When Michelin-starred chef Yves Charles couldn’t find a table knife to match the caliber of his cooking, he decided to make one. Inspired by the pocket knives carried by many of his compatriots—and the 9.47% ABV wine Charles and his friends shared when…
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Japanese designer Ryuji Nakamura used crayons to draw thin lines of colour along the rods of these gridded benches (+ slideshow).
The Water Lily benches by Ryuji Nakamura began as oblong grids of powder-coated stainless steel rods.
The designer then used coloured pencils to draw four thin lines along each rod, and sealed the colour with clear lacquer.
Seen from a distance, the colours blur together to create a single soft colour, a technique that Nakamura says was inspired by Impressionist painters.
The bench was part of Mark-ing London, an exhibition of work by British and Japanese designers organised by the British Council at Gallery Libby Sellers earlier this month.
During last year’s London Design Festival, nine benches by designers including Jasper Morrison and BarberOsgerby were placed in the garden of the V&A museum.
We’ve also featured include a bench system based on the iconic Barcelona chair and benches upholstered with bare foam mats – see all benches on Dezeen.
Here’s some more information from the designer:
This is the bench whose structure is grid constructed with stainless steel round rods. It is painted in six different colours with coloured pencil, and if you walk around it, the outward appearance of the overall colour changes according to the point of the view.
The outward form is a rectangular parallelepiped that has six surfaces, and a different colour is given to every surface. Since the grid is made with the fine round rods, the surface of each one of the round rods is painted in four different colours.
This grid has 1080 segments, so the numbers of the surfaces to be painted in different colours is 4320 – that is, quadruple of 1080. Since the area of each colour is very small, their colours are mixed and are recognised as one colour.
Although the numbers of colours used is only six, since the ratio of colours mixed changes with angles continuously, infinite colour will appear. I made this bench as if I drew a picture, inspired by the thought of the pictures by Impressionists where many subdivided colours make the overall appearance.
Title: Water Lily
Function: Bench for exhibition Neoreal in the Forest
Date of manufacture: 2012
Size: W 1600mm / D 400mm / H 400mm
Material: 2.6mm stainless rod, coloured pencil
Finish: Powder coating + coloured pencil + clear lacquer
Client: Canon
Producer: TRUNK
Design: Ryuji Nakamura & Associates (Ryuji Nakamura, Makiko Wakaki, Ran Tanaka)
Fabrication: Otti design works, Ryuji Nakamura & Associates
The post Water Lily by
Ryuji Nakamura appeared first on Dezeen.
Beijing Design Week: traditional Chinese motifs inspired these screens made of steel that’s normally used to reinforce buildings by design studio MICROmacro Lab.
Reinforcing steel was bent into shapes and welded together to create panels with a variety of patterns adapted from ancient Chinese designs, then hinged together.
The designs aim to contrast the intricate forms often found in oriental decoration and the industrial materials from modern day construction.
MICROmarco Lab exhibited the space dividers in the Caochangdi art district in north-east Beijing during the design week, where lenticular printed maps of the city’s hutongs were also shown.
See all our stories from Beijing Design Week 2012 »
Here’s some more information from the designer:
CONtradition by MICROmacro Lab
The use of construction materials complicates a dialogue between ancient Chinese motifs and contemporary furniture design processes.
CONtradition is design research inspired by the reaction generated in the exchange between design identities. Though inspired by traditional Chinese forms, the collection introduces construction materials to furniture design.
Led by the materials employed, the series instigates a dialogue between the roughness and strength of the materials and the elusive elegance of traditional Chinese design motifs. The apparent contradiction between the essentiality of contemporary design and the preciousness of antique style resolves to show that new and old can establish a deep and meaningful conversation.
The post CONtradition screens
by MICROmacro Lab appeared first on Dezeen.
Focus sur le talent de Neil Dawson, un sculpteur qui aime impressionner avec ses œuvres surréalistes. Avec des trompe-l’œil géants construits à base de feuilles en acier, le résultat est hallucinant. Des œuvres réunies sous le nom et la série « Horizons Steel » à découvrir dans la suite de l’article en images.
Red steel ribbons are parted like curtains to welcome visitors into this museum in northern Japan by Canadian studio Molo (+ slideshow).
Named Nebuta House, the building was designed to house the huge paper lanterns that parade the city streets of Aomori for five days each summer during the festival of Nebuta Matsuri.
With the appearance of mythical warriors, the Nebuta lanterns are used to tell stories about heroes and demons during the festival, before five are chosen for a year-long exhibition in the museum’s central hall.
The lanterns glow brightly in the dark hall and their reflection in the glossy floor is intended to represent the final day of the festival when some are floated on the sea.
Inspired by the paper lanterns, the architects copied the movements of strips of paper caught in the breeze to generate the twists of each ribbon on the museum’s exterior.
These twists create openings that let in light and lead into a sheltered passageway between the ribbons and the glazed inner facade.
During the festival the lanterns enter and leave through a huge sliding door at the back of the building, while more sliding doors connect the hall with a theatre above.
With both sets of doors open, visitors can see down from the theatre towards the Aomori Harbour and Hakkōda mountains.
We previously featured a Molo project to create paper partitions for emergency shelters.
See all our stories about Japan »
Photography is by Iwan Baan, except where otherwise indicated.
Here’s some more information from the architects:
Nebuta House (ねぶたの家 ワ・ラッセ) is a museum and centre dedicated to all aspects of the Nebuta festival and its creative culture in the Northern Japanese city of Aomori. In 2002, Stephanie Forsythe and Todd MacAllen won an international architecture competition for their design of a housing and community project in Aomori, Japan. The competition was judged by Tadao Ando and Jean Nouvel, and sponsored by the City of Aomori.
Over the project’s course, the program evolved from housing and community facilities into a unique cultural building inspired by the craftsmanship and spirit of Aomori’s Nebuta Festival. In 2007, Forsythe + MacAllen (molo design) invited ddt/Arch and Frank la Rivière Architects Inc, together with the structural team of Kanebako Structural Engineers and the services engineers of PT Morimura & Associates Ltd. to work in collaboration with molo to develop the construction documents and oversee construction of the Aomori Nebuta House Museum.
Nebuta Matsuri, one of the three most famous and largest festivals in all of Japan, it is a form of storytelling during which heroes, demons and creatures from history and myth come to life as large-scale (9 x 7 x 5.5m) paper lanterns (Nebuta) illuminated from within. The Nebuta House is a dwelling for these mythical beings to reside.
Each year the five best Nebuta, selected for their creative artistry and craftsmanship, will take the place of the five Nebuta selected from the previous year. Functionally the institution is meant to share the tradition, archive the history and nurture the future of this unique cultural art form. Located in front of Aomori train station, where the city meets the sea, the building opened January 5th, 2011.
The building is enclosed by ribbons of twisted steel, enamel-coated deep vibrant red and individually shaped to create variation: openings for light, areas of opacity, views, or opportunities for pedestrian circulation. For each steel ribbon, the bottom was set to a unique and specific angle, with thought to how sunlight would permeate the ribbons as it moved throughout the day, while the top part of each ribbon remains parallel to the building.
In between these fixed points, some of the ribbons follow a natural curve while others were selected to have further bending and shaping to create larger openings and an abstract expression of wind. The steelworkers executed great skill and judgment interpreting the images from the 1:50 scale model that had been made from ribbons of paper, into ribbons of steel (9mm thick x 300mm wide x 12 meters high).
In this way each ribbon was individually crafted during prefabrication, then manually adjusted on-site during installation. No part of the finished screen is the result of computer-aided fabrication; like all things handmade, human intervention enlivens function and expression.
The ribbon screen façade creates a sheltered outdoor perimeter space called the “engawa”, a spatial concept originating in traditional Japanese houses. In this case, a dwelling for giant paper heroes, demons and creatures, the engawa acts as a threshold betweenthe contemporary world of the city and the world of history and myth.
Shadows cast on the walls and floor through the exterior ribbons have the effect of creating a new material. Shadow and light become another screen – the convergence of material, light, shadow and reflection changing with the sun and weather. Homogeneous, grey, box-like buildings constitute much of the surrounding cityscape.
Commonplace objects like power lines and vending machines are dispersed throughout the uniformity. Here, the building appears as a vibrant curtain at the street’s end – activating the streetscape, transforming everyday experience into theatre. Bicycles and traffic passing by, city workers breaking to eat or children playing in the snow take on a quality of performance and play.
Inside, a shadowy dwelling for the Nebuta is shaped by the layers of screens and volumes of ancillary rooms. The volumetric juxtaposition accommodates many possible uses and perspectives. The interior is black, like a black box theatre. The abstraction of materiality, detail and colouring of the building allow visitors an intimate focus on the story being told. Luminous Nebuta appear suspended in the darkness of the hall, their vibrant colours reflected in the rippled, water-like floor. This is a subtle analogy to the last day of the festival when some of the Nebuta are set out to float on the sea.
Opening a set of giant sliding doors will connect the large volume of the Nebuta Hall with an upper level theatre and multi-purpose spaces below (for music, activities and exhibits) Providing a dynamic visual connection to the Nebuta during musical and theatrical performances, encouraging creative juxtapositions and flexible use.
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During major events, the towering Nebuta exit and enter the building through another giant sliding door. When sitting in the theater with both sets of sliding doors open, one can see the vibrant Nebuta below, and beyond, Aomori Harbour and the Hakkōda mountains. Despite the challenges of designing an important cultural building while respecting a conservative budget, the evolution of the building’s type and program stands as symbolic foreshadowing of the many creative possibilities for use.
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Already, programming has demonstrated a broad range of uses: workshops, conferences and new cultural events are taking place. Perhaps the building can help to usher the time-honoured tradition of Nebuta into a contemporary era, offering a place to share ideas and bring creative minds together, even artists of different cultures and disciplines. The building elevates Nebuta in the public life of the city, celebrating the stories and impressive craft of the ephemeral paper floats and the people who make them.
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Dimensions
The Nebuta House site occupies 13,012 m2 on the waterfront of Aomori Harbour. The total building area is 4,340 m2 with a gross floor area of 6,708 m2 which includes the engawa (covered outdoor walkway enclosed by steel ribbon screen), utility basement, two levels to accommodate the program of exhibit hall, theatre, multi-purpose / music rooms, restaurant and gift shop. At the highest point the building stands at 15.4 m, the first level is 4.5 m floor-to-floor, the second level is 5.9 m; both entrance and exhibit halls are double-height at 8.5 m.
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Materials
820 steel ribbons, 12 m tall, encircle the glass-and-steel structure. The prefabricated ribbons are enamel-coated deep red (inspired by the traditional local lacquer ware) and have been installed using a four-point connection system, manually adjusted on-site.
The building sits on 177 piles that go 27 m deep through fill to reach solid ground. In consideration of the soft sea side soil, the lightness of the steel structure was important and adopted early into the design process.
The exposed round steel columns are as slender as possible – this also helps give the structure a feeling of physical lightness. The floor to ceiling window mullions are black, galvanized solid steel and fasten to the steel structure of slender columns to contribute structural support to the steel ribbon screen of the façade (horizontal wind load). Segments of the exterior wall are made up of prefabricated lightweight concrete panels.
The interior is partitioned by a series of black, galvanized steel screens and panels, physically enclosing the space while maintaining visual connection beyond at certain angles. The galvanized steel used in the interior is treated with a patination process that blackens the metal while retaining the crystalline pattern of zinc galvanization.
Architectural Design and Site Supervision:
molo (Todd MacAllen + Stephanie Forsythe)
d&dt Arch (Yasuo Nakata)
Frank la Rivière Architects Inc (Frank la Rivière)
Structural Engineering: Kanebako Structural Engineers
MEP: PT Morimura & Associates, Ltd
Construction: Kajima – Fujimoto – Kurahashi Construction JV
The post Nebuta House
by Molo appeared first on Dezeen.
Steel kimonos, diamond-plated skateboards and hand-anodized aluminum paintings
The anodization of aluminum—a process common in everything from carabiners to satellites to medical equipment—is yet another factory method to fall under the provenance of fine art. Miya Ando‘s work, created through a process of dip-dying aluminum blocks in electrically-charged vats, are nothing short of industrial watercolors. “I like this ability for a plate of metal to evoke soft imagery and ephemerality,” says Ando. The process hardens supple aluminum, adding to the rigid surface the artist’s own subtly colored gradients. Ando explained this process and more during a recent stop at her Brooklyn studio.
The descendent of swordsmiths-turned-priests, the half-Japanese Ando brings her family’s unconventional origins into her art. “Furisode Kimono” is a 180lbs sculpture made of steel squares that have been soldered together with sterling silver rings. The process for this work is different from the aluminum pieces, using heat rather than anodization to achieve the gradient. In both, the effect is permanent and established within the properties of the metal. “It’s embedded; you can touch it and it won’t come off,” explains Ando.
When tasked with describing her anodized work, Ando says, “They’re paintings that use sculptural materials.” The planar works have a texture and visual weight that communicates heft in spite of the light and airy gradients. While the highly finished pieces indicate a degree of precision, Ando’s process is largely self-taught. After gaining access to an industrial facility, the artist began to hand-dye plates in anodizing baths—a process that made quite a sight for on-site workers.
Past work from Ando has included skateboard decks cut from diamond-plated steel as well as bioluminescent leaves. She also gained praise for a monumental piece honoring the World Trade Center that was made of steel salvaged from the towers’ supporting structure. Her fascination for materials bred the recent release of the “Iron and Silk Scarf“, a chiffon scarf printed with the image of one of her metal works. Ando is currently working on a new series will feature buddhist prayers scratched on aluminum with a tungsten carbine pencil.
Miya Ando’s work can currently be seen at New York’s Sundaram Tagore as well as Madison Galleries in La Jolla, CA. See more images of the studio in our slideshow
Inspired by viruses, jewelry designers grow crystals on rope
by Adam Štěch
Exploring the formation of the jewel as a natural process and celebrating it as a performance, the latest collection of distinct jewelry from the conceptual Prague-based designers Daniel Pošta and Zdeněk Vacek of Zorya fuses dynamic drama with simple beauty.
The Virus collection, the most experimental project to date from this creative pair, launched last October at Designblok 2011 Prague design week. Their previous jewelry includes strangely organic creations of raw beauty in which biomorphological inspiration meets precise technical execution with materials such as gold, silver and stainless steel, as well as textiles, pearls and plastics—as exemplified in the pendants and earrings resembling flowers and beetles in the Bye Bye Birdie collection.
Discovering new possibilities of the performative qualities of contemporary design, the Virus collection marks a new chapter in the work of Pošta and Vacek. Inspired by the natural processes and substance of every virus and their ability to take hold of their victims and spread, they have created process-based jewelry using simple chemical reactions. Their instrument was the crystallization of alum, which was grown on raw ropes to create natural crystal structures. The upshot is an unorthodox connection of materials with natural and creative art processes.
The elegant collection, which was awarded the main prize at the annual Czech Grand Design Awards, is characterized by a beauty that seems both brutal and fragile.
Zorya’s collections range between $400-$1,000USD and are available at selected retailers in the Czech Republic, as well as at Charon Kransen Arts in NYC.
UK designer Michael Antrobus has created a corkscrew and bottle opener by making just a few twists in flat stainless steel bars.
On sale at the MAK Design Shop in Vienna, each product is held in place with just a single weld.
Ground Barware is an extension of the stationery set he created while studying at Kingston University in 2009 (see our earlier story) which aimed to find domestic applications for products of the British steel industry.
Photographs are by Verena Melgarejo.
Here are some more details from Antrobus:
Ground objects are the outcome of a hands on material lead design process, characterised by experimentation and reduction. The result of working exclusively with flat steel using simple jigs and press tools. The bottle opener and corkscrew are the first objects from a wider continuation of the Ground series which began with a collection of stationery.
Each object is formed from a single length of 4000 Series Stainless Steel. First, a common tool is used to twist sections of each rectangular blank 180 degrees. A single twist forms a handle for the corkscrew and two opposing twists at the apex of the handle add the functional characteristic of the bottle opener. After twisting the blanks are taken to a fly press where radial bends are added. Once compete and correctly aligned the form of each object is secured with the application of a single precise weld, the weld is ground flush, before the objects are brushed to a matt finish.
Corkscrew: 110mm x 110mm
Bottle opener:195mm x 50mm
Our look at the illusory works found at Art Basel and the surrounding fairs
Many themes emerged from the various galleries converged in Miami for Art Basel and the surrounding fairs this year, but unsurprisingly the one that stood out the loudest among the crew from Cool Hunting was work that played visual tricks on the viewer. Whether eluding us with clever technology techniques or purely an abstract form of painting, below are the pieces that grabbed our attention through some element of subterfuge.
Hans Kotter‘s 2011 “Tunnel View” series features LED lights between plexiglass, which are amplified by a metal mirror. The two mind-bending works featured here were on view through Priveekollektie at Art Miami.
Anish Kapoor dazzled the crowd with his stainless steel “Untitled” 2011 work, on view through Lisson Gallery at Art Basel.
“Lover’s Quarrel” is the work of media artist James Clar. At first glance the piece appears to only say the word “leave” but further inspection reveals the subliminal “don’t” behind it. The playful lighting installation was on view at Blythe Projects at Pulse.
Two different 2011 works that are less smoke-and-mirrors but equally entrancing are Michael Eastman‘s “M1” (at Barry Friedman at Art Miami) and Karen Gunderson‘s “Divergent Sea” (at Waterhouse & Dodd at Scope).
Eastman used simply a wide-angle lens and pushed the depth of field to create this image, which seems like it would have physical depth but is really just a trick of the eye. Gunderson’s paintings of water also challenge the eye’s understanding of space, but through her detailed brush strokes. Depending on the position of the viewer and the angle of the light refraction, the water seemingly moves like nature intended.
Also on view through Waterhouse & Dodd, Patrick Hughes‘ 2008 work called “Sea City” is arguably the most staggeringly trippy piece we saw. This oil and photographic collage toys with the mind through “reverspective”—a concept he created in which the portion of the picture that appears furthest away is physically the nearest, painted on protruding blocks.
Have a look at our rough cut video above for a full realization of how delightfully confusing his works really are.
Known for his unusual approach to currency, Mark Wagner‘s 2011 work “Gale Bills” puts real money on wood panels. Twisted to a perfectly odd degree, the latest from Wagner was on view through Pavel Zoubok Gallery at Pulse.
Julian Opie‘s computer animated sculptures were on view at a few galleries, but we first took notice of these optical illusions at Scope, where the various works of people walking took us by surprise as we moved around the corner where they were hung at Gallery Biba.
Mia Rosenthal exhibited several new pieces that demonstrate her adept talent for sneaking graphic design symbols into her fine art works. The Philadelphia-based artist aptly showed through Gallery Joe, on view at Pulse.
Contributions from Josh Rubin, karen Day and Jonah Samson
Belgian practice MDW Architecture has completed a residential complex in Brussels using industrial materials that reference the site’s former use as a scrap metal dealership (photos by Julien Lanoo).
An apartment building and terrace containing three maisonettes are clad in galvanised steel sheeting normally found in factories and warehouses.
The original street front has been maintained and a layer of steel mesh added for protection and for climbing plants to grow on.
The homes are arranged around a central courtyard with meeting and play areas for the residents.
Wood is used for the terraces, benches and window frames to soften the industrial aesthetic.
Apartments at the front of the site are raised to improve light quality, with parking incorporated underneath.
More photography by Julien Lanoo on Dezeen »
The following text is from the architects:
Residential complex Le Lorrain, Brussels – Belgium
Renovation of the former Brumétal dealer of old iron into a social housing complex composed of a 4-flat building connected by a large common open space to 3 maisonettes at the rear of the site.
Urban scale
This residential beacon project for the district contract « Maritime » consists in clearing and opening up the interior of the plot that was entirely built and making this portion of the street “breathe” thanks to a wide opening. It aims at giving the neighbourhood a new spring through a both strong and suitable contemporary architectural and urban intervention that benefits the community while keeping a trace of the industrial past of the neighbourhood.
Architectural design
The general design reflects a contemporary approach based on the genius loci and on the requirements from the program. It includes different typologies of accommodations: simplex, duplex and triplex from 2 to 4 bedrooms and organised in one apartment building and 3 terrace houses at the rear of the site. Architectural and environmental quality is privileged.
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Because the site was tightly enclosed by high party walls it was decided to clear the interior of the plot and to raise the maisonettes in order to maximise the amount of light captured and to take advantage of the best sunlight. This also allowed to accommodate a garage at street level and to avoid a total depollution of the site.
Click above for larger image
On the street front, the apartments have been raised and pushed back to create a first visual sequence between the road and the complex. By lowering the eastern party wall the oppressing feeling of the interior of the plot is reduced and more light penetrates into the interior of the plot.
A large circulation area is carved within the site and creates a wide meeting and playing area for residents. Each house also features a private garden and a recessed entrance to put some distance between the front door and the public space.
Materials
The existing street front has been kept and it dialogues with the apartments through the volumes and the bridges/terraces. Hot dip galvanised steel fencing fixed to the old façade creates a vandal-proof filter between the street and the internal space and serves as support for creeping plants.
The buildings are clad with grey metallic sheets whose aspect reminds of the industrial character of the plot. A light alternation of their shade and treatment reinforces the volumes: In particular, hot dip galvanised steel sheets identify the distribution and circulation functions.
The choice of internal and external materials is induced by the necessity of robustness and durability, but warm wooden elements are used for contrast in more tactile areas like doors, windows, railings, terraces or benches.
Another important element of the architectural composition is the vegetation: creeping plants along the street font and the party walls, planted common space that includes a tree, private gardens and green roofs.
Project information:
Client : Commune de Molenbeek-St-Jean (public)
Team : MDW ARCHITECTURE, Waterman TCA (Structural Engineer), MK Engineering (M&E Engineer)
Dates : 2009-2011 Surface : 835 m2
Budget : 1.5M €
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