The Origem Comum/Common Origins platform is a natural progression for The Home Project Design Studio. Since 2004 we have been working with artisans to preserve and transform vernacular practices. This still ongoing work of immersion into different territories has given us insight into the relationship between the natural landscape, the climate and the people in those places. The knowledge we have gained from this is manifested in the ways things are done, in interpreting the surroundings and in attributing meaning and value to the objects.

From potters, basket-makers, weavers, carpenters, tinsmiths, anthropologists and scientists we have learned about technology, natural materials and their processes, about contextual design, about the market, the local economy and natural cycles.

Our journey has taken us throughout continental Portugal (projects for the Regional Coordination and Development Commission [CCDR], local associations and the National Strategy for the Traditional Arts and Crafts at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture), Spain (in collaboration with Artesania Catalunya), Cape Verde (in collaboration with the National Centre for Art, Handicrafts and Design since 2017) and the islands of the Azores (in collaboration with the Azores Regional Handicrafts Centre). In all these places we have worked in the workshops, developing skills, tools, services and products, and we have collaborated with public and private bodies in studying the sector and coming up with new positioning and production and consumption strategies.