After the prosperous participation in DMY Berlin Design Festival, Design Drive has come to DESIGNBLOK’09 Prague to share their ideas and competitive design culture with the Czech audience.

Design Drive is an inventive platform created by Latvian designers for the exchange of ideas, experience and knowledge. Their ambitions are quite aspiring; the project was created to attract society’s attention to the concept of design and to set in motion an active communication. By encouraging contact and activities, design becomes more accessible to a broader audience.

The work of Ieva Laurina impresses with its outstanding sensitivity and storytelling details. The tactile aspect is one of her main points of interest. Inspired in its shape by the archetype of jewelry- the pearl necklace- Skin2skin is made of such sensual materials as fur and leather fixed together with a metal wire. This pleasing necklace is meant to be worn directly on nude skin creating an intimate warm relationship between body and jewel.

Equally significant is her project Nest, an almost immaterial hammock which wants to carry the user into another world far away from daily stress and commitments. There is something very peaceful and poetic in this shelter which causes things slowing down a bit, taking you back to the supernatural of childhood. The sculptural object displays its magic reacting on wind blow or any kind of movement, waving and flickering in the air.

The young designer Gundega Zake-Cimza is engaged in how to promote the mutual tolerance and understanding between the society and the Christian world. On designblok she is presenting a new kind of prayer bench which is easy to use in different positions. “Goodspeed” supports you while kneeling and turning it over it can be used as a bench at home or anywhere you need to sit down. This small ambiguous chair is a light alternative to old heavy pews.

Another particular seating furniture is designed by Zane Homka which invites you to sit down wherever you want to start a communication. sTuTs has a simple T shape which reminds of a perch for birds, perfect to have a rest for a while and to twitter. The multifunctional seating be used inside or outside as a hanger or locker place for bicycle or as a barrier in public spaces.