the prestigious IF Design Award. The designers underline:
Although we live and work in Poland, our goal is to reach out to the international market. We think that the connection that we have with the place we work in adds a sense of credibility and quality to our products.
Malafor has taken part in numerous showings of Polish design, like the 2009 Unpolished exhibitions, the Just a Thing exhibition in Berlin, POLyphony – Contemporary Polish Design in Madrid (2011) and at a presentation of Eastern European design in Holon (Israel) in 2012/2013. Their products were also shown at the Polish Pavilion at EXPO 2010 in Shanghai and at the Polish Institute in Budapest (2008). Malafor also won prizes at design fairs and contests abroad: in 2006 they won the Grand Prix at Nagoya Design Do! for Life Alarm (an alarm which sounds when there is a risk of unconsciousness) and the Grand Prix at Targetti Light Art in Florence for Multicube (a cubic light sculpture from LED lights).
More information is available on Malafor’s website and Facebook page
The article used fragments of interviews with Agata Kulik-Pomorska published in Discovering Women in Polish Design and issued the Dizajnerki series on DOMO+ (www.domoplus.pl/2010/dizajnerki).
Chosen exhibitions and awards:
2016
- 21st Triennale, International Exhibition, Milan Design Week, Italy
2015
- Obserwatorium, Mierzeszyn, Poland
2014
- Plaża 60 Plus, Gdynia Design Centre, Poland
- The Spirit of Poland, Sao Paulo Design Week, Brazil
- Trent London, London, Great Britain
2013
- Nomadic Furniture 3.0 Stubenring 5, 1010, Vienna, Austria
- DMY, Berlin, Germany
- Na styku, Gdynia Design Days, Gdynia, Poland
2012
- Biennale Interieur, Belgium
- Red Dot Design Award
- Product Design Award
- Lifgtart
- Nagiya Design Do!
2008
- Designboom, sound innovation
2006
- Designboom, shelter on a card
Article originally written by Paulina Kucharska, Jan 2013, translated by WF, Oct 2017.