"Upcycling" has become an international style phenomenon. The idea of renovating and customising is not exactly new, however this recently coined term highlights its environmental benefits and moves mere recycling into the realm of reinvention. Whether it’s updating vintage and antique furniture, repainting old ceramics, printing over old textiles, reshaping retro clothes and fabrics or converting waste into accessories. And it’s not all about these thriftier, more eco-conscious times. With designers’ creative input, the wonderful materials already out there can become as good as - or even better than - new. In a backlash against the throwaway society, the focus here is on quality, not quantity of production; on continuity of culture and traditions. Sustainability in all senses.
Freimeisterei
Martina Sperl
Martina Sperl thought long and hard before hitting upon the name of “Freimeisterei” for her new shop, which opens 1st March in Kosakengasse in Graz. It manages to encapsulate perfectly the spirit of her venture: a young, creative designer who is wholeheartedly committed to the ideal of breathing new life into old furniture. For one thing, because of the serious eco benefits: she believes in the basic wisdom of restoring a beautiful, solid chair or sofa that will last a lifetime rather than falling into the cycle of cheap, bland, mass-produced items that end up broken and on the ever-growing scrapheap after a few years. She also simply wants people to enjoy the quality and original flair of antique or retro furniture, and to feel confident in their own taste. She works to order with great flexibility, but often teams these built-to-last, old frames with funky, exuberant fabrics to create a highly contemporary ‘London’ look. As she speaks, this passion for her work shines through; for her, these objects each have “an unmistakably individual character, which deserves to be used and loved.”
Martina first trained as a designer, working in colour & trim in the automotive industry until she became frustrated with being stuck behind a computer and longed for another kind of design that was more ‘hands on’ and back-to-basics. It was then that she decided to get back to learning a real craft through apprenticeship and to follow her love of old furniture. Upholstery, however, is not an easy profession for an outsider to break into – especially a young woman. So instead of becoming an apprentice she discovered a specialist course in Salzburg, where she spent 6 months training intensively, “worked really, really hard” and came out top of her Meisterprüfung class. Since then she has had a wide range of assignments, including the vintage barber’s chairs at the Haarschneiderei. She also designs and sells her own pieces.
The term “Freimeister” dates back to the Middle Ages, when some craftsmen and artists rebelled against the confines of established guilds, going their own way to create unusual work that was often greatly admired by the Church and the aristocracy. They lacked certain privileges accorded to guild members, such as the right of apprenticeship, and were treated with suspicion and hostility by the guilds. Will she be taking on apprentices herself? Another of Martina’s goals is to sustain and pass on the very craft of upholstery, which she sees as a vanishing art, because “handcraft is vital for our identity, for our culture... these are skills that could disappear”. Upholstery is of course a service that does not come cheap: it’s time-consuming, each piece is individual. It’s the opposite of series production. But as she points out, her work also costs only half the hourly rate of a plumber’s services, and at least at the end you have invested in something valuable and completely original, which will give you enormous pleasure every time you walk into the room. And she is also optimistic for the future, since “fortunately, times are changing, and people are beginning once again to realise that although quality may have a price, in the longer term it also costs a lot less” – in many ways.
Freimeisterei
Martina Sperl
Kosakengasse 15 (nur nach Telefonischer Terminvereinbarung)
A-8020 Graz
Tel.: +43 664 23 77 361
martina_sperl@hotmail.com
- Verfasser/in:
- Kate Howlett-Jones
