The Partners

Benjamin Hubert of LAYER, a celebrated design agency, recently joined forces with fashion studio RAEBURN, managed by creative director Christopher Raeburn, to create a limited edition series of pioneering furniture that works on several levels. Structure and form were at the forefront of the project, with the designers wanting their creations to reveal inspirations from both the fashion and industrial design worlds. But the most unique thing about group, which consists of two screens and four rocking chairs, is that it’s made from welded steel frames and recycled materials from both aircraft brake parachutes and ex-military parachutes.

How the Pieces are Made

The frames for the chairs are all made from steel, but each has a style that’s entirely its own. One is simple and angular, pristinely polished and meticulously finished. Another is purposely more unfinished and boldly artistic, with raw welded joints prominently displayed to show the craftsmanship in all its simple glory. Still, it’s the parachute material that ultimately steals the show. The pair studied RAEBURN’s archived fashions to refamiliarize themselves with the exclusive composition, luminousness, and tactile features of the ultra-thin ripstop nylon material. They worked closely with one of the studio’s head seamstresses to guarantee the vision they had was precisely executed.

The airy, nearly sheer nylon fabric is artfully hung, wrapped, and flung on the frames, where the translucent textile creates the padding and webbing for the bodies of the chairs. Two of the chair designs feature a playful, disheveled look. Another is dominated by soft, yielding shades of peach and white. The fourth contrasts with several classic shades of gray and black.

The screens in the collection boast a color-blocked pattern that alters light passing through them, casting myraid shapes and shadows from different angles. The parachute material here is taut, and the lack of flexibility perfectly complements the flowing, freeform lines of the rocking chairs.

The material in all the pieces is held in place with ingeniously designed hidden seams, French seams, and hidden zippers. To add comfort into the mix, the armrests have been bound with extra parachute fabric.

The Creators Comment

Lest anyone query for more details on the design and construction of the chairs and screens, the two design mavens clarify: “The Canopy Collection uses the strict geometry of the steel frames as a base on which to experiment with innovative and forward-thinking recycled parachute upholstery. [It] is tuned into the semantics of a parachute in flight — the lounge chair gently rocks back and forth, while the re-configurable screen takes inspiration from the section and construction of a wing.”

The collection premiered during the London Design Festival last week, which ran from September 14th to 22nd, 2019. It was also exhibited at RAEBURN’s new store in central London.

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And rightly so. All it takes is a brief lapse in concentration (glancing at a subway map, trying to hail a cab) for that dream vacation to turn into an absolute nightmare. Pickpockets are very much alive and well in the 21st century, and they flourish in places where tourists and distracted travelers congregate.

Luckily, the designers at the Clothing Arts company have already recognized the need for specially designed travel clothing to stop these sneaky thieves dead in their tracks. They spent a year traveling through Asia’s major cities and remote rural areas, where they realized that there had to be an easier way to keep personal belongings safe while on the road. “We decided that if no one was making the travel clothes that we wanted and needed, we would do it ourselves,” they explain.

Those clothes had to be comfortable and water-resistant but breathable and durable, and they also had to incorporate a number of integral safety features.

The result was a new high-tech fabric: Clothing Arts’ 3rd Generation Nature-Like Nylon. “Our designers have succeeded in improving all characteristics that make our technical fabric feel and wear just like cotton pants,” the company announced recently. “Plus, we have selected the newest, environmentally friendly water repellant to prevent spills and stains while traveling. We have made the fabric more breathable, more comfortable, and decreased its environmental footprint!”

Clothing Arts now boasts several garments for both men and women in its “Pick-Pocket Proof” clothing line, and it proudly shares travelers’ tales of would-be robberies that were thwarted by the clothes online.

So what makes these clothes so resistant to thieves? Well, let’s take the men’s pants as an example. They boast 11 multi-secure pockets (five triple-secure and six double-secure): two zipper-secured hip pockets, two hidden Velcro pockets, two hidden smartphone/credit card pockets, two slash-resistant expandable back pockets, one hidden passport pocket (no one needs the hassle of losing that…), and two slash-resistant cargo pockets with hidden snap closures. To top it all off, the pants boast a button-secured zipper guard.

Of course, the clothes’ comfort features will be just as important to the average traveler. They include things like self-repairing zippers, a gusset crotch for easy movement, an adjustable waist (probably to let you accommodate all that delicious food you’ll be eating on your travels), and the company’s one-of-a-kind breathable water-repellant fabric, which is extremely quick to dry after being washed. The fabric is even UPF 50+ rated. As the designers say, “think practical nylon but feel comfy cotton.”

Clothing Arts currently offers pants, shorts, skirts, shirts, and a Cubed Travel Jacket, which is lightweight and designed to provide comfort while giving pickpockets all over the world a run for their money.

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Just like any other 3D-printed object, jewelry can be produced using conventional materials like gold, silver, bronze, copper, and brass or plastics like nylon. A new collection of 3D-printed jewelry called “Bearing,” made by designer Giulio Iachetti for Italian design brand Maison 203, shows how this technology can take something as classic and timeless as a pearl necklace and update it for the 21st century. Iachetti calls the series “A reinterpretation of the most iconic jewel, an aesthetic research starting from a classic element: the string of pearls.”

“Bearing” pieces are made up of 3D-printed nylon “pearls,” all of which have a joint on one end and a bearing in the other so they can fit together into a string with lots of flexibility. These beads are sold individually as a simple pair of earrings, in longer strands of dangling earrings, and in bracelet and necklace forms. There’s also a ring with a single nylon “pearl” on it for a graphic minimalist statement. Ranging anywhere from 20 to 95 euros, the collection’s prices are affordable, too.

The “Delft Blue” series by Dutch designer Elleke van Gorsel is another gorgeous example of modern 3D-printed jewelry. Taking inspiration from its namesake city’s long history of producing earthenware covered in distinctive blue and white patterns, the series integrates a striking blue gradient into 3D-printed accessories. The full line includes rings, earrings, pendants, earrings, hair accessories, and even bow ties, all printed, hand-dyed, and finished by the artist herself. The materials are 100 percent locally-sourced and made in The Netherlands.

Another high-tech jeweler is known for taking 3D-printed intricacy even further with stunning designs influenced by natural biological structures and systems. Massachusetts-based studio Nervous System uses 3D computer modeling software and mathematical algorithms similar to those seen in the cells of plants and animals to produce their sculptural pieces, like “floraform hyphae,” a flower-like design printed in nylon or metal. Another piece in the “Floraform” series draws from the ruffles on the tentacles of jellyfish.

“Floraform is inspired by the biomechanics of growing leaves and blooming flowers. Each piece emerges from a computational simulation of differential growth, a surface that grows at different rates in different locations. The flowering structures expand fastest along their edges, evolving from simple surfaces to flexuous forms that fill space with curves, folds, and ruffles.”

Nervous System explains that they’re attracted to complex and unconventional geometries and work to engage in “generative processes” to expand upon them.

“Instead of designing a specific form, we craft a system whose result is a myriad of distinct creations. These systems are interactive, responding both to changes in specific variables and to physical inputs. There is no definitive, final product, instead the many designs created allow for mass customization.”

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Molded rubber with nylon grips, this is not your normal Chinese-restaurant pair of disposable bamboo chopsticks – but does the task at hand warrant holding a new type of hybrid utensil, or simply add complexity to an elegantly simple table setting?

For those of us caught between worlds (curious about chopsticks but unable to handle them as well as Western tablewares), this spring-loaded-style, middle-of-the-road solution by DesignWright makes things a little easier – and addresses the awkward issue of having to ask for ‘regular’ silverware when frustrated. Not quite personalized nor customized, but still a gap-bridging idea for interstitial users-in-training.

A spoon is intentionally left out of the mix – a third-wheel tableware object that a chopstick or two cannot replace anyway. Still, to get the complete picture of what it would be like to eat with these, it would be useful to have that last piece of the puzzle (even if slotting it right into the others is not on the design menu).

“Twin One is a playful ‘East meets West’ evolution of the traditional cutlery set. The knife and fork can be used in the conventional way, or clipped together to create a set of sprung chopsticks. The ideal companion for any lunchbox.   “

And for general fans of minimalist two-in-one design ideas, this same designer-and-brother duo has previously won awards for works like their two-in-one salt-and-pepper shaker – again, just one more way to reduce the number of objects needed to properly set an everyday dinning room table.

“A sculptural centerpiece for the table or kitchen that conveniently combines salt & pepper in one mill. Produced in polished acrylic with ‘soft-touch’ handles. Winner of the Red Dot award and Design Plus award in 2010.”

About the designers: “DesignWright is an award-winning product design and engineering agency based in London. We work with some of the world’s leading brands to create elegant, human-focused solutions. DesignWright was founded in 2006 by Jeremy Wright and Adrian Wright.”

The post Knife & Fork Set Doubles as Chopsticks first appeared on Dornob.

To be fair, total weight is actually closer to sixteen and one-half pounds … but that includes a set of sleek chairs, a side table, a shelving unit and even a high-tech carpet to lay everything out on. How? With engineering ingenuity, new technology and ingenious components.

Clearly a play on words, the conceptual Light Room by Bram Greenen (recent graduate of the Utrecht School of Arts)?uses lightweight materials to make a point about sustainability and style.

In short: a little goes a long way, if we can find ways to lower the cost of high-end synthetic textiles and other hybrid alloys that make up this marvelous living room idea.

Knitted fabrics from nylon and silt to kevlar form much of what you see, with some tension cables, aluminum and fiberglass in the mix as well. Structure is emphasized not for aesthetic reasons but as a simple consequence of the goal: reducing how much physical stuff goes into the making of each object. Air, light and shadow fill the resulting voids.

The post 16-Pound Space: Futuristic Lightweight Living Room Layout first appeared on Dornob.