“We were just creatives coming together to try and do something while everything stopped,” says Sofia Contreras-Paredes, fashion designer and cofounder of Guatemala City–based studio Cinco X Cinco. Formed during the pandemic, the collective also includes fashion photographer Manny Rionda, cultural consultant Cecilia Diaz, and architect Esteban Paredes. The fifth protagonist is the maker: the craftspeople and industrial fabricators the group collaborates with on various projects.

Lámpara Pasamanos, and Carro Trampolín from La Suma de Pequeñas Partes collection by Cinco X Cinco" layout="wide" credit="Courtesy Cinco X Cinco" photoUserId=""/>

Directly translated as “the sum of small parts,” their La Suma de Pequeñas Partes collection brings together the members’ areas of expertise while shedding fresh light on some of the country’s deeply rooted craft traditions. The armchair, chandelier, and bar cart that make up the collection embody that mission.

The Silla Columpio chair uses chrome metal tubes but also features an upholstery cushion made via the age-old handicraft normally implemented for producing napkins to keep tortillas warm. Meanwhile, “the Lámpara Pasamanos pendant lamp incorporates gamelike hooks made out of clay and handcrafted wood by a family of makers right outside the city,” Paredes says. “What’s interesting is that the artisans working the material didn’t do so before the pandemic. After losing their jobs, their mother taught them the technique, one that they were not necessarily interested in learning before.”

“It’s a mix of industrial and artisanal manufacturing,” Diaz adds. “The collection was inspired by the playgrounds we grew up with, but what I think is most important is that these pieces were made using traditional techniques that have been given new purpose with these contemporary designs.”

The team meets in Rionda’s studio every Tuesday to develop new concepts. “Our goal has always been to bring good design into more spaces,” says Contreras-Paredes. “We’re all about achieving our goals without sacrificing the quality of the process itself or the storytelling behind the results.”

This approach doesn’t always entail making furniture. With its third project, Utensilios de Ceremonia, la Mesa Guatemalteca, the Cinco X Cinco developed eating utensils better suited to the type of food consumed in Central America and as an alternative to the cutlery introduced by European colonists. “You don’t eat sushi with a fork,” Rionda says. “We thought, if we’re going to develop good designs that affect our daily lives, what’s essential to that routine? We all said tortillas. Why should we eat them with a fork?” The collective isn’t just concerned with highlighting what Guatemala has to offer regarding materials and forms, but also how objects function.

You can learn more about Cinco X Cinco by visiting the studio’s website or on Instagram.

Top image courtesy Cinco X Cinco

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