Hasta La Ideas

Milan 2013: London designer Ron Arad has created a range of 3D-printed spectacles and sunglasses for eyewear brand pq.

Speaking to Dezeen yesterday at the launch in Milan, Ron Arad explained: “The brand wanted to advertise the fact that it’s printed but I said let’s not go on about it. But it’s printed. It’s the first pair of glasses that I know about that is one piece of material; it’s monolithic. It’s polyamide.”

The frames are built entirely from nylon powder using selective laser sintering (SLS) technology, with hinges made by scores in the material rather than from additional metal parts. “It has a stem that’s flexible one way and stops the other,” said Arad.

Above: Archway style from the Springs collection
Top: Angel style from the Springs collection

Each style is name after a station on the London Underground’s Northern line, including Old Street, Kentish Town and Golders Green. The Angel shades have droplet-shaped lenses, the Colindale models come with round lenses and the Highgate and Archway designs both feature an exaggerated bridge.

All frames are available in a selection of colours and the sunglasses some with tinted lenses in various shades. Arad has also designed a range of glasses that can be adjusted to fit any face for the same company.

Above: Balham style from the Springs collection

Arad was one of the first designers to work with 3D printing in 1999. “In 1999 we had our first outing with what in those days was called rapid prototyping,” he said. “We did vases, lights and jewellery. There was a lot of excitement in the technology then, it was obvious it was on the cards and would be embraced by lots of people.”

Other 3D-printed designs released in recent months include American football boot studs and a dress for Dita Von Teese, while a race to create the first 3D-printed house is on between a canal house in Amsterdam, a plastic dwelling to be assembled in three weeks and a home modelled on a Möbius strip.

See all our stories about designs by Ron Arad »
See all more news about 3D-printed architecture and design »

Read on more more information from pq:

Pq eyewear designed by Ron Arad introduces Springs

Pq, the original eyewear brand designed by Ron Arad adds Springs, a new collection to the pq family this spring.

Springs are a one-piece, one-material, monolithic creature. The gill-like sides allow the arms to hinge inwards freely but restrict them from opening outwards beyond the perfect width and perfect pressure for the head. A progenitor to Angel, and Corbs, now they are just part of one growing Springs family.

Standing out from the crowd, they are as playful as they are individual. Seven new styles within the SPRINGS collection share the cleverly integrated vertebrae giving a fluid continuous line unbroken by hinges and extraneous details. These unique frames enjoy curvaceous shapes and volumes, and are lightweight yet highly durable.

Made in the UK, embracing technology to overcome the constraints of traditional production techniques, Springs are made using SLS (selective laser sintering), a technique pioneered by Ron since the early 1990’s.

Pq launched in 2012 as Arad asserted; ‘There are very few ideas in the world of glasses.’ Pq’s name emanates from two letters side by side in the alphabet which together resemble a pair of glasses.

Springs also includes the distinctive Corbs, the first in the family produced from solid and laminated acetate.

The post Springs 3D-printed glasses
by Ron Arad for pq appeared first on Dezeen.

Here are some photos of the latest collection of Sire spectacle frames, which are made of water buffalo horn.

Designed by Zurich studio Aekae and manufactured by Swisshorn, the frames are made by hand from thin laminated layers of horn.

Aekae showed the first six Sire frames on Dezeen back in 2009 and have since expanded the range to 18 frames for sunglasses and correctional lenses, all with the same distinctive gap between the lenses at the nose bridge.

Check out our top ten stories about spectacles and shades here.

Stills are by Sandra Kennel. Portraits are by Nadine Ottawa.

Here are some more details from Aekae:

SIRE – handcrafted natural horn eyewear

Origin

A Sire was a Gentleman of rank, a Nobleman of certain esteem. He was a man of authority, a Cavalier, a Knight. It was from the 13th century on that Sire was used as a title to address someone of high regard.

And as such, a Sire had the ambition to only wear what was of refined quality and unique appearance, whereat he would always find it made by the hands of the best craftsmen.

At SIRE we aim to pursue those traditions and cater to them with craftsmanship, sharp designs, and fine materials – to be worn by Noblemen and Gentlewomen.

Crafting

Each single piece of SIRE eyewear is handcrafted out of natural horn in collaboration between Aekae and Swisshorn.

A small manufacturing company in the midlands of Switzerland, Swisshorn has been working with the high-value material for years. It produced numerous prototypes of SIRE spectacles before the first line had been launched.

Designing the eyewear, Aekae builds on the tradition of using natural horn as a working material for premium objects. The spectacles’ open part just above the nose has made for a capturing feature ever since the first pieces.

By bringing together their respective skills and impressions, Aekae and Swisshorn create something truly noble and unique.

Natural Horn

SIRE spectacles are hand crafted into exquisite eyewear from water buffalo horn. This mighty animal is South-East Asia’s most common livestock and can grow horns up to two meters in length. And once a water buffalo has deceased its horns can be used in creating long lasting products.

Swisshorn hand selects every single piece of horn used in manufacturing SIRE spectacles. Because it is a natural material, each piece of horn differs in color and pattern – and therefore makes each frame unique.

Manufacturing

Take something rough and turn it into something smooth and elegant. This is what happens in the process of making SIRE eyewear. And it happens in numerous steps, almost entirely by hand.

Initially thin layers of horn are laminated to plates from which the frame of the spectacle is cut out of. In several steps the frame and its earpieces are crafted and polished. After they’ve been brought into perfect shape the separate pieces are put together. With the use of a laser each frame then receives its individual number of reference that is unique to every single SIRE frame.

Finally, the lenses are inserted. Here the open nose part takes advantage of the material’s natural flexibility. To secure the glass, a special thread is pulled through the opening at the nose.

Royal College of Art graduates Azusa Murakami and Alexander Groves have made a collection of spectacles from human hair.

The hair is bound with natural resin and the frames are completely biodegradable.

Murakami and Groves work together under the name Studio Swine.

The project is on display at graduate exhibition Show RCA 2011, which continues in London until 3 July.

More about hair on Dezeen »

The information below is from the designers:

Hair Glasses by Studio Swine

Studio Swine presents ‘Hair Glasses’ – a collection of sustainable fashion eyewear exploring the potential of Human hair.

The UK beauty industry imports 15 million pounds worth of human hair per year. As the world’s population continues to increase, human hair
has been re-imagined as a viable – importantly renewable – material.

Hair Glasses comprises of human hair with bioresin as a binding agent, the frames are 100% biodegradable and no harmful substances are
released during production.

Studio Swine explores how the booming production of hair extensions can be expanded beyond the beauty industry to make other commodities that are equally desirable.

See also:

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Wooden spectacles by Matteo Ragni	Horn spectacles by Aekae	Spectacles by Yves Béhar

Industrial designer Yves Béhar of fuseproject has created a range of spectacles that will be distributed free to children in Mexico. (more…)