Free From The West: Meet The Guatemalan Studio Reimagining Central American Design History

Guatemala City-based studio Agnes has imagined a new future for Central American design. Drawing inspiration from a hypothetical evolution—one that occurred without interaction with the West—their collection ‘Living-Stone’ envisages what design could look like in a post-human utopia.

Partners in both work and love, Estefania de Ros and Gustavo Quintana spent two years researching pre-Colombian craftsmanship to establish an aesthetic that they thought fit with their idea of a new future for Central American design. Drawing from their diverse experience in art, architecture, and design, the pair creates work across spatial, furniture, and communication design. They explain that ‘Living-Stone’ is “an exploration of contrast between the past and the future, the still and the living, of ancient materials and techniques in a futuristic context.” Inspired by the radical architecture of the ’60s and ’70s, the pieces uniquely combine traditional craft from the region with contemporary design.