Fernando Laposse is a London based Mexican designer with a BA in product design from Central Saint Martins in 2012. He was born in Paris, France september the 20th 1988.His work is deeply rooted in material experimentation and craft with a great emphasis on self production and the DIY culture. Fernando strives to transform materials which are cheap, readily available, and often waste or perishable matter, enabling him to make crossovers between product design and gastronomy. His projects aim to raise questions regarding whole system thinking, ephemerality, patterns of consumption and the politics of food production through the creation of design objects, performances and videos.
Project: Totomoxtle
Nafta, the North American Free Trade Agreement, crushed local farming in Mexico.
Locally produced corn, a staple in Mexican food and culture, struggled to keep up with the heavily subsidised corn and other staples pouring into Mexico as result of the agreement.
Millions of farmers were forced to abandon their traditional farming practices and embrace the production and pesticide heavy way of the US.
London-based Mexican designer Fernando Laposse from Central Saint Martins found a way to rejuvenate Mexico’s corn agricultural industry. His project Totomoxtle harnesses the naturally colourful husks of Native Mexican corn to create unique interiors and furniture, giving corn farmers another source of income.
He presented this new sustainable material at the inaugural antenna, Design Indaba and Dutch Design Weeks’ global scan of the world’s best design graduates.