Sebastian Rauch & Thomas Rösler

Karak

Tile maker

©Hanno-Makowitz

©Hanno Makowitz

©Hanno Mackowitz

From graphic design to ceramics

Sebastian trained in raku techniques with his mother
Karak creates tiles with fire, water, sawdust
No two tiles are the same

Karak collective founder Sebastian Rauch and his partner Thomas Rösler are devoted to perfecting imperfection. Sebastian discovered and developed Japanese raku tile techniques by training with his mother, Marta Rauch-Debevec. Six years ago, he abandoned his desk job as a graphic designer and became certified in the ancient raku firing process. He started his own workshop after shaping smouldering red hot tiles in the workshop of his parents for many years.

Interview

©Magdalena Tuertscher

©Hanno-Makowitz

Does clay run in your family?: My mother is a ceramics master and my father constructs clay dwellings for architects like Herzog de Meuron. I started building little clay houses when I was about four or five years old, but I never thought I would continue the family tradition.
What made you change your mind?: I have always loved patterns, so when my mother wanted to build a house she asked me to design a tile for her. I suddenly became aware of the importance of creating beauty that will outlast us, something that might touch someone in 100 years.
What motivates you to create?: My goal is to create soulful objects and share the sense of well being they create with others. For the last 100 years, society has striven for the optimisation of functionality, neglecting beauty. Yet beauty can motivate you to keep something, which is more sustainable.
Are raku tiles a way of life?: Tiles are seemingly banal, but they have taught me a new way of thought, they shape our staff and also move the people who experience them. They encourage appreciation of the unexpected, the unspoken, the unreasonable; to not hide errors and imperfections.

Sebastian Rauch & Thomas Rösler are expert artisans: they began their career in 2000 and they started teaching in 2022