Hasta La Ideas

Milan 2014: the intricate embroidery of this rug collection, by London studio Doshi Levien for Spanish rug maker Nanimarquina, combines traditional techniques with spontaneous compositions (+ slideshow).

The Rabari Collection features three carpets made from 100 percent New Zealand wool. Each one has been handmade in India using traditional hand-knotted and hand-woven Sumak techniques – a method that produces finely woven, durable material.

“At the very beginning of the project, we decided to create a series of rugs that evoke the sensual and shiny world of the tribal folk embroidery of India,” explained Nipa Doshi from Doshi Levien.

“We already had in mind intricately hand crafted embroideries made by the Nomadic community of the Rabaris from the Kutch region,” Doshi told Dezeen.

The collection was designed in partnership with Barcelona based Nanimarquina, who specialises in manufacturing rugs in countries with long-standing traditions of craftsmanship including Nepal, Pakistan and Morocco.

An embroidery workshop in Ahmedabad, a town in Gujarat, India that is owned by one of Doshi’s relatives was given the task of creating the carpets, employing 25 highly skilled craftswomen.

“They were all experts in hand embroidery, working with glistening mirrors, silk and cotton thread and metallic sequins amongst other non-precious materials,” said Doshi.

The result is three different styles of rug – two beige and one black – that feature a combination of straight lines, spots and different colours. They come in three sizes, ranging from 170 by 240 centimetres to 300 centimetres by 400 centimetres.

The black variant features a series of lines criss-crossing across the surface. At some of the junctions between the horizontal and vertical lines, multicoloured discs are attached and swirling lines of fabric trace their way across the surface at random.

One of the beige rugs features a lattice of darker colour fabric with rows of dots. In the middle of the design, a series of diamond, teardrop and rectangular shapes are arranged next to a streak of blue and a spade symbol with an S-shaped trail woven into the fabric.

The second of the beige carpets features a grid that creates a series of rows and columns, which occasionally include coloured dots.

“We wanted our collection for Nanimarquina to reference the unfinished embroideries like studies of different techniques in progress, as they gradually emerge over time,” said Doshi.

“The spontaneous compositions of the rugs embody the serendipity and freedom to improvise inherent in each step of a handmade piece; joyful, irreverent and unique.”

The Rabari Collection is due to go on show at Salone del Mobile in Milan next month. Doshi Levien will also be showing the Shanty for BD Barcelona, a cabinet designed to resemble the eclectic range of materials found in shanty houses.

Photography is by Albert Font.

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homage to tribal Indian folk embroidery appeared first on Dezeen.

Our next interactive slideshow features the most recent products by Nordic architects and designers for Danish brand Muuto.

Muuto‘s furniture, lighting and accessories have been created by designers from, or educated in, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. “We handpick the brightest design talent and give them the freedom to express their individual story through everyday objects,” said Muuto.

The Danish brand is committed to expanding regional design traditions and holds an annual competition called the Muuto Talent Award for students from Nordic institutions, won this year by a versatile lamp by Tuomas Auvinen.

Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts graduate David Geckeler won the award in 2011 for his Nerd chair, which is now included in Muuto’s collection. The chair is constructed from two laminated plywood shells that slot together without any metal fixings.

In 2010 the Muuto Talent Award went to the Pull floor lamp by Swedish design group Whatswhat, which has an exposed textile cord that can be pulled to adjust the position of the shade.

Well-known Scandinavian designers have also created furniture for Muuto. Danish studio Julien De Smedt Architects designed a shelving system that consists of rectangular shelves that clip together to form stacks.

Norwegian designers Anderssen & Voll have created two sofas: the Rest sofa that features soft rectangular cushions on a wooden frame and skinny oak legs, and the Connect sofa system, which is made up of eleven different curved modules.

A glass pendant lamp by Swedish design studio Claesson Koivisto Rune resembles a resting water droplet and a light by Stockholm-based Broberg & Ridderstråle is shaped like a single leaf at the end of a long stalk.

Accessories include a porcelain tea set by Swedish designer Jonas Wagell with rounded forms and oversized handles.

The post Interactive slideshow: Nordic designers create
furniture, lighting and accessories for Muuto appeared first on Dezeen.

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British designer Benjamin Hubert has developed a more stable version of his lightweight Ripple table, which features on the shortlist for Designs of the Year 2014 (+ slideshow).

Hubert launched the original Ripple table during last year’s London Design Festival to demonstrate the structural capabilities of a lightweight laminated plywood material called Corelam.

The nine kilogram product was described as the world’s lightest table, but attracted criticism from Dezeen readers who wondered whether it was robust enough for practical use.

“I can’t imagine this is very sturdy – at 2.5 metres long it looks and feels too flimsy,” said one reader, while another suggested: “You should prove stability, not lightness.”

In reaction to doubts over the product’s practicality, Hubert and his team performed a series of strength and stability tests before overhauling the design to improve its structural properties. It is now strong enough to hold the weight of a person.

“I think it’s important to make products that really work,” Hubert told Dezeen. “A concept always needs to be proven, and we enjoy healthy criticism as it pushes us to go further.”

The updated version features a curve across the underside of the table surface that increases its tensile strength, as well as a new leg design with a triangulated cross section.

A brace attaching the legs to the tabletop is also made from Corelam. This has been pressed to produce an undulating profile that creates a transition between the corrugated surface and the flat area to which the legs are fixed.

Up to ten people people can be seated around the 2.5 by 1 metre table, which uses 80 percent less material than a standard timber table and still weighs just 10.5 kilograms

In direct response to comments suggesting that the original table should have been shown with someone standing on it to demonstrate its strength, Hubert has done just that with the new version.

The Ripple table is on show as part of the Designs of the Year exhibition at London’s Design Museum, which opens today and runs until 25 August.

Here’s a press release from Benjamin Hubert:

Ripple 2.0
Held by 1. Holds 1. Seats 10.

Ahead of the Design Museum’s Designs of the Year 2014, Benjamin Hubert Ltd has launched the production-ready version of the nominated Ripple table, which is now also available for purchase through Benjamin Hubert Ltd. The table can still be assembled and manoeuvred by a single person but can now easily support the equivalent of a person’s weight, further demonstrating the properties of the lightweight construction.

Following a series of rigorous strength and stability tests undertaken by the studio, the underside of the table’s surface now curves gently across its length and width, adding tensile strength to the structure. The improved leg design now employs a hollow triangular profile that offers increased strength and rigidity in two directions. The brace between the legs has a curved cross section to increase the strength of the connection between the leg and the table surface. As the corrugated plywood meets the legs, it gradually transitions to a flat surface, providing a smooth intersection.

Ripple uses 80% less material than a standard timber table, and at 2.5 metres long and 1 metre wide, it now offers ample space for ten place sittings. The table’s impressive strength to weight ratio is enabled by an innovative production process of corrugating plywood for furniture through pressure lamination, which was developed by Benjamin Hubert Ltd in collaboration with Canadian manufacturer Corelam.

Ripple is made entirely from 3 ply 0.8mm sitka spruce, a timber sourced only in Canada, where the table is manufactured. The engineered timber was also used in construction of the Hughes H-4 Hercules – popularly known as the “Spruce Goose” – the world’s largest all-timber airplane. The strength of the material in combination with a unique lamination process means the edge of Ripple measures just 3.5mm.

Ripple was designed as part of an internal studio research project into lightweight constructions, and was first launched at Aram Store during London Design Festival last year. Ripple will be exhibited as part of the Design Museum’s Designs of the Year 2014.

Material: Sitka Spruce 0.8mm aircraft plywood
Dimensions: L 2.5m x W 0.95m x H 0.74m

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is now strong enough to stand on appeared first on Dezeen.