Workshop briefing, home, future home, what is a home, material exploration, concept, design, Kevlar®, Tyvek®, Corian®, DuPont™ , Media+Visual Communication Department Workshop, Eleanor-Jayne Browne, The D/sign Lounge
On May 22nd, 2011, framed by green bamboo vaults, Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou stood at a podium inside Forest Pavilion to inaugurate the Masadi Art Festival. Facing a crowd of celebrators, designers, and protesters, President Ma delivered his administration’s vision for a low carbon future. ARCHITECTS’ Forest Pavilion - completed in May 2011
“ Nest Chair” Inspired by Nature Resembling Bird’s Nest by Nina Bruun The art furniture SIE46 is a cube of fresh air and two brushes of wicker. Materials: stainless steel, wicker. Steel Chair by Pawel Grunert Designer Pawel Grunert has recently presented its newest creation, the Nest Chair dubbed also SIE51 that will be officially premiered in Milan at Salone Internazionale del Mobile 2011. The inspiration by a bird nest is evident and well done. It was handmade from stainless steel, so you can use this chair either inside or outside
When closed, these boxes may look like ordinary wooden crates, but once they are opened, they reveal furniture, such as sofas, beds, desks with chairs, wardrobes, and even foosball tables. Architect and designer, Naihan Li‘s furniture series, The Crates, were inspired by the contemporary urban habitat of Beijing and its renovation of many buildings. Li’s designs represent a concept of decay and regeneration. The crates easily store away and conceal furniture to make a single room very versatile. Crates can quickly transform a room from a kitchen into a living room. One can also easily move a crate to their balcony to open up a workspace outdoors. Like most urban centers, Beijing is a city of migrants and transients—this year's inaugural Beijing Design Week dovetailed with National Day when people return to their hometowns to celebrate the extended holiday with their families. Fittingly, designer Naihan Li showcased a collection of mobile pop-up furniture CRATES at No. 8 Dawailangying Hutong in the Dashilar Design Hop district. Inspired by Li's experience unpacking crates of artwork for the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, the collection is a commentary on "the moody impracticality of globe-trotting." Unpacking the collection from their shipping shells reveals an entire lifestyle "on the move." Sofas, foosball table, storage, entertainment centers, workstations, wet bars and beds stand ready for uncrating or packing for the next location.
Tomás Saraceno, Galaxies Forming Along Filaments, Like Droplets Along the Strands of a Spider’s, Web, 2008. Elastic rope, Installation dimensions variable, Installation view Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York, 2008. Collection Miami Art Museum, museum purchase with funds from the MAM Collectors Council. This is what i was referring to in my introductory paragraph at the start of the blog. I visited this exhibition by artist Tomas Saraceno which combines art with science and explores the similarities between the formation of a spider's web and the formation of the universe. It's not only a fascinating subject to study, but to stand amongst the magnified giant replica of the spider's web is a bewitching experience. i was eerily captivated to stand in the installment, surrounded by a mass of accurately placed knots and interlocking strings. I was engulfed by the beauty of the structure, by the space cut through delicately with the black lines reflecting the instinctive intelligence of a little spider. His drawings and planning work are as beautiful, all thin complicated webs of black lines. To think of the parallels between the formation of galaxies and the spinning of a web for me is a reminder of the intelligence and power of nature. It reminds me to respect the humble spider and his instinctive behaviour, his sense of where the moon is and collaboration with gravity, which he utilises to create this perfectly, considerately formed structure for survival. A poetic thought it is to imagine the earth nestled in a universe of giant spiders webs.
Timea’s Tangled Web Bespoke Collection replicates an ever-tangling spider’s web, which no longer has its symmetry and well-structured lines but instead a wonderful mess of random lines criss-crossing into one another. From her designs you can see that Timea has a eye for detail. This attention to detail and fine ‘tangled’ pattern is her signature style. The Tangled Web Collection challenges conventional ceramics, through the development of an innovative technique in which organic lines are formed and layered to construct the final piece. Each piece is hand crafted using fine White Earthenware. 'stretch' by london-based carnevale studio (jessica carnevale) is a series of three stackable chairs which are influenced in part by corsets. each chair starts as a powder coated steel frame. experimenting with different materials such as latex tubing, bungee cords and silk rope, carnevale builds up the backs and seats of the chairs through weaving these materials into a patterned composition creating something visually vibrant and functional. Laszlo Rozsnoki is a product designer, originally from Budapest, who studied design in the Netherlands. He has designed a series of furniture pieces under the title Questioning the Established, of which this Rope Shelf is a part of. As with the other pieces in the series, the Rope Shelf has a certain twist. Where there are usually solid, horizontal shelves, Rozsnoki has replaced them with diagonal ones made of rope attached to a frame. From certain angles the stretched rope, overlapping another layer, creates a moiré pattern. ropeshelf is a bookcase where the usually solid, horizontal shelves are replaced by flexible, slant ones consisting of layers of rope fastened to a frame. Whereas conventional shelving systems - as storage furniture for objects - are functionally adjusted to optimal spatial use and order, the ropeshelf breaks away from this target. Except for the frame, there are no horizontal and vertical lines, but only falling and rising diagonals. The resulting storage compartments are no longer rectangular, but form differently shaped spaces. As the ropes have a relatively small diameter, the ropeshelf gets a very graphical appearance. Depending on the viewing angle, the strained, flexible layers of rope form a moiré pattern, a visual effect created by overlaying two sets of parallel lines at an angle. All these characteristics alienate the familiar image of a shelving system. So the predominant feature of this piece of furniture is no longer its optimal use of space or its ordering nature, but its appearance. Ad hoc (Viccarbe). Diseño: Jean-Marie Massaud The Scatter Shelf is a tall bookshelf that is a treat for the senses. The bookshelf features black acrylic shelves measuring 5mm in thickness. These are stacked in three layers, but in a somewhat haphazard manner. The end result offers an incredible visual appeal. Yet, there is nothing flimsy about the final product. The Scatter Shelf is somewhat inspired by a spider’s web. Thus, when you put books on to the shelf, they start to resemble insects caught in a web. The glossy acrylic shelves reflect off each other to create this almost illusory effect. From some angles, the entire structure looks transparent. As for the reflections, they create an impression that from different angles the bookshelf looks different. The kaleidoscopic effect makes this a stunning addition to the contemporary home. If you are looking for a piece of furniture that will prove a conversation piece, the Scatter Shelf is a great buy. Only, the bookshelf may not be up for sale yet. From what we know, Nendo will be busy doing showings of the Scatter Shelf in the coming days. Watch out for the display at Carpenters Workshop Gallery in London and during the Frieze Art Fair to be held in October.
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Solar energy Joseph Cory, a new breed of environmental architect, has developed a number of award-winning schemes that could help deal with some of the world's most pressing problems - lack of renewable energy, and water scarcity. The Israeli scientist, who is shortly to complete his PhD at the Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Architecture and City Construction, at Haifa's Technion Israel Institute of Technology, has developed a new way to produce electricity using helium balloons made from fabric coated with photovoltaic (PV) solar cells. Similar in concept to the solar modules, the Energy Curtain by industrial designers Anders Ernevi, Margot Jacobs, Ramia Mazé, Carolin Müller, Johan Redström and Linda Worbin is a woven solar energy collecting device that is equipped with light-emitting materials. During daytime the curtains can be drawn to provide shade and harvest solar energy. After dark this energy can be used to generate a glowing pattern on the inside of the curtain.
Corian is the brand name for a solid surface material created by DuPont. It is composed of acrylic polymer and alumina trihydrate. Corian can be thermoformed by heating it to 300°F (150°C), allowing unique shapes to be created. Its primary use is in kitchen countertops, bathroom vanity tops, and wall cladding in showers. Due to its non-porous quality, Corian is approved for use in specialized environments, such as laboratories and hospitals. Corian's versatility allows it to be joined, shaped, and finished into a wide variety of products. It comes in more than 100 colors and patterns. Corian is manufactured in two thicknesses: 6mm and 12mm. Cross-section cuts show consistent color and particulate patterning evenly distributed throughout the material. Nicks and scratches can be buffed out with a Scotch-Brite pad or orbital sander. In the fabrication process, joints can be made invisible by joining the relevant pieces with Corian's own color-matched two-part acrylic epoxy. The pieces are clamped tightly together in order to express any excess adhesive. After the adhesive dries, the area is sanded and polished to create a seamless joint.