Product Design as Cultural Narrative and Sustainable Craft
MACHEIA is a Lisbon-based design studio based in 2020 by Italian-German designer Lucrezia Papillo and Mozambican-Portuguese architect Iany Gayo. Drawing on their numerous industrial design and structure backgrounds, the duo created a studio targeted on mixing product design, conventional craft, and cultural storytelling.
A Studio Rooted in Custom
The title MACHEIA comes from a time period that refers to a handful—symbolizing the centrality of guide work and the tactile nature of the studio’s method. Their work celebrates the continuity of ancestral information by means of modern interpretations, producing handcrafted residence objects that join previous and current.
Working with pure fibers and historical weaving strategies, MACHEIA goals to protect and renew Portugal’s craft heritage whereas constructing a future for sustainable design rooted in cultural id.
The Bulrush Assortment: The place Craft Meets Innovation
A key venture that defines the studio’s philosophy is the Bulrush Assortment, which revives the endangered Portuguese weaving approach often called Bunho. This advanced methodology makes use of Schoenoplectus Palla—often called bulrush or giunco—to create intricate woven kinds with cultural and aesthetic worth. As a matter of truth, only two European artisans nonetheless observe this method, together with grasp weaver Manuel Ferreira, with whom MACHEIA collaborates carefully. Combining the normal Bunho spiral motif with customized steel constructions, the gathering reimagines craft as sculptural, tactile, and fashionable.
Assento: Between Kind and Operate
A standout piece within the Bulrush Assortment is Assento, a hybrid between a stool and a aspect desk. Its design is impressed by the Tanho, probably the most iconic patterns of the Bunho approach.
Assento encompasses a spiral of bulrush rising from a minimalist metal arc. It cradles the woven type, creating a visible and materials dialogue between steel and fiber. The natural form evokes freedom from the spiral’s tight rhythm, providing consolation and sculptural magnificence.
Native Manufacturing and Ecological Supplies
Sustainability drives MACHEIA’s design course of. Supplies are native, primarily from Portugal’s wetlands, with bulrush harvested yearly in Santarém. In summer time, the bulrush sundries utilizing conventional strategies.
This method ensures low environmental influence, helps native communities, and extends the lifespan of strategies susceptible to extinction.
MACHEIA at Lisbon Design Week 2025
In Could 2025, MACHEIA will take part within the third version of Lisbon Design Week, a five-day celebration of creativity, excessive craft, and design from Could 28 to June 1 throughout numerous venues in Lisbon. The occasion brings collectively Portuguese and worldwide designers, artists, and craftspeople. It provides exhibitions, talks, and product launches that spotlight Portugal’s wealthy tapestry of latest design.
MACHEIA’s Imaginative and prescient for Up to date Design
MACHEIA makes use of product design as a mirrored image, continuity, and transformation instrument. Their work has been featured in worldwide exhibitions and design gala’s, drawing consideration to the worth of artisanal practices in fashionable design contexts.
Their collections are practical and poetic: each bit invite customers to expertise utility, which means connection and cultural reminiscence.
