Profile
Gregor Titze was born in Vienna, Austria in 1981.
Since he was a child various interests in all kinds of materials, surfaces and shapes informed his life. This irresistible inclination led him to the decision to study architecture. While attending the Technical University of Vienna, he specialized in architecture and design as a photographer - a process that trained his eye to find perfection on the ground while keeping his credo at heart: "working with what is already there".
In 2019 he returned to the Institute of Art and Design as lecturer.
Nevertheless he runs his own photo studio in Vienna which he uses for editorial and corporate photoshoots - and as popular melting pot for friends as well as collectible items. His vast collection of italian glassware, lamps, chairs and many other objects gives it a museum like feel.
In the countryside of Lower Austria, just outside of Vienna, he enjoys a slower life in his workshop at the beautiful Castle Baumgarten.
Above & Beyond
Imagine one day after studying ancient maps and writings you decide to take your son and wife in search of a precious stone that hides in the mysterious Dunkelsteiner Forrest. This stone is called Kaolinite and it is the very ingredient of porcellain. Mixed with local clays it makes the base material of Gregor Titzes pottery designs - every pot, every vase, every part of his objects is made of locally sourced and processed soil and stones made by Planet Earth. But his respect for nature wasn't the initial reason to work with locally sourced materials.
"I was frustrated that no retailer was able to tell me where the - mostly imported and industrially processed - clays and glazes come from. What’s inside? Now I can be quite the controll freak. I like to know what I'm working with.” So Gregor Titze decided to stay independent of suppliers and go his own way not knowing where it would lead him and how often he would curse himself for this decision.
The 40-year old artist started to absorb every information he could find about geolocically useful areas nearby his studio outside of Vienna, Lower Austria. He digged holes in his garden much to the delight of his son only to find out that the collected clay almost melted in the kiln. His research connected him with the folks of the Geological federal institute of Vienna and brought him to small dusty libraries filled with muttering alchemists who know stuff about loam and clay and mud and feldspar.
After experimenting for months with all kinds of collected clays and self-mixed glazes, after studying chemical formulars and extensive testing (that still continues), he says modestly that he is beginning to understand. The process is still massively complex and time-consuming.
“And sometimes I think: Why, why, why did he do that? Yes, I am talking to the clay. My five year old son recently said: ‘The clay does, what the clay wants to do.’ Amen to that.'“
Nonetheless Gregor Titze has managed not only to practice patience but also to create unique tableware for environmentally sustainable restaurants and conscious folks who enjoy unique pieces made by hand - much to the pleasure of the designer who says:
”Since I was a kid I've always had an obsession with all kinds of things and findings: deconstructing them, understanding them, collecting them, and later designing them. I went to flea markets with my father and studied him creating whatever came to his mind. Now: to experiment with what's already here - forming and shaping soil and stones - is the essence of what I was looking for. I work with materials that developed millions of years ago to create sophisticated and beautiful objects of daily use. I want to push the envelope on what is possible with local clay and locally sourced glazes. No item equals another, every kiln firing is a chemical experiment, each handcollected clay reacts differently with the glaze. Everytime I think I’ve figured it out, unexpected things happen. I hate it and I love it. Naturally.”
