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text Mavis ang photo Foundry and Marset

who Xavier Manosawhy this eMerging spanish designer and ceraMist utilises traditional craFt-Making to create conteMporary ForMs what gets him out of bed in the morning “Finding out what an artisanal product Means.”

log on to apparatu.com to view more of Xavier Manosa’s works. the pleat Box and scotch club are available at Foundry, 3 seah street, tel: 6339-6381.

a collaboration between Xavier and Mashallah design studio, the Marset pleat Box’s ceramic undulating form was designed to mimic the way a piece of cloth can be folded or creased.

despite being born into a family of ceramists, it was Xavier’s peculiar attraction to sketches of objects, rather than spending much of his childhood in a ceramic workshop, that propelled him to pursue an education in industrial design. “i never really thought about what i was going to do when i grow up,” Xavier sheepishly admits. But it all fell into place when his flatmate in Berlin, who was a ceramic artist, encouraged Xavier to submit his works to the handled with care contemporary ceramic-ware exhibition that was part of the london design Festival in 2007.

Xavier was invited to showcase his quirky designs (including a clay vase coated with blackboard paint to allow users to decorate it or scribble down reminders), and the unexpectedly favourable responses he garnered for the works encouraged him to sow the seeds of apparatu, his design studio.

he soon landed projects with renowned spanish manufacturers such as Marset (pleat Box and scotch club ceramic pendant lights) and kettal (pussel, a multi-functional and modular mixed-media table object pictured below), and found himself working hand in hand with his father in the family’s workshop in

Barcelona. “working with family is stressful yet relaxing, uncomfortable yet comfortable,” says the laid-back 33-year-old designer. returning to his roots meant rediscovering the art of pottery, and Xavier shares that he prefers working with a traditional art form: “Because there is such a strong tradition in ceramic arts, it’s easier to break those rules.”

“everything has been done. But what’s important now is how it’s being done,” says Xavier, who strongly believes in the artisanal value of his designs. the slight variations among the individual pleat Box lamps can attest to that, as each shade is completely handmade. “it’s always about the process,” he emphasises. “i’m still trying to understand what it means to be a ceramist.”