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Is it a briefcase? Or is it a shopping basket? Actually, it is an Oaxaca Case, the brainchild of Joseph Guerra. Guerra is a recent graduate from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD, pronounced ris-dee for those in the loop) and is a proponent of mass-production and pre-fabrication, a concept that has infiltrated the world of product design as well as architecture. The Oaxaca Case – the name alone is half the fun – embodies a fresh and easy take on fabrication. A laser-cut sheet of polypropylene is scored by a CNC mill, and then assembled with the help of small fasteners. The genius is in the simplicity of the cut-sheet, essentially the stencil for the case, which makes one wonder why “Oaxaca Case” has not yet become a household name. The array of ovals cut into the plastic saves material during production, and also gives the owner of the case the flexibility for customizing the look just by changing the interior content; imagine the case lined with a patterned scarf, or even full of colorful paperbacks! The Oaxaca Case finds an appropriate home near both the corporate high-rises as well as the white picket fences of suburbia, and this versatility of design is the message that Guerra delivers with his work.
