Hasta La Ideas

Milan 2014: British designer Max Lamb developed a multicoloured engineered marble for Dzek, which was used to build furniture that appears to merge with walls of the same material for an installation in Milan.

Max Lamb was approached by London design brand Dzek to re-examine the production of man-made stone surfaces and came up with a material called Marmoreal that combines coloured marble with a polyester binder to create a durable stone for architectural applications.

“We invited Max to examine agglomerate stones such as terrazzo and question how he would design and use one consistent with his practice known for its quixotic craftsmanship, disciplined logic, and a measured exuberance deeply rooted in materiality,” said Dzek founder Brent Dzekciorius.

Rather than the small chips of stone embedded in typical terrazzo, Lamb chose to celebrate the natural surface detail of marble by including large chunks in the mix for his manmade material.

Marmoreal means “real marble” in Italian and is used to describe materials or objects that resemble marble. The four types of marble used in Lamb’s stone come from the quarries around Verona in northern Italy, which are famous for processing marble.

Green Verde Alpi, ochre-yellow Giallo Mori, and red Rosso Verona variants were selected to contrast with a background of white Bianco Verona marble.

Combining these stones with a small amount of polyester resin results in a multicoloured material that is stronger and less porous than natural marble.

“Composed of four historically significant Veronese marbles, Marmoreal is a material exploration that celebrates the individual qualities of these stones while acknowledging that the sum of its parts makes for something far more compelling,” explained Dzekciorius.

The material can be used to produce tiles or components for furniture, like the six pieces developed by Lamb to showcase the product’s capabilities.

These include a chair, bookcase, low coffee table, side table, shelf and a dining table or desk, all produced from simple geometric blocks of the engineered marble.

At its installation during last week’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Dzek presented the furniture in a space lined with tiles of Marmoreal that made it hard to distinguish the furniture from the walls.

Dzek focuses on collaborating with architects, designers and artists to develop architectural materials that can be used as the basis for product collections. The Marmoreal project is the first to be completed by the company.

Photography is by Delfino Sisto Legnani.

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camouflaged furniture installation appeared first on Dezeen.

London designer Max Lamb used stonemasonry tools to hand-carve the models for this crockery collection from lumps of plaster.

The resulting forms were used to make plaster moulds from which jugs, bowls and mugs were slip-cast by Staffordshire ceramics company 1882 Ltd.

While the exterior surfaces have been left raw, the interiors are glazed for practical use.

The collection will be launched at an exhibition hosted by 1882 Ltd. during the London Design Festival next month.

Bone China will be open from 14 to 22 September at 169 Draycott Avenue, London SW3 3AJ.

Other products by Lamb we’ve featured on Dezeen include a bronze chair cast from hand-carved polystyrene and furniture cut from solid rock.

See all our stories about Max Lamb »
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Here’s some more information from 1882 Ltd.:

Crockery by Max Lamb for 1882 Ltd.
Fine bone china tableware, made in Staffordshire, England.

A collection of fine bone china tableware slip-cast from plaster models carved by hand, with glazed interior for functionality and raw exterior reflecting the modest surface texture of the plaster original.

The process of slip-casting begins with the creation of a three-dimensional model of the design known as a ‘master’ by a professional model-maker, from which the production mould is cast. Crockery bypasses this process by placing the responsibility of both designer and model-maker in the hands of Max Lamb. Using the tools of a stone mason Lamb chips and carves a solid block of plaster to make a jug, bowl or mug, the design of each formed quite simply out of their own making.

1882

In 1882 the Johnson Brothers began producing ceramics in the heart of the Stoke-on-Trent Potteries. 130 years later 1882 Ltd. continues the Johnson legacy with the company name evoking the deep routes of the family heritage. 1882 Ltd. was formed in 2011 by fifth generation Emily Johnson and her father, Christopher, who has worked in the industry since 1958. The first collection for 1882 Ltd. were the much heralded lights entitled ‘Bone’ – bisque and rumbled white bone china vessels offering a diffused illumination which celebrate the translucency of the fine bone china.

1882 Ltd’s mission is to champion inventively designed ceramic products from lighting to domestic ware whilst employing the manufacturing heritage of North Staffordshire and promoting the British ceramic industry. In collaborating with exceptionally talented designers to realise their interpretation of a very traditional material and craft, 1882 Ltd. will bring innovative ceramics to a wider audience while supporting a valuable UK resource.

Max Lamb

London-based Max Lamb was born in Cornwall, England, an upbringing that imbued him with a love of nature and a creative spirit which have manifested in his practice as designer and maker. He graduated from the Royal College of Art, London in 2006, was named Designer of the Future at Design Miami/Basel in 2008 and continues to both produce and exhibit his work internationally.

Lamb is known for creating beautifully crafted pieces that have materials and traditional processes at their core. He looks to design products that stimulate dialogue between maker, product and user through a visual simplicity that effectively communicates the obvious.

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for 1882 Ltd. appeared first on Dezeen.

Competition: we’ve teamed up with London designer Max Lamb to give readers the chance to win one of five signed copies of his new book China Granite Project II.

The 112-page book documents the making of his second collection of furniture that’s cut from granite in a Chinese quarry.

To enter this competition email your name, age, gender, occupation, and delivery address and telephone number to competitions@dezeen.com with “China Granite Project II” in the subject line. We won’t pass your information on to anyone else; we just want to know a little about our readers.

Read our privacy policy here.

Competition closes 30 August 2011. Five winners will be selected at random and notified by email. Winners’ names will be published in a future edition of our Dezeenmail newsletter and at the bottom of this page. Dezeen competitions are international and entries are accepted from readers in any country.

Subscribe to our newsletter, get our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter for details of future competitions.

Here are some more details from publishers Everyday Life Books by Apartamento magazine:

China Granite Project II

This book documents the making of China Granite Project II – a collection of furniture by Max Lamb realised in October 2010 using an igneous granite known as Sesame Black native to Fujian Province, China.

A book published by Everyday Life Books by Apartamento Magazine launched during Design Miami/Basel in June 2011 to accompany Max’s solo exhibition with Johnson Trading Gallery.

ISBN: 978-84-615-1140-2
24cm x 15.5cm
112 pages, soft cover with belly band
Language: English
Drawings and photography: Max Lamb and Man Kit Au-Yeung
Design by Omar Sosa
Interview by Marco Velardi
Published by Apartamento Magazine for Everyday Life Books
Retail price: £17 plus shipping

Also available from Max Lamb’s shop and Bruil.

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Tokyo Designers Week: this next short interview commissioned for the Tokyo Designers Week guide features designer Max lamb talking about exhibiting in Tokyo and the importance of handmade work. (more…)