Sina Sohrab at Ses12naus

“Something for an Island” is the Ses12naus Foundation design residency, which explores the potential of open-source design and accessibility as tools to rethink local production and its connection to specific contexts and communities. In its second edition, the programme presents CAL, the proposal of industrial designer Sina Sohrab, developed during his time in Ibiza.

CAL (Common, Adaptable, Lightweight) proposes an open construction system inspired by the island's improvised building language: a flexible, heterogeneous practice that combines textiles, branches, reeds, marine hardware and locally found materials. Based on sewing patterns and open-source blueprints, the system allows local materials to be quickly fixed into functional objects: stools, tables, backrests and shades. Like cal —the white lime coat that unifies Ibiza's equally improvised walls—, disparate parts are brought together into a whole covered by a common surface.

The pieces on view are not finished products, but examples of what the system allows for when applied with care. They are lightweight interventions, adaptable across the beach, the city or the countryside. The proposal is, by definition, unfinished until someone builds it in their own context, with the materials available to them.

CAN Local is an initiative by CAN Art Fair Ibiza designed to highlight the cultural, artistic and exhibition projects taking place across the island during the fair, helping to connect and strengthen Ibiza’s cultural ecosystem. The promotion of the CAN Local program is supported by Ocean Drive Talamanca.