Hasta La Ideas

These candle holders by French designer Marie Dessuant come with handy inner compartments and were designed for British furniture brand Another Country.

Launched at the London Design Festival last month, each candle holder has a ceramic lid that can be removed to allow small objects to be stored in the base.

The base is made from turned oak and comes in three different sizes, each with a handle that protrudes from one side.

See more collections by Another Country, including a hand-crafted pottery collection by Hackney designer Ian McIntyre.

See all our stories about candle holders »

See all our stories about the London Design Festival 2012 »

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Marie Dessuant for Another Country appeared first on Dezeen.

Istanbul Design Biennial: this project by Antwerp design studio Unfold explores how 3D-printed objects created from identical digital files can be as varied and unique as hand-made objects (+ movie + slideshow).

Above: objects produced by Unfold. Photograph by Kristof Vrancken

Called Stratigraphic Manufactury, the project involved designing a range of bowls and vases on a computer and sending the digital files to small-scale producers around the world, who then manufactured them in porcelain using open-source 3D printers.

Above: objects produced by Unfold

“We sent out seven of our designs,” said Dries Verbruggen of Unfold. “They weren’t allowed to touch the data but they could choose the materials and machines they used.”

Above: objects produced by Eran Gal-Or

The resulting objects, which vary according to the type and consistency of porcelain used and the accuracy of the printer, are on show at the Adhocracy exhibition at the inaugural Istanbul Design Biennial.

Above: objects produced by Jonathan Keep

Verbruggen compared the flaws and idiosyncrasies of the digitally-generated objects to the “unique tool marks” left by a craftsman.

Above: object produced by Unfold

The producers who took part were Jonathan Keep from the UK, Eran Gal-Or from Israel, and Tulya Madra & Firat Aykaç and Mustafa Canyurt, both from Turkey. Unfold have also collaborated with local Turkish ceramists to operate a manufacturing unit and shop at the biennial.

Above: object produced by Eran Gal-Or

The project was commissioned by Joseph Grima, curator of the Adhocracy exhibition and editor of Domus magazine. In an interview with Dezeen about the show, Grima said that open-source technologies like 3D printing amount to a “cultural revolution“.

Above: objects produced by Jonathan Keep

The biennal continues until 12th December.

Above: objects produced by Unfold. Photograph by Kristof Vrancken

Unfold was founded in 2002 by Design Academy Eindhoven graduates Claire Warnier and Dries Verbruggen.

Above: objects produced by Jonathan Keep

We previously featured a virtual potter’s wheel designed by Unfold and we also filmed a movie in which Verbruggen explains how it works.

Above: 3D printer. Photograph by Kristof Vrancken

We’ve reported on a number of projects involving 3D printing recently, including 3D printed vessels distorted by computer algorithms and news that gun enthusiasts are 3D printing open source weapons.

See all our stories about 3D printing »
See all our stories about Unfold »
See all our stories about ceramics »

Here’s some more information from Unfold:

Unfold is pleased to announce its participation in the inaugural Istanbul Design Biennial. The Biennial opened on October 13 and will run till December 12. Joseph Grima, curator of the Adhocracy exhibition, invited Unfold to present Kiosk 2.0 and commissioned a new project featuring Unfold’s continuing work on ceramic 3D printing and its implications on design and manufacturing: Stratigraphic Manufactury.

In Stratigraphic Manufactury, Unfold builds on its Stratigraphic Porcelain series started in 2010 with its internationally acclaimed installation l’Artisan Electronique and explores methods of manufacturing and distributing design in the dawning era of digital production. Stratigraphic Manufactury is a new model for the distribution and digital manufacturing of porcelain, which includes local small manufacturing units that are globally connected. One that embraces local production variations and influences.

A set of digital 3D files of designs presented last spring in Milan by Unfold has been e-mailed to various manufacturers around the world who have acquired the 3d printing production method that Unfold pioneered and open sourced in 2009. They were instructed not to alter the digital files but were free to incorporate personal and local influences and interpretations during the production.

These new sets will be presented in Adhocracy in the context of a local manufacturing shop. In collaboration with Turkish ceramists, a manufacturing unit will become operational for the duration of the Istanbul Design Biennial: Stratigraphic Manufactury Istanbul, estd. 2012.

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by Unfold appeared first on Dezeen.

Vienna Design Week: London-based designer Julia Lohmann thinks dried strips of seaweed could replace leather, paper and plastic to make everyday objects like these laser-cut kelp lampshades (+ audio + slideshow).

Above: Julia Lohmann talks to Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs about the project

Lohmann used a laser cutting machine to create patterns in pieces of kelp before sewing them together, or stretched them into shape while wet to dry into new forms.

The malleable strips are also wrapped around rattan structures to create a variety of shapes. “The rattan acts like a skeleton and the seaweed is like a skin on top of it,” Lohmann told Dezeen.

“Seaweed is an amazing material. We consume it almost every day – there are extracts of seaweed in toothpaste,” said Lohmann. “But we hardly ever see the material itself, and I think there is a value in it that has not been fulfilled yet.”

Seaweed could be used as a substitute for leather, parchment and even some kinds of plastics, the designer argued. “I’ve made a veneer that works really well, so it could be a substitute for hardwood,” she said.

Lohmann also hopes to promote the use of seaweed in fish farms to filter water and provide an additional income for struggling fishing communities. “I want to develop tools to make something from the material that is very valuable, and then I would love to share them with the communities, who then can combine them with their local craft techniques,” she explained.

Next year Lohmann will launch the Department of Seaweed at the V&A museum in London as part of her half-year residency there, parodying the institution’s Department of Ceramics or Department of Silverware to explore the possibilities of the material.

We previously featured a set of kelp objects by Lohmann presented in Milan in 2008.

Dezeen also filmed an interview with Lohmann at Design Miami in which she introduces five images that represent her life in design.

See all our stories about Julia Lohmann »
See all our stories about Vienna Design Week »

Here’s some more information from the designer:

Julia Lohmann used her time at the Kunsthalle Project Space during Vienna Design Week 2012 to publicly work with kelp as a design material. She was joined by her partner, designer Gero Grundmann, and collaborated with local designer/milliner Moya Hoke and the master furriers Herbert and Christiane Weinberger to create stretched and laser-cut lamps, hats as well as structural test pieces to showcase the strength, flexibility and luminosity of kelp. Lohmann preserved the material to give it a supple, leather-like quality and also worked with pressed dry kelp, which she prepared for veneering and marquetry applications.

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by Julia Lohmann appeared first on Dezeen.

Spanish designer Martí Guixé squeezed bottles of paint over this white rug from Spanish brand Nanimarquina as part of an exhibition at Vienna Design Week (+ movie).

The movie shows Guixé dripping paint over the rug to create an irregular tiled pattern. The designer told Dezeen he was inspired by stories of traditional rug makers “painting by hand to create a more valuable rug” after they are woven.

Painted Rug was shown as part of the Still Life With Light exhibition at Sotheby’s in Palais Wilczek.

Earlier this year Nanimarquina celebrated its 25th anniversary by laying dozens of rugs across a square in Barcelona, and we published their movie of the event.

Other projects by Martí Guixé we’ve featured include a series of containers with message labels attached and a clock that lets you write or draw where the numbers would be.

See all our stories about Martí Guixé »
See all our stories about Nanimarquina »
See all our stories about rugs »

Here’s some more information from Nanimarquina:

Drip Painting is a form of abstract art in which the paint is poured or dripped onto a canvas. For Martí Guixé, the idea of painting a rug is not new; he’s been turning it over in his head for years, because he was familiar with the tradition found in some areas of Eastern Europe of colouring tapestries after they’ve been woven.

In the Still Life With Light project at Sotheby’s Vienna, Martí Guixé and nanimarquina saw the opportunity to explore some of the possibilities of Drip Painting as graffiti and to apply it to a rug. This was how a rug was transformed into a canvas, another feature of the Canvas Furniture project.

Painted Rug is a sketch of a rug that is in itself already a rug. Once again, nanimarquina has dared to invent new ways of reinventing the rug.

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for Nanimarquina appeared first on Dezeen.

London Design Festival: each of these mix-and-match vessels by London design studio Vitamin is fixed together from rings of assorted materials including marble, cut glass, turned wood and 3D printed resin.

The owner of each vessel chooses their own combination of rings and each configuration will only be sold ten times.

Traditional materials and techniques can be seen in the decanter style base made from cut glass (above) and the various rings of turned wood in walnut, maple and oak.

Other rings have been made using contemporary processes such as rapid prototyping, seen in the black diamond-patterned piece (above), and CNC cutting, seen in the burgundy plastic piece (below). The other materials used include gold, silver, polished steel, ceramic and granite.

The vessels were inspired by a stacking children’s toy brought in by one of the studio’s designers. “The noise of the wood connecting, the feeling of quality in the materials and the stacking nature really appealed to us all,” explained Vitamin’s James Melia.

Element Vessel was shown at the designjunction trade show during London Design Festival last month. See all our stories about London Design Festival here, including Benjamin Hubert’s range of lighting made from underwear fabric, also shown at designjunction.

Other products by Vitamin we’ve featured previously include gnomes decorated with street art and a vase that feeds plants with an intravenous drip.

See other stories about Vitamin »
See other stories about vases »

Here’s some more information from the designers:

Vitamin Launch their Limited Edition Element Vessel Range

The birth of CNC and Rapid Prototyping has in recent years contributed to a fall in the amount of traditional processes used in modern design. The drive for cheaper and cheaper mass produced parts and security in numerical operated machines has left skilled craftsmen fighting to keep their professions alive. Vitamin’s Element Vessel range explores mixing both traditional and modern processes showing that they can be used together in contemporary design.

The Limited edition objects have three variations of base. Around this base the owner can arrange and build their own shape using the many variations of ring made from the numerous material options. This unique purchase method does not only encourage owner interaction, but also ensures truly limited editions. Once a combination has been sold ten times, it will never be sold in this configuration again.

The rings are available in wide range of materials, including: Rose gold, Amber Gold, Silver, Polished Steel, Glass, Ceramic, Marble, Granite, American Black Walnut, Maple, American White Oak, Rapid Prototype and Cork. Modern processes include: Computer Numerical Control, otherwise known as CNC and Rapid Prototyping. Traditional processes include: Wood turning, Glass blowing, Metal turning, Metal Plating and Glass cutting.

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by Vitamin appeared first on Dezeen.