Designer behind Utopia & Utility
“I’ve never doubted what I was going to do when I am `big’. I was always going to be an artist” - Pia Wüstenberg
Pia started Utopia in 2012 from her graduation project at The Royal College of Art in London —a collection of Stacking Vessels made from a variety of materials ranging from traditional to completely whacky (thermoplastic line paint used for road markings). The feedback was encouraging, so to meet demand she started finding ways to manufacture the more traditional pieces using craft processes around her.
Pia at the hotshop in Bohemia, Czechia
Today the studio still works with a variety of artisans from back in 2011, and the range of collections at Utopia & utility is based on the skills of people that Pia has met over the past ten years or so. “Over many years I have grown a network of artisans in Europe who make pieces for us. First I made the designs and found someone to make the pieces, today I work the other way around and often design pieces with a specific maker and skill in my mind”
At Utopia & utility we combine craftsmans passion in an innovative way to achieve something fresh and inspiring.
Basti, working at the Utopia warehouse in North Germany
Pia grew up between Germany and Finland
Their cultural values are part of her DNA
Both Finnish and German design share a sense of utility, these cultures both have a practical and democratic nature. In her work, Pia looks for the interesting correlations that happen when you set things in contrast to one another.
The milestones and achievements of her company correlate with the efforts put into it, and therefore also with her private life which involves having children and tending to them. Maya and Emil are both little Utopians, as used to travelling with their mum as being in the studio or warehouse to ‘assist’ with the day to day utopia work.
For Utopia & utility, there have been years of growth and international exhibitions. The pieces have been on show in 10 Downing Street at the prime ministers reception room, at Sotheby’s and along the finest shopping streets in London during the first years of the studio. This was followed by years of internal focus to build new structures and find new craftsmen, for Pia to raise her daughter Maya and built a home.
In 2022, ten years after having established Utopia & utility and solely focusing on European crafts Pia is shifting interest further afield onto skills and cultures outside of Europe. She says “A fascination with the delicate wood and paper working skills in Japan have always enchanted me, and I would love to combine these aesthetics with some of the coloured glass we use at Utopia.”
After a decade in the building, Utopia has established itself as an exclusive brand, sold around the globe and with several established trade partners on other continents “ It is time to include some unique collections which celebrate the craft skills indigenous to Asia, India or Africa which we do not have in Europe, allowing us to learn and enjoy an even wider contrast in our craft richness at Utopia”
Utopia summer studio on a deserted island in North Karelia, Finland
Utopia means to be at peace and
fully in love with things you do, what and who you are surrounded by.
On any day, you might find me breakfasting with my kids in the garden or building caves from blankets or taking the time for a midday nap in the sun. Equally you may find me mids photoshoot with my kids building homes from boxes and 100 things happening at once. Both those days I embrace with joy!
I believe that hard work pays of and surrounding yourself in beauty elevates the simple everyday moments. I hope to inspire moments of simple joy and delight at the appreciation of skill and craftsmanship and sheer beauty of this world!
Pia Wüstenberg, 2023