Tereza Hradilkova
Influenced by Japanese origami, Czech Republic-born Tereza Hradilkova decided to leave the architecture trade to design intricate pop-up cards of iconic Hong Kong sights. She talks to Lisa Lee about her love for paper crafts, the importance of creative freedom and how Hong Kong lacks good design.
HK Magazine: How did you get the name ‘Porigami’?
Tereza Hradilkova: “Pori” is a nickname my sister gave me when we were kids and “gami” means paper in Japanese. “Porigami” is like Pori’s paper—they are my designs.
HK: When did your interest with paper crafts begin?
TH: I started to play with paper when I lived in Tokyo fours years ago. Often I’d borrow books from the local libraries on paper crafts, Chinese stamps and Japanese fabric patterns. I just devoured them and I fell in love with paper crafts. When I came to Hong Kong, I wasn’t able to find any nice cards to send back home, so I decided to design my own.
HK: How do you come up with a paper and red ink design?
TH: When I know the subject of the card, such as a building, I take photos, see how it works, then do hand sketches and turn it into a digital drawing. I use my digital machine to cut the designs, producing different prototypes to find the right one. The red stamps are done by hand in order to produce that special grain effect. I use two pieces of paper with cuttings, so when you see them together it produces a special effect, giving a deeper sensation.
HK: Was it a struggle to start up Porigami?
TH: As an official company, it’s only been three months. At the beginning it took me a long time to find the right producer who was willing to learn the new techniques. I decided to go a little further than Hong Kong and found a producer in Shenzhen. The company and I are still learning what we can improve on.
HK: Why did you choose to feature Hong Kong in your cards?
TH: I live here and I appreciate the mixture of everything in Hong Kong. In 30 minutes, you can be in the city center, on a mountain or in a small village on one of the small islands. You have the ocean in the center, and taking the Star Ferry from Central to TST is always a pleasure because of the fresh air. The bamboo scaffolding is [also] something very special. It’s really fascinating to people from Europe because we’re not used to that. Especially using it for high-rises and towers—
it’s just incredible.
HK: What started your interest in architecture and design?
TH: I like mathematics and drawing, so it comes together in that sense. When we were young, my mom gave my two siblings and me the freedom to choose whatever instrument or class we wanted to do. Who has that? A lot of children in Asia are a bit forced by their parents to play piano or violin. I grew up in a Communist country where people didn’t have many options or much money. Sometimes it’s actually not bad to not have so much as it can bring new ideas. We have a lot of crafts in Europe but not much on paper. I’m like a long-term tourist trying to do more research on traditional Asian crafts.