Hasta La Ideas

Design Miami: Belgian designer Jens Praet used bronze drapes cast from sheets of cloth to dress these pieces of brass furniture.

Jens Praet created the Dressed collection in collaboration with his father, artist Jan Praet. “What I did is take leftover fabric and cut it in a triangular shape,” Praet told Dezeen at the Industry Gallery booth at Design Miami. “All the fabric is then dipped in hot wax, and when it’s still hot you drape it over the under-structure.”

The finished piece is then cast from this wax model in bronze and given an oxidised copper patina, before being placed on top of the brushed brass under-structure.

Previous projects by Praet we’ve featured on Dezeen include a table made from shredded paper and resin and a collection of Corian tables with grooves worn into their sides.

Dezeen was at Design Miami last week reporting on the highlights from the fair, including Snarkitecture’s bundle of inflatable sausages over the entrance and Glithero’s Gaudí-inspired inverted domes – see all our stories about Design Miami.

See all our stories about Jens Praet »
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Photographs are by Jiri Praet.

Here’s some more information from the designer:

Dressed is a series of contemporary furniture items composed by bronze dresses and brass under-structures, designed in collaboration with Jens’ father and artist Jan Praet.

Leftover and discarded fabric has been immortalised in functional art objects. To this end triangular shaped fabric is being dipped in hot wax, draped and shaped by hand over a rigid under-structure and cast in bronze.

The bronze dresses, patinated in a reminiscent oxidised green color, are placed over a contrasting geometrical brushed brass under-structure in order to complete the functionality of each furniture item.

Each item is the result of different production steps, and in order to preserve the tactile feeling of the fabric, most is done by hand. The bronze patina and brushed brass surface may slightly vary in color over time, a beautiful aspect that is characteristic to the ageing process of these archaic materials. Each Dressed piece is unique.

Materials:
Oxidised green patinated bronze, brushed brass

Dressed Chair
Dimensions:
800 x 450 x 500 mm (h x w x d)

Dressed Table
Dimensions:
760 x 1950 x 950 mm (h x w x d)

Dressed Bench
Dimensions:
450 x 1710 x 400 mm (h x w x d)

Dressed Stool
Dimensions:
450 x 400 x 400 mm (h x w x d)

The post Dressed collection
by Jens Praet appeared first on Dezeen.