Chmara.Rosinke

Designers Ania Rosinke and Maciej Chmara cofounded Chmara.Rosinke Studio in 2012 in Vienna. The studio designs, directs, and executes objects, interiors, and installations from concept through creation. Chmara.Rosinke’s work is characterized by simple, poetic forms; ecological awareness; and aesthetics that frequently trace objects back to their archetypes. Describing their approach, the designers tell us: “Each object has to be able to work like a logo. It has to be easily understandable in its basic form but still unique and recognizable.”

The studio realizes both commissioned and self-initiated projects. Notable projects include Mobile Hospitality (2011), a wooden mobile kitchen with a DIY aesthetic that celebrates the joy of food culture (this piece earned numerous awards, including the DMY International Design Festival 2012 Award, and was ultimately added to the permanent collection of the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna); Timber Daybed for Hermès (2014), a simple wooden daybed with foldable textile screens (this piece was a finalist in the prestigious Prix Émile Hermès competition that same year); and the stackable CF02 Chair (2015), inspired by the great design legacy of tubular steel chairs from pioneering modernists of the 20^th century. Available in multiple colors, the CF02 Chair is composed of a single tube, bent and welded in one spot, as well as two simple, ash wood disks that make up its back and seat.

Chmara (born in Gdynia, Poland in 1984) and Rosinke (born in Gdynia in 1985) first met as students at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk. They both began studies there in 2004, and started collaborating while still students. Chmara majored in architectural and exhibition design with a minor in furniture design; Rosinke studied interior design. Together, they also spent one year (2007-2008) at Kunstuniversität Linz, where they studied space and design strategies and architecture. Both graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk with Master’s degrees in 2009. Simultaneously, both studied architecture briefly at second schools—Rosinke at the Institute for Arts and Architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and Chmara at the Vienna University of Technology. They left these secondary programs prior to graduating to work in a range of fields, including drawing, architecture, art history, architectural theory, and interiors and object designs, before going on to formally establish their studio in 2012.

Chmara.Rosinke’s projects have been shown at a variety of international design fairs and exhibitions, including the Milan, Dutch, Paris, New York, and Vienna Design Weeks, as well as the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna (MAK), among other respected institutions. The duo has received numerous awards, including the Neue Wiener Werkstätte Design Award (2012), DMY Berlin Award (2012), Nespresso Design Scholarship (2014), Justus Brinckmann Gesellschaft Award (2014), and the Outstanding Artist Award for Experimental Design in (2014). Additionally, the pair was distinguished as MAK designers-in-residence in 2013. Their works are included in the permanent collections of the MAK, Hofmobilien Depot, Klaus Engelhorn, Gallery Himbeer & Soda, Gallery BB, as well as those of private collectors. In 2014, they curated their first design show: Austria-South Africa: In Discourse at the Austrian exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa, during Cape Town’s World Design Capital festivities.

The designers divide their time between Vienna and Berlin, though their studio is still based in Vienna.