Expozor Logo Cups

ateliercetrei, written in one word in lowercase letters, is a partnership practicing architecture, interior architecture, design, urban planning and cultural analysis bringing together academia, design research and professional practice. The one word stands for unity, while the lowercase letters are meant to offer a nod to the Bauhaus notion of a non-hierarchical language, reinforcing our ethos of democratic partnership.

Logo Cups is a local product aimed at a global audience, a generic product and at the same time, through the deboss technique, highly personal and identity-driven, a vessel that caries, not only coffee, but also identity, meaning and values. A product mature and confident enough to be showcased at World of Coffee fair in Copenhagen. But how and in which form? Which furniture element best mediates human interaction with coffee (cups)? Although probably obvious, the answer did not come easily: a table. But not just any kind of table - a table with a plisse top, a table resembling a museum display stand, a table inspired by art pedestals, a design object that does not compete with that which exhibits but rather enhances it. The table is inspired by the traditional folk attire of the village of Sic, located near Cluj-Napoca, as well as by archaic Transylvanian architecture details like dove tail joints. Thus, the object stands out for its "glocal" character, with the same references paradoxically found both in Romanian vernacular architecture and in traditional attire and accessories as well as in cultures spanning from western europe to the far east. The pedestal consists of two main elements: the plisse tabletop intended for displaying the cups and its base. The latter is equipped with three storage compartments and designed so that the joints of the elements produce as minimal visual noise as possible - a prism with three doors with hidden handle grips, each opening a storage compartment, made out of oak veneered MDF panels. The plisse consists of 28 solid oak strips finger jointed, set at a 45-degree angle. The space created between two successive strips allows for optimal display of coffee (and tea) cups, highlighting LogoCups trademark debossing technique. Both end elements of the plisse features Logo Cups and Vitrus branding. The black stain and oil finish transforms the display stand into a full fledge art pedestal, whose details become the backdrop of Logo Cups products.