Rising star Thai design couple on their unique furniture pieces and how Swedish training influences their work

Ada Chirakranont and Worapong Manupipatpong, the duo behind Bangkok-based Atelier 2+ and winners of the Rising Talent Award Asia at Maison&Objet Paris, talk about their one-of-a-kind designs and how they are helping young designers gain a foothold
Ada Chirakranont and Worapong Manupipatpong, the duo behind Bangkok-based Atelier 2+ and winners of the Rising Talent Award Asia at Maison&Objet Paris, talk about their one-of-a-kind designs and how they are helping young designers gain a foothold

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Cane chairs by Atelier 2+. Picture: Rodtham Theeranithi

Published: 12:16pm, 18 Oct 2017Updated: 4:19pm, 18 Oct 2017

You both studied at Konstfack, in Stockholm. How did your time in Sweden influence your design? Ada Chirakranont: “The school is a mix of arts, craft and design. In Thailand, if you are a designer, it’s very separate from being an artist but [in Sweden] we felt like we could do artwork even if we weren’t studying it. It changed our way of thinking because the environment was more free.”

Ada Chirakranont and Worapong Manupipatpong. Picture: Atelier 2+

Describe your furniture designs. Worapong Manupipatpong: “We didn’t want to make tables or chairs; we wanted to make something you cannot define in terms of how it’s used.”
Ada: “One of our early objects was Camp, which looks like a tent made of wood and textiles. It was meant to be a room within a room. We wanted to make a cosy, communal space for everyone to get inside and gather like a family.”

What is your most significant project? Ada: “We were invited by Wallpaper* Thailand magazine to participate in its handmade issue, so we created Greenhouse, a miniature garden, in 2015. We didn’t immediately think of an object but rather the activity of gardening when we interpreted the theme ‘handmade’.”
Worapong: “It was meant to be a small green space in your house. It’s something between furniture and landscape architecture. Many people say the simple wood design has a Scandinavian aesthetic. I think we were unconsciously influenced by our time in Sweden.”