Hasta La Ideas

Milan 2011: Rotterdam designer Diederik Schneemann presents a series of vases and lamps made from recycled flip-flops found washed up on Kenyan beaches at Ventura Lambrate in Milan this week.

Called A Flip Flop Story, the project involved working with UniquEco, a company that salvages discarded flip-flops and sands them back to reveal their original bright colours before melting down into new material.

Schneemann’s pieces include a tulip vase on wheels, a vase with a drawer in the front and a lamp with a power outlet in the base.

The project is on show at Ventura Lambrata, Via Massimiano 23- 27, Milan, Italy until 17 April. See all our stories about Milan 2011 »

Here are some more details from the designer:

AN EXTRAORDINARY TRAVEL TALE ON OBJECT ROTTERDAM AND MILAN 2011

‘A Flip Flop Story’ …been trodden on, travelled with, badgered and scarred but still moving on…

The Rotterdam based designer Diederik Schneemann presents his ‘A Flip Flop Story’ collection at Object Rotterdam 2011. Gallery Judy Straten will represent him. It’s a tale of thousands, intensively used and scarred Flip Flops, which after many wanderings, have been transformed into sustainable design objects, ready to start a new story.

It are the Flip Flops’ telling the story. They are discoloured, worn, torn, patched up and eventually tossed away or lost. After a long trip through Asia or Africa they end up in sewers and in the ocean. Then they are washed up on the shores of Eastern Africa. There they are found, collected, and eventually reclaimed. Now the old Flip Flops are transformed and ready to start a new journey as autonomous handmade objects. They are on their way to the Salone di Mobile in Milan later this year. But first they preview at Object Rotterdam coming February…

The Story Behind the Story:

Is it possible to create awareness, and if so, should one do it with a pedantic slap on the wrist or can one achieve it through playfulness? ‘A Flip Flop Story’ is a colourful collection of objects with which Studio Schneemann wants to demonstrate that old materials can be reused and transformed into extraordinary and sustainable products. ‘A Flip Flop Story’ collection is being made out of reclaimed Flip Flops. They were washed up on the beaches of Eastern Africa and sometimes came from as far as Asia. In Kenya the Uniqueco Foundation collects them, partly to clean the beaches from these heavily polluting slippers and partly to make new products in their workshop. In corporation with Studio Schneemann they manufacture ‘A Flip Flop Story’ collection in Nairobi.

By doing so they also help a number of Kenyans to make a living. By sanding these weathered and discoloured Flip Flops back to their original glory, I felt myself going back into the past, back to my childhood imagery. Cranes, tow trucks, planes and tanks, it all moved, towed, pulled, it was all DOING something… This inspired me to transform these indestructible, polluting and worn-down slippers into playful products. And so ‘A Flip Flop Story’ by Studio Schneemann was born: a collection of sustainable design objects in which the eventful travel tales of worn Flip Flops is captured and translated. ‘A Flip Flop Story’ collection now has a new story to tell.

‘A Flip Flop Story’ at Object Rotterdam and Milan 2011:
‘A Flip Flop Story’ by Diederik Schneemann is represented by Gallery Judy Straten at Object Rotterdam 2011, from February 10th – 13th, and by Studio Schneemann from April 12th -17th at Salone di Mobile, Ventura Lambrata, Via Massimiano 23- 27, Milan, Italy.

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Botanica by Formafantasma	Paperpulp by Debbie Wijskamp	To Be Continued by Julien Carretero

Milan 2011: London studio Doshi Levien will present this chair with a tubular base and cantilevered arms for Italian design brand Cappellini at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan this week.

Called Capo (leader), the chair has thin, flexible arms and a tall back to envelope the user.

Inspired by a gentleman in a suit and felt hat, the design is on show in combinations of leather, faux leather and felt.

See all our stories about Doshi Levien »

See all our stories about Cappellini »

See all our stories about Milan 2011 »

The following is from the designer:

CAPO Armchair & Ottoman

The first collaboration between Doshi Levien and Cappellini gave rise to Capo, an armchair with a slender yet enveloping form.

Its shape and materiality came from the image of a dapper gentleman in a well-cut suit and a felted hat.

As the name suggests, Capo with its wide cantilevered arms and upturned lapel, transforms the sitter into a boss.

The thin flexible edges of the chair provide shelter without being closed and also emphasise its lightness.

Capo is available in several variations that make it suitable for various settings.

Leather, faux leather, felt and Alcantara can be used to upholster the entire armchair or be used in different combinations for the front and back.

Armchair – cm 119 x 72 x 36/89 h.

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Impossible Wood by Doshi Levien	My Beautiful Backside by Doshi Levien	Rocker by Doshi Levien

Milan 2011: this chair made from polyurethane film is part of a collection of transparent furniture by Japanese designers Nendo, on show in Milan this week.

Other pieces in the series include an acrylic table top cast from deep-grained wood and a lamp shade made from a clear film that diffuses light when seen straight-on.

The collection is on show at Galleria Antonia Jannone, 125 Corso Garibaldi, Milan 20121 from 12-16 April.

See all our stories about Milan 2011 »

See all our stories about Nendo »

Photographs are by Masayuki Hayashi.

The following details are from Nendo:

Solo exhibition “texured transparencies” in Milan

4 new pieces will be exhibited at Galleria Jannone

Textured transparencies collection

Our furniture collection explored transparency, but with a difference: not transparency that seeks only to disappear visually, but the half-transparency that exists in gradations in the space between the transparent and the opaque, and the minute differences visible between different levels of transparency.

Transparent-chair

A chair made with polyurethane film, a transparent film commonly used as a packing material for precision instruments and products susceptible to vibrations and shock, thanks to its high elasticity and ability to return to its original state.

All pieces explored transparency’s infinite nuances, but were constructed from different materials, pointing to the possibility of new functionalities and visual effect

Looking at the chair, it seems to consist of nothing but a backrest and armrests. It wraps and supports the body like a hammock, providing a light, floating feeling for the sitter.

Transparent table

We cast clear acrylic in a wooden form with a strong grain and assembled the resulting pieces to create a table made of ‘transparent wood’. We reproduced the butt ends faithfully and bevelled the edges like floorboards, and matched the grains ends and dimensions of the wood used for the table legs to the ‘transparent wood’ to create a unified piece.

The two tables have specific and different optical effects: at first glance the black table is wood, but a closer look reveals its transparency, while the clear table is the transparent at first glance, and only later reveals its wooden form.

Transparent-lamp

Today, we’re blessed with a variety of sight-protective films for window glass and smart phone screens that prevent unwelcome peeks from neighbours.

Our pendant lamp uses a type of protective film that is semi-transparent when viewed directly, and transparent when viewed at an angle.

We placed the light source at the centre of the ring of film, creating a lampshade that might be transparent, but mutes the light emitting from its centre through the layer of half-transparency regardless of the angle from which it is viewed.

The light hits the film at a right angle, creating the effect of soft light spilling into the space of the room as it passes through the transparent lampshade.

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Bamboo-steel chair by Nendo	Thin Black Lines by Nendo	Wire-chair by Nendo

Milan 2011: Italian brand Superego editions present a collection of ceramic vases resembling tree branches by Italian designer Andrea Branzi in Milan this week.

Called Bosco, the collection of 12 ceramic pieces in a limited edition of 33 pieces is on show at Galleria Scacchi, Via rivoli 4, 20121 Milan
from 12-17 April.

See all our stories about Milan 2011 »

More homewares on Dezeen »

Here are some more details from Superego:

Bosco Collection: nature inspired ceramics

All designed by the famous italian designer Andrea Branzi.

Bosco collection continues the domestic architectures concept, started with the preceding series Enzimi and Portali.

Fascinated by Ikebana Japanese floreal discipline, Branzi creates domestic laris made to expose flowers, silent altars destined to the celebration of secular cults.

Bosco series emphasize the natural inspiration: sprigs, trunks, tree fragments realized in ceramics almost assume an animist value, like they were our domestic deities.

Andrea Branzi is designer, architect, teacher.

Like design theorist and ideologist he has produced numerous writings and publications, directed Modo magazine, won three times Compasso d’oro prize.

His objects in limited editions for Superego testify his attention for the excellent Italian craftsmanship, the only one able to produce small series of objects, valuable for the conceptual innovation and refined technical manuality.

12 models in a limited edition of 33 pieces

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Grandi Legni by Andrea Branzi	Botanica by Formafantasma	Story Vases by Front

Audio tracks and soundscapes submitted by Dezeen readers will play this week at JamScape, an experimental audio installation in Milan developed by Jawbone and Yves Béhar of fuseproject.

Following our call for audio submissions last month, almost 100 tracks were uploaded to Dezeen’s SoundCloud account, from which Dezeen, Jawbone and Yves Béhar selected their favourites.

The tracks have been programmed to be played through five monolithic forms constructed from 1,642 of Jawbone’s Jambox wireless speakers (above) in the installation, located in the Ventura Lambrate district of Milan.

Jawbone are also launch sponsors of Dezeen Screen, our new video website, which launches in Milan later today. The Dezeen movie team will be based in a studio within JamScape so pop by and see us! We’re at Pianissimo Grande, Via Ventura in Ventura Lambrate. Download the Ventura Lambrate map and guide here – we’re at no 5.

The 20 tracks selected to be played at JamScape are as follows; each artist will receive a free Jambox and their tracks will also be used as soundtracks to Dezeen Screen‘s movies from Milan:

Outside Time by Agzilla (UK)
Knee For Thought by Antonie Manolova & Francesco Tristano (BULGARIA)
Bears by Brandon Hackler (USA)
Jets by Chris Teeter (USA)
fåglar bilar och dansande piano – BUTTERFLY MIX by en doft av cyrén  (SWEDEN)
Midnight_JAM by Ian Gulbransen  (USA)
Want to Want by Joanna Geralyn (USA)
Kin by Kasule (UK)
TWENTY 10  by Kid Suda (SPAIN)
Oregon by Louis Jones (UK)
Experimento Tropical by Miguel Colmenare  (SPAIN)
Traces by MTTMGG (ITALY)
Dubofeeliac  by Nat King Kong (CANADA)
Dance of Lucifer by Navid Asghari (UK)
Fragility by Ricardo Seola (BRAZIL)
DubStepping by The Dead Sun (UK)
Horses Head Towards Sunrise by Theeyefives (USA)
Hello Death by U9lift (USA)
Hotaru Zeus & Apollo (USA)
I Can Feel by Zumba – diseño de sonido (PERU)

Here’s some text about the project from Jawbone:

Set within the emerging Ventura Lambrate design district in Milan, Italy, JamScape is a bold audio experiment that captures the idea of liberating and unleashing sound. Developed in partnership between Jawbone, Yves Béhar, and his creative agency fuseproject, JamScape uses Jawbone’s new JAMBOX wireless speaker and its punchy audio as building blocks to create a uniquely social experience in the form of a sound lounge.

The installation fosters creative partnerships with a cadre of audio artists and enables them to express their ideas of music, improvisation, jamming, and social sound. All soundscapes were crowd-sourced via an open call posted on media partner Dezeen, Twitter, and blogs worldwide to phenomenal response.