POLKA‘s interactive CUT Lamp invites its owner to customize the design to his or her heart’s desire. The pendant shade even comes with its own pair of scissors – yet another innovative design from the playful Vienna-based studio of partners Monica Singer and Marie Rahm.

*Images courtesy of POLKA

When approaching their designs for a new pot collection with traditional Austrian enamel company Riess Email, young Vienna-based design duo POLKA chose to reimagine the ways in which we interact with this common object. Asking questions like “How many handles does a pot need anyway?” and “What makes a functional object?” the pair created a new form of pot, one in which the idea of the pot is mutated and modified, rearranging our expectations for interactions with daily-used objects. The resulting collection of creatures entertain the user, allowing one to handle them as he or she sees fit, and encourages all of us to think about our daily routines and expectations.

Describing their playful approach to design, POLKA partners Marie Rahm and Monica Singer say:
“We like to observe, we like to surprise, we like to discover, we like to irritate, we like to find solutions, we like to tell stories, we like to entertain, we like to change the point of view . Above all, we like to create. And we like things.”

POLKA Pots are made on order.

POLKA product pleasure
Mariahilferstr. 9/7, 1060
Vienna, Austria
polkaproducts.com

* Photographs by Michael Stelzhammer. Images courtesy of POLKA.

New for 2010, Vienna-based design house POLKA introduces the Floyd Sofa Range. Designed for Wittmann, this unconventional sofa series combines the classic couch shape with interchangeable, attachable elements that give the furniture a surprising versatility. Back cushions and armrests in various sizes let it go from a couch to a chaise, and a selection of accessories – a laptop table, a tray, a lamp, and a small round table – make it super-functional and fun.

Created in 2004, POLKA ( Polka Product Pleasure) is the brainchild of design duo Monica Singer and Marie Rahm. The pair “regards everyday life phenomena as their project’s fuel. To discover the beauty in the banal, the extraordinary out of the ordinary is the aim. We show shifting points of view, we like to surprise and carry on the ease of life forward on the way to create ‘product pleasures’.” Already, their impressive client list includes names like Lobmeyr, MINI/BMW and MAK among many others. To learn more about these product and visual designers, visit polkaproducts.com.