Shaping from Intuition
Ever since he was a child, product designer Hozan Zangana has been fascinated by the ancient Kufi calligraphy, a 7th century script. Together with his mentor Thomas Milo, he designed a digital font for the script. He then used the new shapes and forms as the basis for a collection of physical objects, using a range of materials.
Hozan: “I wondered what inspired the creators of the Kufi calligraphy. How did they create these minimilastic, intelligent and beautiful shapes? The volume of these shapes reminded me of ancient Mesopotamic and Persian sculptures from a much earlier time (5-7 millenium BC). The resemblance was striking to me.”
“Back then creative expression was limited by the domination of religion. Was this a way of keeping the region’s cultural heritage alive in a time of political turmoil? Many sculptures were deemed inappropriate and were destroyed. Art survived by keeping a more 2-dimensional view, for example the design of carpets, mosaic tiles, and miniature. So I asked myself: Is there a way of creating a new 3-dimensional world by using the Kufi calligraphy as an inspiration?”
Photos: Kasia Gatkowska