Hasta La Ideas

A group of MAarch students from the Bartlett School of Architecture have devised a method of turning felt into load-bearing structures that they hope to build into an fabric pavilion.

The Flextiles project focused on developing a design system using a composite of felt fibres and expandable foam for reinforcement.

Students Noura Mheid, Hameda Janahi, Minzi Jin, Zoukai Huo found inspiration in the traditional craft of felt-making as well as the differential growth patterns found in nature – which is what gives their finished structures their distinctive, seaweed-like curls.

After exploring the load-bearing potential of these structures by crafting them into chairs they could sit on, they finished the project by presenting a fabric wall unit. The unit forms one side of what they hope they can one day extend into a full pavilion.

Their process stands in contrast to most current fabric architecture, which usually features soft fabric attached to a support structure. The Flextiles structures can be soft in some places and hard in others, transitioning smoothly from one to the other.

“Unlike traditional uses of fabric in construction, this technology introduces a new perspective on how to integrate structure into a soft material such as fabric and go beyond the typical disintegration between the draping of fabric onto a completely segregated support,” Mheid told Dezeen.

“By taking advantage of the hidden potentials of customising textiles to increase overall performance and structural ability, such a flexible material composite can create self-standing, lightweight structures that redefine the use of fabric in architecture as a whole,” she continued.

The students fabric architecture as particularly useful for spaces where it might be desirable to block out light or sound. Felt’s sound-absorbing properties are already widely recognised, and it is having a resurgence in office furniture as a way to dampen noise in open-plan offices.

“Functions such as museums, office spaces, theatres could all be redefined with more unique spatial and visual experiences,” said Mheid.

“Eventually, the final designed pavilion explored these aspects into a leisure centre to create a relaxed environment for visitors to enjoy the sunlight and have a sense of scale and tranquility within the hustle and bustle of the London atmosphere.”

Furthering another Bartlett project that saw students make tubular furniture using a felt resin composite, the Flextiles structures are developed with the assistance of digital modelling tools and robotic sewing machines.

The curly Flextiles forms were generated through parametric modelling software, allowing the students – part of Bartlett’s MArch Architectural Design postgraduate programme – to experiment with various thicknesses and layers of material.

When it came to designing the chairs, the group first used the software to create a pattern for the frame, then put it through a load analysis step that would optimise its positioning to bear the weight of sitter. The curly-edged surface was modelled on top of that.

An ABB 120 robot prepared fabric for use in the process by interlocking fibres into felt sheets. The team then constructed models manually, sewing patterns into the felt sheets, laid flat, to create an inner tubular structure.

They embedded this tubular structure into further coats of fibres, using wet felting techniques to fuse them together. They then arranged the model into a three-dimensional shape within a bonding box, and at this point inserted the expandable foam to reinforce the structure.

The students used similar digital modelling to craft their pavilion proposal, which they’ve imagined sitting in London’s Hyde Park at the location of the annual Serpentine Pavilion. They are exploring substituting the foam with concrete for such a large-scale project.

Project credits:

Team members: Noura Mheid, Hameda Janahi, Minzi Jin, Zoukai Huo
Supervisors: Daniel Widrig, Soomeen Hahm, Stefan Bassing, Igor Pantic

The post Bartlett students propose self-supporting pavilion made from felt appeared first on Dezeen.

Naive sketches are transformed into three-dimensional brass furniture in the latest collection from Dutch designer Maarten Baas.

Called Close Parity, the range is made up of five unusually shaped cabinets, including top-heavy pieces that appear to balance precariously on slender legs, and one with a lamp poking up from its surface.

All fives pieces are made from brass, and some stand on just two legs. But inside are hidden counterweights, giving them far more stability than their unbalanced geometries suggest.

“They’re all just sketches that have been extruded,” explained Baas. “So they are very very two-dimensional actually, but they’re all standing on only two legs.”

“With a lot of weight in the middle, we could balance it.”

The Close Parity A-Symmetric Cabinet is a curved chest of drawers resting on four small stumpy legs, which are all arranged closely together on one side.

The Close Parity Bedside Cabinet is the smallest piece in the range, consisting of a single curved compartment, while the tallest is the Close Parity Open Cabinet: a shelving unit resembling a sketch of a lightbulb.

“It’s a very naive sketch, so naive it couldn’t stand gravity actually,” Baas told Dezeen. “It only works two-dimensionally on the paper as a doodle, but now we’ve really made it physical.”

“So now there’s a difference between naivety of the sketch and the very finely executed pieces,” he added.

There are also two sideboards in the collection, including the one with an integrated lamp.

Close Parity is one of several projects that Baas is presenting as part of his first major solo exhibition Hide & Seek, which opened last month at the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands and runs until September 2017.

The show also includes his career-defining Smoke furniture, his circus-inspired Baas Is In Town designs, and his recent Carapace furniture based on turtle and beetle shells.

Dezeen spoke to the designer at a preview for the Groninger exhibition, held in London at the Carpenter’s Workshop Gallery.

Photography is by Marielle Leenders unless otherwise stated.

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Mid-century furnishings are a perennial favourite in contemporary interiors. We’ve rounded up 10 of the most popular homes to show off classic designs from our Pinterest page, from a renovated apartment in London’s Barbican Estate to a simply styled Berlin flat.

Berlin summer apartment, Germany, by Loft Szczecin

Loft Szczecin used mid-century furniture in the renovation of this holiday home in Berlin, featuring rare 1950s armchairs created in a small Polish factory that specialised in Bauhaus style.

Find out more about Berlin summer apartment ›

São Paulo penthouse, Brazil, by Studio MK27

This luxurious apartment in São Paulo by local office Studio MK27 is defined by its double-height shelving, built in dark wood to complement original furniture pieces by designers including Hugo França and Gio Ponti.

Find out more about São Paulo penthouse ›

Modern New Home, UK, by Black & Milk

This newly built home in Hampstead was dressed in rich fabrics and Scandinavian furniture by London-based studio Black & Milk.

Find out more about Modern New Home ›

Rehabilitation, Portugal, by Atelier in Vitro

To reflect the heritage and character of this 1940s building in Porto, Architecture studio Atelier In Vitro used restored parquet flooring and mid-century furniture in the renovation of three of its apartments.

Find out more about Rehabilitation ›

Barbican flat, UK, by Quinn Architects

An Eames lounge chair is paired with oak cabinets and off-grey walls inside this renovated apartment by Quinn Architects, who drew inspiration from the setting in London’s brutalist Barbican Estate.

Find out more about Barbican flat ›

Berlin apartment, Germany, by Sarah Van Peteghem

Sarah Van Peteghem chose to furnish this minimal Berlin apartment with a combination of vintage Danish seats. Highlights include a 1960s Minerva daybed by Copenhagen firm Hvidt & Mølgaard, sourced on the internet.

Find out more about Berlin apartment ›

Peart Weisgerber Residence at Habitat 67 by Moshe Safdie, Canada, by EMarchitecture

Canadian design studio EMarchitecture used modernist furniture in the renovation of this home situated in Habitat 67, the iconic brutalist complex in Montreal by architect Moshe Safdie.

Find out more about Peart Weisgerber Residence ›

Wabi Sabi House, Taiwan, by Soar Design Studio

Taiwanese firm Soar Design Studio and architect Chen-Tien Chu refurbished a 1960s house in the city of Taichung, creating a contemporary interior featuring chairs by Danish modernist Hans J Wegner.

Find out more about Wabi Sabi House ›

Romney Court, UK, by Adrian Manea

Designer Adrian Manea updated this one-bedroom flat in a 1960s London housing block with modern fittings and furniture, including this lipstick-red chair by Charles and Ray Eames.

Find out more about Romney Court ›

Brick House, Denmark, by Leth & Gori

Copenhagen office Leth & Gori paid homage to traditional Danish architecture in the design of this house in Nyborg, adding chairs originally designed by Danish modernist Arne Jacobsen.

Find out more about Brick House ›

The post 10 homes showcasing mid-century furniture from Dezeen’s Pinterest boards appeared first on Dezeen.

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