How can an object tell a story? How can creative thinking contribute to solving everyday problems? Can constraints act as a stepping stone for something new? Can design take on a more active role?

Design is not just encountered in windows of high-end shops, but also something we experience and interact with on a daily basis: from a sign and a widely recognisable piece of furniture to a love note and a D.I.Y. object that adapts random and accessible materials. Design acts as a creative tool identifying, analysing and solving problems in our everyday life as well as commenting on social phenomena and behaviours.

The exhibition Once Upon A Sponge aims to showcase the different perspectives of design. The participating designers conceptualise and construct unexpected and imaginative narrative objects with the final destination being to show and tell stories through the use of the iconic yellow sponge. The sponge, a neglected everyday object, transforms into a construction material for the designers who redefine its form and established use in order to challenge the perception of the public. Thus, they examine material properties, such as texture, colour, absorption, elasticity and opacity using manufacturing techniques including gluing, weaving and sewing. Using irony, humor, emotion and semiotics they infuse new attributes to a common product.

Participating designers: 157+173 Designers, Ritsa Αnastasiadou, Marcia Argyriades, Christina Billiouri, Angela Chrissaiti, CTRLZAK, DEDE Dextrous Design, Jazzt Design, Kanella, Sotiris Lazou, Vassilis Mylonadis, Kikos Papadopoulos, Stathis Petropoulos, Kallirroy Spyridonos, Zaxos Stathopoulos, Marc Schulthess, Wedid-ID + A, Alexandros Xanthakis.