Last Summer I had the privilege to sit down with Amr Helmy, the principle designer for Amr Helmy Designs. While this Design institution is based in Cairo, it on the cusp of creating a global impact for design. His approach is multifaceted focus to design. He has put in place a design academy to cultivate the Egyptian design community and had been a continuous advocate of creating Egyptian design that is both equitable in the local and global design economy. Helmy has created a design firm that not only sees design as product, but the production all components of design, education, production, and creating awareness of how design influences ones life.
During our discussion I had the chance to view and experience one of his recent projects The Endless Nile Table. This piece, conceived by Karim Rashid and put into production by Amr Helmy Designs, illustrates not only the impact Egyptian of design, but also how it can reinterpret the historically relevant geography. The table comes into formulations a single undulating piece of white corian or pine slats. The white corian gives the table an ethereal appearance and feel, while the wood allows it seem as if it has turned the Nile river into a flow of wood, with grains of history touching the banks. What makes this piece command so much attention is how it leads the subconscious; it requires the viewer to mentally feel the contours of the table, interpret how they come to associate to its space. As one approaches the table and begins to place himself within the piece, one becomes consumed with the sensual curves (which is an aesthetic feat, corian is oftentimes a banal material with little use outside of countertops). Helmy explicated that this piece was brought into production through a desire to create something that was representative of both the quality of craftsmanship that is growing in Egypt, but also something uniquely reflective of history.
