ClassiCon has been working with Konstantin Grcic for a longer period of time than with any other contemporary designer. In 2016, we celebrated 25 years of cooperation with a special project: the Black Edition.

For this edition, Konstantin Grcic transformed his most striking designs from the ClassiCon collection into a monochrome series in black. With surfaces coated with matte or glossy lacquers or made of black burnished metal and fabrics with a special colour depth, the furniture is provided with timeless elegance and newly united as a monochromatic ensemble. An exclusive part of the edition is limited to 25 copies. All pieces in the edition are accompanied by a limited portfolio of fine photo art prints taken by artist Shirana Shabazi.

I have intentionally selected black because it is a colour that represents classic modernism and its existential objectivity. But black is also a clear, modern statement: pure, topical and radical.

Konstantin Grcic

The Black Edition portfolio

ClassiCon developed the overall concept together with Konstantin Grcic and Studio Achermann based in Zurich, which managed to enlist Iranian-Swiss photographer Shirana Shahbazi to adequately stage and capture the Black Edition. She staged each of the products either set against a black background or in contrast with multi-coloured surfaces.

The portfolio limited to 500 copies includes 22 high-quality DIN A3 prints and is available separately from the Black Edition products. The 22 prints come in a box and can be individually framed. Should you be interested, please contact info[-at-]classicon[-dot-]com.

Shirana Shahbazi and the Black Edition

As is the case with her own work, Shirana Shahbazi focuses on the suspension of reality, the clearly defined forms and the dimensions. Her photographs set against a black background capture the clear linearity of Grcic’s designs due to the incidence of light and change of perspectives resulting in a suspenseful interplay with the monochrome background. In contrast with the coloured elements, Shahbazi abstracts the three-dimensionality of the furniture into a shining composition that breaks down the individual forms of triangles, squares and angles into adjoining surfaces.