Flexible Stone: Rug Made of Triangular Tiles Crumples Like Paper
What kind of stone can you pull around you like a blanket, crumpling its surface and manipulating its form with your bare hands? The kind that’s designed and assembled using 3D modeling and mathematical patterns. This surprising new “flexible stone” material by Mumbai-based designer and architect Dominik Raskin consists of thin stone veneers in triangular shapes applied to a cotton backing, the individual pieces flexing upon each other to create three-dimensional topographies.
‘Stone Rug’ acts like a conventional stone floor when it’s flat on the ground, with a typical surface texture and a durable finish. But lift that rug off the ground and handle it, and it seems to transform into something else altogether. The designer calls the effect ‘tectonic,’ an accurate representation of the way seemingly immobile plates can shift, rising from flat surfaces into mountains.
The rug is reminiscent of the head-scratcher textiles of Elisa Stroyzk, in which geometric laser-cut wooden scraps are mounted to a flexible backing. The shapes chosen affect the complexity with which the final product can bend and fold, producing items that transcend the limits of their source materials.
More info via Piatra:
“Dominik Raskin went beyond its initial domain, architecture and explored others creative areas, such as product design, music, painting to finally discover his absolute expression. In 2009, he left Belgium for the exotic Asia for teaching classes of interior design. After his Mumbai period, he gained a broader insight – the essential feature of creation. He specifically handled 3D modeling and printing, an activity which shaped a real image for objects. Inspired by 3D modeling, Dominik Raskin created flexible natural stone rug that can transform in endless forms when played with. For this, he used a flexible slate with a fiberglass backing, laser cut in small triangles and later on plasted into a cotton textile. The result is an impressive effect of geometric shapes obtained from the stone. The amazing texture of the stone complements the beauty of the rug.”
