https://sinasohrab.com Sina Sohrab Wed, 16 Apr 2025 17:59:03 +0000 https://sinasohrab.com en https://sinasohrab.com/Real-Time-Text Wed, 16 Apr 2025 17:59:03 +0000 Sina Sohrab https://sinasohrab.com/Real-Time-Text Real-Time is a four-screen device cycling through some 300 live-streaming CCTV cameras from around the world. The footage ranges from a pizza kitchen in Moscow to a car dealership in California; an elevator in New York to a church altar in Milan; a clothing store in Tunis to a factory floor in Osaka; a meditation room on Mount Abu to a barbershop in Bali, and so on. Timestamps on each feed function primarily as markers of simultaneity—of being live. The device measures time’s abstract passage through an unfiltered sprawl of everyday human life, a window into the sheer banality of everything happening everywhere, all at once. That a voyeuristic absence of storyline looms throughout is largely the point. It loosely affirms what Dave Hickey once suggested: real life may not have a narrative, but it sure has some nice vignettes. Contribution to 24 Hours, an exhibition curated by Jamie Wolfond and Simple Flair at Riviera during the 2025 Milano Salone. Programming:Dan BrewsterProduction:Caliper Project Assistants:Mauro FerreiraNina Chiodi Images: Benjamin Lund https://sinasohrab.com/Korshage-Bench-Text Thu, 27 Jun 2024 16:50:52 +0000 Sina Sohrab https://sinasohrab.com/Korshage-Bench-Text At the invitation of designers Sébastien El Idrissi and Sara de Campos, I was asked to contribute to an exhibition centered around the Korshage house in Rørvig, Denmark. Realized in 1960 by architect Erik Korshagen as his summer home, the house is situated within a nature reserve and notable for the use of vernacular building methods, which Korshagen executed with a finesse that surpasses any of regionalism’s nostalgic trappings. He built the house with a massive thatched roof, adapting a traditional building technology as a departure from modern convention, reasoning that he “would have built a flat roof if the site was flat, but the roof on a slope naturally has a high pitch.” Recognizing that interpreting Korshagen through anything other than his methodology would likely undercut the house's significance, I responded with a bench that develops from a similar attitude. It’s an informal adaptation of fireside settles: rigid, high-backed benches found in homes across Europe from the 10th century onward. Considering how living dynamics have progressed, the scale and posture fall closer to a double-wide easy chair, reflecting a contemporary condition where the fireplace (and the living room with it) has become more a central lounge than a means of central heating. Contribution to A Calm Place, an exhibition curated by Sébastien El Idrissi and Sara de Campos for Objective Studies during Copenhagen's 3daysofdesign festival in 2024. Images: Matthew MintonEric Petschek https://sinasohrab.com/Exposicion-de-Bienes-Text-1 Wed, 07 Sep 2022 16:28:25 +0000 Sina Sohrab https://sinasohrab.com/Exposicion-de-Bienes-Text-1 The Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas in Madrid houses a collection of some 80,000 pieces, artifacts of diverse origins and a wide breadth of decorative styles from the lives of people from the 14th century onward. Visiting the museum we see jugs that were once used to bathe, chairs which lived whole lifetimes in the corners of people's bedrooms, and rugs that hosted both dancing feet and spilt wine. These were real people's things, marked by conflict and intimacy, now preserved inside glass vitrines and time-gapped vignettes. Consequently, viewing them in this guarded state leaves one grasping for a context that has been erased in favor of an analytical display. Given the functional and commercial natures behind the items, a decorative arts museum's collection cannot be fully understood without interaction and people. The objects lose purpose when they cannot be lived with. When we put them behind glass, we risk losing everything that makes them relatable. Exposición de Bienes is a response to this disparity. A commercial foil to the existing infrastructure of the museum, the exhibition consists of a functioning open-air antiques market which has been curated to correspond to the museum’s collection. The goods available cover a wide range; from 16th century ceramics to early 20th century furniture. Visitors are encouraged to visit the museum and the market in any order they wish, and to take something home. By juxtaposing these infrastructures, the exhibition gives prominence to the fundamental nature of the objects in the museum's collection: that they were made to be used. The exhibition design was largely based on trying to find a middle ground between the frenzy of a market and the stillness of a museum. The displays borrow heavily from the 17th century Castilian tables that fill the museum, imitating their iron under-structures in bent 6mm steel. The incorporated shading canopies, made from Kvadrat textiles, reference the market stalls typically found in El Rastro, the antiques district of Madrid where our vendors were also sourced. Objects were laid out with the sparseness of a museum exhibition in mind, but without the usual plaques and labels. Instead, we asked the vendors to be present for the duration, in an attempt to have visitors engage with them to learn about the oral histories behind the objects and (hopefully) haggle a good price. The results were interesting; the wandering vendors began to resemble docents and, in a curious turn of events, could sometimes be found discussing the objects with the actual museum docents who would walk through on their breaks. The nature of the curation process was fluid, given that the selection of objects changed as the vendors brought in new wares and sold others through the weeks leading up to the exhibition. So, instead of a traditional catalog, we printed a short essay which expands on the theme with research into the history of the decorative arts and marketplaces. A retroactive catalog is in the works with a full accounting of the objects, which was completed during the opening days. ︎   Read the accompanying essay, Proposal for a Contemporary Presentation of the Decorative Arts. Produced for the 2022 Mayrit Bienal, Exposición de Bienes is split into two acts: the first, by Sina Sohrab, was presented in front of the Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas from June 16-18. The second, by curator Joel Blanco, will consist of interventions within the museum in the Fall of 2022. Organization:Office of DesignMayrit Bienal Cultural Management:Yetta AguadoLorena PardoRaquel Molina Carazo Production:María Ona Graphic Design:Victor ClementeAndrea Lopez Participants:Antigüedades Benito Torrijos Eliche Arte y AntigüedadesFrancisco Montesinos Mercedes Cabeza de VacaPinto y Alvarado Supported by:Kvadrat Images:Asier RuaBlanca Guerrero https://sinasohrab.com/Bird-Pavilions-Text Tue, 06 Sep 2022 09:37:55 +0000 Sina Sohrab https://sinasohrab.com/Bird-Pavilions-Text Bird Pavilions are two studies on the ways in which our lives and natural behaviors imprint on one another. Both are structures for indifferent avian audiences, which—whether by our influence or by sheer convenience—have come to rely on some sort of human intervention to sustain them. The Chickadee Pavilion is a feeder for small songbirds. Though bird enthusiasts often build a number of structures to attract their melodies, the bulk of their efforts are spent warding off unwanted visitors. As is to be expected, natural selection is ever ready to thwart the small Chickadee—the first to get elbowed out of any feeding circle. This pavilion is yet another attempt, taking after the fences they often adopt as perches. The Purple Martin Pavilion is a birdhouse for the Eastern Purple Martin, a species that nests in colonies. Due to waning suitable habitats, they have become backyard birds who rely on human “landlords” to build multi-dwelling structures for them. This aging population of caretakers is by and large dying out, leading them to face their own mortality as well as those of the birds they care for—birds who have become accustomed to prefabricated homes. The pavilion is not a direct answer to the problem but rather a proposal to build more, at a different scale than we're accustomed to, for those that depend on it. Contribution to Slanted/Enchanted, an exhibition curated by Jamie Wolfond for Erin Stump Projects during Toronto Design Festival 2022. Images: Sean Davidson https://sinasohrab.com/Beam-Collection-Text Tue, 06 Sep 2022 09:38:05 +0000 Sina Sohrab https://sinasohrab.com/Beam-Collection-Text The earliest sinks were known as 'dry sinks'—washbasins or deep bowls that were manually filled with water. In this way, the sink and the bowl are fundamentally related. Though advances in modern plumbing made sinks more complex, forming an altogether different archetype, bowls have largely remained the same: vessels for nourishment that are pleasant to hold. The Beam washbasin takes after these early foundations of the category. The gentle curvature of the sink is modeled after a prototypical bowl, with interior platforms providing space for soap bars or bath accessories—forming a functional and empathetic design language. This way of thinking is extended to a simple open storage console. Formally modeled after the steel I-beam, the supporting unit is derived from the structure and organization that standard building components impose. Its dimensions are a product of practicality: the height is determined by the height of two rolls of bath tissue, and the width accommodates the sink while offering generous space for everyday necessities. ︎︎︎    Winner of a 2021 Red Dot “Best of the Best” Award. Designed in collaboration with Joseph Guerra. Project Team:Chris CrowleyEvan Dempsey Project Assistant:Elie Fazel Images:Delfino Sisto Legnani https://sinasohrab.com/Living-Room-Text Tue, 06 Sep 2022 09:37:59 +0000 Sina Sohrab https://sinasohrab.com/Living-Room-Text After three successful design projects editions, Kvadrat is delighted to announce the commissioning of Knit! — a series of works by 28 different designers exploring the potential of knitted textiles by Kvadrat Febrik. Designers have been chosen from across the world to create pieces with Kvadrat Febrik textiles as the protagonist. These designs probe material possibilities with pieces that explore the boundaries of textile use. Selected by curators Anniina Koivu, Jeffrey Bernett, Johanna Agerman Ross, Njusja de Gier, and Renee Merckx, the participating designers have been chosen from the fields of industrial and product design, craft, graphics, and fashion. The designers were chosen for their ability to experiment and play with the potential of knitted fabrics. Knit! is the fourth edition of Kvadrat’s Design Projects, following iterations dedicated to Kvadrat’s Hallingdal 65, Divina, and Canvas textiles. Living Room is a reinterpretation of the family table, imagined as a place where one might gather for tea or to play cards. The project draws from research into historical seating typologies in the Middle East, which are typically low, often on the floor, and arranged at the perimeter of a room. Fundamental to this style are compositional color landscapes created through the layering of textiles, borne from the interplay of colors in nature and their inherently complex relationships. Distilling these ideas, Living Room's blue central pedestal recalls the reflecting pools found in early Islamic architecture and the warm hues that surround it are influenced by the compositions of the region's textiles. The incorporation of these elements along the seating and soft table surface work to create a familial warmth, making use of knitted textiles’ capacity to provide the soft curvature and comfort necessary for dealing with the human body. ︎︎︎   View a digital presentation of the Knit! exhibition. Designed in collaboration with Joseph Guerra. Project Team:Chris CrowleyEvan Dempsey Project Assistants:Elie FazelEstelle Rougerie Images:Benjamin LundLana Ohrimenko https://sinasohrab.com/Barbican-Play-Text Tue, 06 Sep 2022 09:38:09 +0000 Sina Sohrab https://sinasohrab.com/Barbican-Play-Text An extension of the Barbican Trolley, Barbican Play is a shorter, more adaptable work cart for the ever-transforming home or office. Designed at a convenient height, the cart easily slides underneath one’s desk and can be accessed by way of a hollow handle meant to be grasped from either the top or the bottom. Three tiers provide a hierarchy of space: a “cargo-hold” at the bottom for larger items, a middle tier for books and accessories, and a low top tray that can accommodate pens, pencils, and office supplies. Designed in collaboration with Joseph Guerra. Project Team:Chris CrowleyEvan Dempsey Project Assistant:Elie Fazel Margaux Mandrou Images:Dims. https://sinasohrab.com/Cigarette-for-One-Text Tue, 06 Sep 2022 09:38:13 +0000 Sina Sohrab https://sinasohrab.com/Cigarette-for-One-Text For the one-year anniversary exhibition of the Fisher Parrish Gallery, designers were invited to create an ashtray. The ashtray is an object of near design-lore. Once an everyday, every-home accessory where all designers would make a mark, its unique design is a casualty of our health-conscious contemporary life. As Murray Moss once put it, "Bereft of the ashtray, a near-extinct species, the coffee table has never recovered, a Romeo without his Juliet." Cigarette for One is a totem to the dying ritual of smoking a cigarette to end the night and reflect on the day. It's a contemplative object, taking the typologically universal cigarette holder and switching its orientation, gesturing towards the thing it holds. It takes cues from the monumental quality of Isamu Noguchi's proposal for Sculpture to be Seen from Mars, in a bid to be both an everyday item and a swan song. ︎︎︎    Included in the Noguchi Museum exhibition The Sculptor and the Ashtray. Designed in collaboration with Joseph Guerra.   https://sinasohrab.com/Bent-Box-Text Tue, 06 Sep 2022 09:38:17 +0000 Sina Sohrab https://sinasohrab.com/Bent-Box-Text Simple storage boxes built from a single strip of wood wrapped around a base, taking after the Japanese tradition of magewappa, or bentwood housewares. They are able to stack for storage, allowing the user to determine how they could fit into one's life; whether as trays, containers, or catch-alls. Designed in collaboration with Joseph Guerra. Images: Norman Copenhagen https://sinasohrab.com/Barbican-Trolley-Text Tue, 06 Sep 2022 09:38:21 +0000 Sina Sohrab https://sinasohrab.com/Barbican-Trolley-Text Barbican is an architectural take on the bar cart; a vertical structure that caters to one’s needs. A hierarchy is established by the tiers, and the handle is integrated into the top surface to meet the hands at a natural height. The form falls to the background while the objects placed on the cart are elevated, creating a sense of serenity and purpose. The cart is meant to be used in a variety of settings as an all-purpose trolley that serves more than just drinks. Designed in collaboration with Joseph Guerra. Project Team: Chris Crowley Project Assistant:Amira Louadah Images: Sean Davidson