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    Saif Faisal: Name to know

    JAN 21, 2016 | By Tasneem Merchant
    His EDIDA 2015 Tableware winning product, Blub Vide Poche is series of minimal bowls made of ceramic, wood and cast metals. The String Table is an ode to the crucial aero wings on racing cars. Saif’s award winning products are all flat pack and can be easily assembled.
    The String Table is an ode to the crucial aero wings on racing cars. Saif’s award winning products are all flat pack and can be easily assembled. The Alhazen Table Lamp is inspired by the iconic Jedi swords from the cult sci-fi movie series Star Wars. Another one of his creations, Gyro is a paper embossed clock.

    “I don’t have any profound philosophy as such. The artistic and functional expression of a product is very important. We design each one to be beautiful, relevant, honest and useful,” says Saif Faisal, one of the winners of the Godrej Design Lab 2015, a product design contest held in association with ELLE DECOR India. His products, the String Table and Alhazen LED lamp won the jury’s attention for their minimal and uncomplicated design.
    The inspiration for the objects are quite clear – the Alhazen LED lamp draws from the form of the Jedi swords of Star Wars while the String table is inspired by the aero wings on racing cars.  “The concept was to develop flat-pack furniture that uses just a simple string to assemble. With all the clutter and frivolous details in the “rich” design we see around, this essential and practical essence seems like a relief.”
    The founder of Saif Faisal Design Workshop, he loves working with natural materials like wood, metal, ceramics, leather “in an innovative and fresh way, more neutral in their aesthetic”. As a maker, he isn’t fond of synthetic materials which age badly.
    “We have about 12-14 projects that we are working on at the moment; two of them are “Systems” furniture, a family of rotational moulded outdoor furniture in 100% recyclable LLDPE (linear low-density polyethylene), some lamps in wood and cork and also some accessories,” he elaborates.
    The EDIDA 2015 Tableware winner would have loved to work for Thomas Lykke, Marc Newson or Naoto Fukasawa. “If not a designer, I would be a cultural anthropologist, a motorcycle racer or a chef,” he signs off.
    Website: www.saif-faisal.com
    For more details about Godrej Design Lab, visit www.godrejdesignlab.com