Svetoch Pendant Light by Anastasiya Koshcheeva

Russian designer Anastasiya Koshcheeva was born in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia in 1987, where she spent her formative years before relocating to Germany in 2006. Prior to commencing her studies, Koshcheeva held internships at Matthias Ries Industrial Design and with the design studio e27 in Berlin, under designer Tim Brauns. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Product Design from the University of Applied Sciences in Coburg, Germany in 2014 followed by a Master in Design from the University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam, just outside of Berlin. In 2015, Koshcheeva founded her own studio in Berlin—although she continues to commute between Berlin, Moscow, and Krasnoyarsk. In 2016, production was expanded to include a new facility near Moscow.

Koshcheeva’s work is intrinsically bound to her Siberian cultural heritage and she is best known for her efforts to reinvigorate the ancient birchbark crafts, under the brand name MOYA. This traditional handcraft material was extremely common in Russia in times past, but its usage has been declining in recent years—much to the disappointment of its proponents, like Koshcheeva. The young designer explores the multi-faceted application potential of this ecological, durable, and beautiful material through a contemporary lens; applying a clean aesthetic, subtle pops of bright accent colors, and uncluttered, geometric forms. The Sibirjak (2014) armchair, for example, uses the pale birchbark in place of a leather or fabric seat and support, accentuating it with bright orange stitching and lacing, whereas in the smaller Taburet (2015-2016) stool, the birchbark is treated and woven to create a two-toned geometric pattern. In Koshcheeva’s hands, this age-old Siberian craft of working birchbark becomes decidedly au courant.

The sharp design sensibility and material innovation in Koshcheeva’s work has not gone unnoticed; she has received a number of awards including at the Salone Satellite Worldwide Moscow event in 2014, the DMY New Talents Competition in 2016, and the Design Prize Brandenburg in 2017, amongst others. In 2018, Koshcheeva was nominated for the German Design Award and the Ambiente Talents award. Her work has been shown extensively in Europe such as at Paris Design Week, the London Design Festival, Maison & Objet, Salone del Mobile, and at the Moscow Design Museum, amongst others.