Design digitale e materialità litica

Design digitale e materialità litica” è il titolo del libro che ho letto poche settimane fa. Ero curioso di averlo tra le mani da quando ho visto per la prima volta sul blog Architettura di Pietra le splendide immagini dei rivestimenti e dei sistemi costruttivi in pietra disegnati da Raffaello Galiotto per Lithos Design. Il libro, scritto da Veronica Dal Buono e edito da Librìa, spiega la genesi di questa produzione e sviluppa interessanti riflessioni sull’uso della tecnologia per lavorare il materiale considerato il più solido e duraturo per antonomasia: la pietra.

La storia di Lithos Design è recente, quando nel 2007 Raffaello Galiotto incontra i fratelli Claudio e Alberto Bevilacqua che, con alle spalle la lunga esperienza dell’azienda di famiglia, decidono di creare un’innovativa collezione di prodotti basati sui materiali lapidei.

Lithos Design, infatti, esalta le caratteristiche estetiche e meccaniche della pietra attraverso la lavorazione con le macchine a controllo numerico.
La sfida consiste nell’utilizzare tecniche e logiche tipiche della produzione industriale (per quanto destinate a un numero di pezzi limitato) ma conservare il valore scultoreo e naturale che tipicamente ci si aspetta dai materiali lapidei.
Questo tema, tuttavia, sarebbe anche trascurabile se il risultato non fosse esteticamente interessante, ma proprio qui risiede invece il successo di Lithos Design.

Le collezioni affascinano per il loro dinamismo e armonia, ma quando ci si rende conto che il materiale utilizzato è la pietra, l’ammirazione diventa stupore.

A volte penso che la possibilità di utilizzare software parametrici abbia generato nell’architettura un’esagerata rincorsa verso edifici sempre più liquidi e decostruttivisti, ma le collezioni Lithos Design sono una delle migliori dimostrazioni possibili di nuove tecnologie applicate al design.

Reflective Art

Utilisant des matériaux originaux comme de la pellicule réfléchissante et fluorescente, l’artiste brésilien Mesmo joue avec talent sur le contraste et les effets de lumières, proposant ainsi un art enrichi presque par soustraction. Plus d’images de ce projet à découvrir dans la suite de l’article.

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The Bulgari Octo: Il Duomo, Florence: A design inspiration for the watch, this Florentine basilica’s engineer was also a clockmaker

The Bulgari Octo: Il Duomo, Florence


The next stop in our ongoing series with Bulgari is in celebration of the designs that inspired their Octo watch line, which happens to be…

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CH Gift Guide: Big Bonus: Private submarines, gourmet cycling excursions, arcade coffee tables and more luxurious presents culled from our holiday assortment

CH Gift Guide: Big Bonus


For those fortunate enough to have deeper pockets than the average gift-giver, have a look at the Cool Hunting gift guide for an array of ideas that go well beyond a Bentley or fancy watch. From U-Boat’s private submarines to Gufram’s iconic cactus coat stand, and with personalized travel…

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Em Table Concept

Focus sur le projet « Em Table » qui est un objet expérimental imaginé par le designer français Florian Dussopt. En effet, cette table est capable de produire un champ électromagnétique localisé. Une création très intéressante et visuellement forte, à découvrir dans une série d’images.

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The Standard 2014 Calendar: The hip hotel chain transforms 12 of the most bizarre guest comments into a collection of photographs featuring hotdogs and Jesus

The Standard 2014 Calendar


The Standard Hotels, which reach from Downtown LA and Hollywood across the country to Miami and New York, are known for turning things upside down—made apparent in the company’s…

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3D Igloo

Emerging Objects imagine différents objets et projets grâce à l’utilisation de l’impression 3D. Avec Saltygloo, ceux-ci ont utilisé une grande quantité de sel cristallisé pris en Californie à Redwood City pour ensuite utiliser la matière accumulée pour imprimer un igloo. Une création impressionnante et surprenante.

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Cellulose tableware that never needs washing up

These plates and dishes made of cellulose by Swedish design studio Tomorrow Machine have a special self-cleaning coating that means they never need washing up.

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Tomorrow Machine and research company Innventia were asked by the Swedish Forest Industries Federation to envision uses for cellulose harvested from Swedish forests in the year 2035.

The prototype tableware was made to showcase the qualities of a new cellulose-based material developed by Innventia, which is light but strong and can be moulded into double-curved surfaces.

“The product not only saves resources during the manufacturing process, but also over its full life-cycle, not requiring water and chemicals to be kept clean,” claimed the designers.

The cellulose pulp is first made into a sheet, which is then heat pressed in a mould. “The material becomes as hard as a regular ceramic product, but with the advantages that it is lightweight and won’t crack or break in case it’s dropped,” Hanna Billqvist of Tomorrow Machine told Dezeen.

Cellulose 3D printing by Tomorrow Machine

The coating is a new technology developed by KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, which mimics the surface of a lotus leaf to create a surface that’s resistant to dirt and water. “It is real but a very new technology that is still being developed, so it’s not ready for the industry yet,” explained Billqvist.

“KTH are using a process called Rapid Expansion of Supercritical Solutions (RESS) to make the surface superhydrophobic,” she said. “A wax is dissolved in carbon dioxide at high pressure and temperature, and then sprayed onto the surface to be treated.”

The designers specified a marbling technique to decorate the cup, selecting a cobalt blue reminiscent of the glaze used on traditional porcelain and ceramic tableware.

Based out of Stockholm and Paris, Tomorrow Machine comprises Billqvist and Anna Glansén, and specialises in packaging, product and food concepts. “Our vision as designers is to build a better world through research, new technologies and intelligent material,” they said. “We believe in looking at science from a creative point of view to shape the innovations of tomorrow.”

Photographs are by David Axelsson.

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needs washing up
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Flat-pack furniture assembled with magnets by Benjamin Vermeulen

This range of flat-packed furniture by Benjamin Vermeulen does away with little bags of screws, fastenings or Allen keys and simply snaps together with super-strong magnets (+ movie).

Mag Furniture by Benjamin Vermeulen

His range of MAG (Magnetic Assisted Geometry) furniture is made of sheet steel and solid wood, with magnets in the wooden parts allowing each piece to be assembled in minutes with no tools.

Mag Furniture by Benjamin Vermeulen

“Shipping furniture unassembled is more economical and more environmentally friendly, but flat-packed furniture is often made from low-grade material and its assembly is far from straightforward,” said Vermeulen.

Mag Furniture by Benjamin Vermeulen

The furniture can be assembled and disassembled many times over without losing its initial structural integrity, meaning it’s fine to take it apart when moving house, storing it or selling it on.

Mag Furniture by Benjamin Vermeulen

Replacing parts is also easy since they come off and reattach with the same ease.

Mag Furniture by Benjamin Vermeulen

The chair has a two-part frame that slots together where the leg braces cross under the seat, before a sheet-steel seat and backrest are clipped into place.

Mag Furniture by Benjamin Vermeulen

Metal pegs at the corners of the folded steel table top slot into magnetic tubes inside the tops of the table legs.

Mag Furniture by Benjamin Vermeulen

The cabinet allows the user to select components based on the configuration they require. The basic cabinet is one layer high, but more layers of different heights can be added with or without doors.

Mag Furniture by Benjamin Vermeulen

Vermeulen designed the collection for his graduation from the Design Academy Eindhoven and presented it during Dutch Design Week.

Mag Furniture by Benjamin Vermeulen

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by Benjamin Vermeulen
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Di Mainstone’s Human Harp creates music from suspension bridges

Dezeen Music Project: London artist Di Mainstone is developing an electronic instrument that enables performers to make music from the subtle vibrations of suspension bridge cables (+ movie).

Human Harp by artist Di Mainstone

“I would regularly go to Brooklyn Bridge [in New York] and it struck me that there’s a comparison between a suspension bridge and a harp,” said Mainstone, who presented the project at this week’s Wearable Futures conference in London.

Human Harp by artist Di Mainstone

“I started thinking about the cables of the bridge, which carry vibrations down them in the same way as a harp string. I wondered if there was a way to develop a parasitic interface that would enable people to ‘play’ the frequencies of the bridge, which is this beautiful deep groaning sound.”

She added: “I imagined these people called ‘movicians’ who were almost part bridge, part instrument with all of these cables attached to them.”

Human Harp by artist Di Mainstone

Mainstone’s Human Harp, which she is developing in partnership with Queen Mary University of London and Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, consists of a series of eight electronic modules, which modify digital recordings of the sound of vibrating suspension bridge cables.

Human Harp by artist Di Mainstone
Di Mainstone attaching a Human Harp module to Brooklyn Bridge, New York

These devices, which Mainstone attaches to the structure of the bridge, contain retractable cables that control the volume, pitch and intensity of the sounds based on the length, speed and angle at which they are pulled.

Mainstone’s performers wear a special vest, which these cables clip on to, enabling them to alter the music by rolling and contorting their bodies.

Human Harp by artist Di Mainstone

Mainstone tested the Human Harp on Brooklyn Bridge earlier this year, using pre-recorded sounds from the bridge. She is now looking at developing technology to enable the modules to record the sounds of a bridge in real time and wants to create specific sound installations on bridges around the world.

“We plan to do a tour in the UK and then a global tour of suspension bridges after that,” she explained.

Human Harp by artist Di Mainstone

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music from suspension bridges
appeared first on Dezeen.