Style

To work on an embryonic personality in order to reinforce its charm and usability: Design Apparat has been inspired by the patrimony of the late 20th century Bulgarian material culture to give life to its first collection of furniture.

Among the possible stimuli, the Soviet legacy certainly represents a radical source of inspiration, that takes shape in the re-elaboration of the orthogonal recurrences of the most widespread rationalism, the commemorative shifts of Soviet Baroque, through to the graphic or sculptural productions fluctuating between Figurative Realism and Constructivist Linearity.

For almost fifty years, these shapes and suggestions have given life to a homogeneous class of objects, characterised by the ambition of making themselves indispensible to the widest audience. Designed and produced in a regime where resources were scarce, their look has strongly marked the reference material universe, for the most part organised around a rough use of concrete, wood and metal.

The urban and industrial characterisation which is typical of the Soviet is combined with the fascination for Balkan rural culture, which in Bulgaria takes on specific identifying traits relating to some historical qualities that are not found in any other country of the area.

The legacy of the orphic culture, whose epicentre can be found amid the mountains of Bulgaria, where according to legend, Orpheus’s house was sheltered between the peaks of the Rodopi, tells us of a bond still rooted in the territory and nature, which is passed down through legends, folklore and folk songs. This bond takes on mystic overtones in the curative practices that are still carried out today using plants and local stones.

The handcrafted folk heritage influenced by the long Ottoman domination materialises in the traditional Tcherga wool carpets and also in the colour choices which are inspired by the multicoloured variety of reds, greens and oranges of the Bulgarian folk costumes, still used today in some remote areas of the country.