Hasta La Ideas

Dezeen Watch Store: British industrial designer Benjamin Hubert has designed his first watch for Italian accessories brand NAVA. Plicate, named after its pleated surfaces, is now available for pre-order with free shipping from Dezeen Watch Store. 

This distinctive timepiece features a folded surface, inspired by the pleats of a paper fan, along the inside of the strap and around the face of the watch. “Each one of the folds represents a second and this is really contrary to most watches on the market which use graphics, numbers, or anything like that,” Hubert told Dezeen in an interview at our office.

The pleats on the underside of the strap allow air to flow between the watch strap and the wearer’s wrist: “Polyurethane straps normally cause a build up of sweat, but in this instance we reduced the surface area and therefore reduced the amount of sweat and discomfort for the user.”

Another prominent feature is the double-length second hand. “Our idea here is that if you have a second hand on a watch it’s really a decorative feature, particularly on an analogue watch – you’re really not counting the seconds,” Hubert explains. “So, why not make that more extreme, make that more decorative? And our idea was to make it double-length so you have a real piece of sculpture that’s moving around the watch. We chose to emphasise this with a really high-contrast colour as well.”

The polyurethane strap features a popper clasp, more commonly found on festival wrist bands. “The idea is that when you walk into a store, when you have 30 or 40 watches in front of you, that you really see this silhouette, and you can really see it from across the store as well. It was something that was really important when we pitched the idea to NAVA, to have this really distinctive language.”

We’ll be publishing the full movie interview with Hubert on Dezeen soon. Meanwhile you can pre-order the Plicate in three colours on Dezeen Watch Store and take advantage of free shipping on all UK and international orders.

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The post Plicate by Benjamin Hubert
for NAVA appeared first on Dezeen.

Industrial designer Benjamin Hubert‘s latest chair features a T-shirt-shaped piece of plywood curled smoothly into its solid ash frame.

Tabs at the corners of the plywood fit into recesses in the solid wood components to make the surfaces level, rather than just attaching on top of them.

“The principle is about the ply integrating with the solid timber, which is different to how most ply chairs work, where you can see a very divorced relationship between them,” Hubert told Dezeen.

The simple frame crosses beneath the seat to join the front and back legs but incorporates a complex CNC-cut twist to meet the slanted back.

Hubert unveiled the piece at the designjunction exhibition in a former postal sorting office during the London Design Festival.

It was created in collaboration with Portuguese manufacturer De La Espada, who last year invited Hubert to design his first complete collection.

This year De La Espada gave him a large stand at designjunction where he created an installation with thousands of cuts and folds, and showed new work including the Tenda lamp made of underwear fabric that we featured earlier this week.

In his talk at Dezeen Live, a series of shows we presented at the 100% Design trade show that week, Hubert explained how the lamps are the first product he’s producing under his own brand. Read more in our earlier story here.

The London Design Festival took place from 14-23 September and you can see all our stories about it here, or listen to designers explain their projects in their own words with our audio guide here.

See all our stories about Benjamin Hubert »
See all our stories about De La Espada »
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The post Pelt by Benjamin Hubert
for De La Espada appeared first on Dezeen.

Milan 2012: a single piece of fabric folds around the moulded polyurethane foam seat of this club chair by London designer Benjamin Hubert.

The cover is attached to the chair with Velcro so the upholstery is completely free of stitching.

Dressing the sculptural form with the loose upholstery allows the creases to become a feature of the overall aesthetic.

The fabric can easily be removed and swapped for different alternatives.

Garment was presented by Italian brand Cappellini during last week’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan.

Also in Milan, Hubert launched an armchair with a pleated leather seat for Italian company Poltrona Frau.

See all of our stories about Benjamin Hubert here.

The Salone Internazionale del Mobile took place from 17 to 22 April. See all our stories about Milan 2012 here.

Here’s some more information from Benjamin Hubert:

Garment
Benjamin Hubert x Cappellini

Garment is a lounge club chair with a unique approach to the application and construction of textile in the furniture industry. The chair is a study into how to ‘dress’ a piece of furniture defying the conventional rules and construction of typical upholstery.

A single piece of textile is loosely folded around a distinctive geometric polyurethane form. This construction and loose cover allows for creases to become part of the character of the chair reminiscent of a piece of fashion and increases the sensation of visual softness.

The chair’s construction is ‘stitch less’ as it comprised of a single sheet of textile fixed onto the form with Velcro. The chair is detailed with inverted box pleats reinforcing this relationship with clothing. The cover can also be easily removed and interchanged based on the season or fashion.

Garment is the first collaboration between Cappellini and Benjamin Hubert launched at Salone Del Mobile in April 2012.

Materials: Folded and stitch less textile cover Moulded Polyurethane foam seat
Dimensions: W700mm x H740mm x D600mm

London designer Benjamin Hubert will present an upholstered version of his Maritime chair plus a coordinating dining table called Pontoon for Italian brand Casamania at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile next week.

The original Maritime S was launched this time last year and this new iteration is available with leather or Kvadrat textile seat pads.

The oak table has a slender frame with a central bar, stabilised by the distance between the rounded table top and under-frame.

See all our stories about Benjamin Hubert here.

The Salone Internazionale del Mobile takes place from 17 to 22 April. See all our stories about Milan 2012 here.

Here’s some more information from Benjamin Hubert:

Benjamin Hubert x Casamania

Pontoon is an oak dining table designed to work with the award winning Maritime dining chair. The table utilises the geometry and design language of the chair to create a simple and graphic table structure.

The table surface with generous corner radius is supported by slender legs connected together via a central beam. The legs taper to give an elegant silhouette made possible by the height positioning of the central structure to stabilise the slim profile. Pontoon is the second collaboration between Casamania and Benjamin Hubert launched at Salone Del Mobile in April 2012.

Materials:
Oak, natural oil
Dimensions
W750mm x H730mm x L1800mm W750mm x H730mm x L2500mm

Maritime S

Martime S is an extension of the timber Maritime chair Launched in 2011. The new version offers soft upholstered panels inserted into the distinctive timber framework.

The padded areas are available in both textile and leather options and can be simply interchanged or reupholstered as they are connected to the structure via velcro panels.

Materials:
Oak, natural oil, stain Kvadrat Divina MD, Leather
Dimensions W450mm x H730mm

London Design Festival 2011: here are some photos of a collection of furniture and lighting by industrial designer Benjamin Hubert for Portuguese brand De La Espada, presented at the Tramshed during the London Design Festival. 

The project involved working with with hand-turned marble, granite and leather craftsmen from the car industry.

Pieces include a pedestal dining table that’s weighed down by granite balls in a steel cage, a lounge chair with a seat woven from strips of leather and a dining chair with a leather seat strapped over its ash frame.

The Quarry lamps were each carved from a solid block of marble and retain the tool marks inside the cavity.

Since founding his studio in 2007, Hubert has designed pieces for brands including Casamania, Zero, Örsjö Belysning, Viaduct, Decode, De Vorm, Heals, Blå Station and more, but this is the first time he’s been invited to design a complete collection.

See all our stories about Benjamin Hubert here and watch interviews we filmed with him in Milan and in Cologne on Dezeen Screen.

Tramshed was part of Shoreditch Design Triangle.

See all our stories about the London Design Festival here.

Here’s some more information from Benjamin Hubert:

Benjamin Hubert x De La Espada

The collaboration between Benjamin Hubert and De La Espada presented the opportunity to develop a range of interior products utilising the skills and knowledge of artisan craftsmen, affording fewer compromises than more industrialised projects.

This allowed for greater exploration in the handmade and manipulation of natural materials with greater emphasis on quality.

The result is a range of crafted products with an industrial aesthetic, made utilising tactile materials where the hand of the maker can still be seen and valued.

This is  embodied in hand-turned marble with the organic marks of the cutting tool clearly visible, woven automotive leather with hand-stitching and overt timber joinery detailing.

The range has an industrial, minimal language with a playful look at functionality, honest construction and engaging materiality.

Above: Cargo. Perforated automotive leather, ash, steel fixings. A leather panelled dining/occasional chair. Hand-crafted self-supporting leather panels attach to a light Ash timber frame with mechanical fixing. Cargo is inspired by the automotive industry’s use of leather, specifically in convertible soft tops with pronounced fixing details and tailored panels.

Above and below: Quarry. Marble, acrylic, LED. Hand-turned, thin-walled marble pendant lights with roughly finished interior, to add texture and describe the story of stone production.

Quarry utilises the marble’s translucent properties to diffuse the light and reveal its veining.

The traditional material is offset by the use of an LED, which allows the large hand-turned internal cavity to remain open and uncluttered.

The interior surface is reminiscent of the first cut by renaissance sculptors to rough out a form.

AKFD manage the factories the lamps are produced in, ensuring fair working terms, and actively pushes for safer working conditions.

Below: Perforated automotive leather, steel. A hand-woven leather lounge chair with stitched automotive leather and a leather-wrapped steel frame

This large lounge chair is inspired by the small ‘coracle’ boats traditionally used in Wales since the Bronze Age, with its woven construction used to support the user.

The crafted ‘tri weave’ is complemented by a leather wrapped steel frame with industrial reference points found in bike handles, creating a tactile touch point for the chair.

Below: Gabion. Ash, powder-coated steel, granite. A pedestal dining table with a metal cage base containing the ballast that creates the structures stability.

Subverting the idea of traditionally hiding ballast in pedestal tables, most commonly sandbags, the dining table utilises an overt granite ballast as its focal point within a steel frame with ash surface.

Below: Silo. Granite, Ash. Turned Portuguese granite storage/side table for magazines, soft goods etc finished with an ash surface.

Inspired by grain storage devices with its crafted stone aesthetic, the Silo tables utilise the space normally reserved for a solid base or table legs, as storage. The tables’ focal point is created by a graphic interpretation of a traditional grip feature cut into the timber surface.

See also:

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Cast Desk Tidy by Benjamin Hubert	Chimney by Benjamin Hubert	Maritime by Benjamin Hubert