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Swiss designer upcycles pieces of old Shanghai life
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Who is he?
Jonas Merian is a freelance furniture designer and maker from Switzerland based in Shanghai. His works are a mix of design, craft and art. Each piece is a unique creation made by Merian in his studio.
Tell us some of your works and name the one you are most proud of.
I love the series of Long Tang Tables. Especially the last one, Long Tang Table 3.0 turned out to be very nice. I love the different colors of the wood. They are all made of reclaimed wood from demolished houses in the old town of Shanghai and in a way they are preserving some of Shanghai’s history.
What projects are you currently involved in?
I’m currently working on a floor lamp which is going to be called “Shanghai Cactus Lamp.” It’s made of reclaimed wood and five old glass lampshades. The switch is made of old type matrices that form the word kaiguan (meaning switch) in Chinese characters. Touching the word kaiguan in Chinese will switch the lamp on and off. These types of matrices are extremely rare. There is only one piece per typeface and size of each character. I got them from Shanghai No.1 Type Matrix Factory. They are currently looking for artists to create works of art with their obsolete type matrices.
Another project I’m working on is a social upcycling project. So far it’s only on the paper but soon I will start to find funding for this project as it is too big and too expensive for me to do by myself. I’m planning to open a little company which is producing glass products from empty glass bottles. In the beginning it would be drinking glasses, lamps, candle holders and flower vases. I would like to hire disabled people to work there in order to give them job opportunities. I’m also planning to donate 5 percent of the retail price of all products from this project to charity.
Describe your design style.
I’m working within the principle of upcycling.Recycling is taking waste material and turning it into new raw material. Usually this raw material is of lower quality and value. Upcycling is taking waste material and using it to create new products of higher quality and value. Since I’m working with reclaimed material, most of my pieces are unique. Even if I make two tables with the same construction and dimension, they will look different because I’m using reclaimed wood which always looks a little bit different.
Where are you most creative?
At home in my studio. I need to have the material and my tools in front of me to have good ideas.
What does your home mean to you?
My home is my kingdom. I’m not only living at home, I’m also working at home. I have my studio in our home, which is an old factory building, turned into a loft.
What do you collect?
I collect old Chinese stuff, from old biscuit tins to old TV sets and old suitcases. I use these items to produce new design pieces.
Where would you love to go most in Shanghai?
I love going to the remaining parts of the old town of Shanghai. I love the liveliness of these old neighborhoods.
What will be the next big design trend?
I’m hoping that upcycling will become more of a trend here in China. In Europe and the US, upcycling is already getting more and more popular but here in China it’s a very new concept and most people do not know it and don’t like it very much.
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