The Straw-k'Art
The Straw-k is an innovative process where plastic drinking straws are melted together on the surface to create a very structural homogeneous material with strong aesthetic qualities and surprising interaction with light. The process is high-tech and artisanal at the same time. Indeed, every piece is modeled in 3D and the molds are manufactured with lasercut wood and CNC milled foam. However, each piece is unique, being filled and melted by hand. The process is as important as the result because it represents our statement as artists, designers and architects. Today we should use new technologies to manufacture our ideas and still keep the singularity of the craftsman work. Even though people are used to buy the same things in their daily life, they are always seeking for something different, original, personal. Our art pieces are a mix of inspirations from our social lives, our favorite alive or fictive figures, humor and caricature, etc. Most of all they are created to make people happy!
Our Story
Alexandra Singer-Bieder is French; she met Sofia Bennani, originally from Morocco, in Paris during their studies at the Ecole Spéciale d'Architecture (ESA) where they received their Master of Architecture in June 2013 and their Architectural License (HMONP) in December 2014. There, they developed an innovative process currently in a patent filing, surrounded by professional engineers, lighting experts and specialists in robotic. The Straw-k process was born in 2012 and improved since then in the field of interior architecture, furniture design and most recently, Art. After getting a special prize for their architectural installation at the ESA in June 2013, they won the Young Talent Prize to the Africa Design Award 2014 and their innovative process was finalist for the international Tex-Fab Plasticity competition and exhibited during Acadia 2014 in Los Angeles last October and in Houston in March 2015. Some of the Straw-k'Art pieces are currently exhibited for the Africa Design Days in Casablanca (from March to July 2015) and at the 5* hotel Le Pigonnet in Aix-en-Provence. Together, Sofia and Alexandra are the Straw-k and they created the Straw-k'Art, a brand new concept in the art field.