Crafts connnected

Crafts Connected proposes a framework for crafts-inspired product design based on skill-sharing, waste recycling and local community engagement in order to build social capital. The project was developed by Jan Phillip Ley and Vera Naydenova following a visit to central northern Bulgaria.

Crafts Connected explores contemporary product design informed by traditional crafts and tools. Upon research on the history of traditional Bulgarian crafts and related topics in social innovation, Jan Phillip Ley and Vera Naydenova visited central northern Bulgaria to explore material culture, contact local craftsmen and designers and identify potential collaborators. They developed a concept for an alternative framework based on sharing of skills, recycling craft and industrial waste and involving people with various expertise with regard to materials and processes, as well as different aesthetic visions.

The project builds up connectedness and social responsibility in design practice. 

A space for collaboration between craftsmen and designers, and engagement of locals in workshops and activities, the concept builds up interdependency and interconnectedness within the community and promotes social responsibility in design practice. In April 2016 Crafts Connected gained further support at an international crafts and design conference in Gabrovo, Bulgaria.

Time

Winter 2015

Location

Bulgaria

Team

Jan Phillip Ley

Vera Naydenova