Karl Nawrot Karl Nawrot

What's the story behind your web cover design for Het Nieuwe Instituut Online?

This piece is taken from a short series of paper clay objects entitled The Inhabitant. I've been working on them sporadically since last December. Each object follows the same structure - a rudimentary building shaped by a lighter construction, or vice versa. The project began with a photograph of the Szczecin Philharmonic's main hall that I found in a newspaper. I layered it onto a memory of my childhood - the first time I visited a natural history museum and realized that some places are inhabited by skeletons.

How does this piece relate to the rest of your work?

Architecture often plays an important role in my work and over time I try to keep track of the spaces I visit - physically or mentally. These traces can take different forms, including drawings, paintings or even objects, as in the project I'm presenting here.

Is the coronavirus pandemic changing the way you work?

I've been working at home for five years now, so - aside from the fact that some projects have been cancelled - little has changed in my daily work routine.

Designer Karl Nawrot is based in Paris. He studied illustration at École Émile Cohl (Lyon) and graphic design at Werkplaats Typografie (Arnhem). His work combines drawing, model making and type design and he has exhibited widely in solo and group shows. In 2015, he won first prize at the International Poster and Graphic Design Festival of Chaumont, and in 2016 he received GfZK Leipzig's INFORM Prize for Conceptual Design. Nawrot released his first monograph, Mind Walks, published by Rollo Press, in 2018.