Hasta La Ideas

pimg alt=”MF_Detroit_Round_460.jpg” src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/MF_Detroit_Round_460.jpg” width=”460″ height=”460″ class=”mt-image-center” style=”text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;” //p

pa href=”http://makerfaire.com/detroit/2010/” target=”_blank”Maker Faire Detroit/a opens tomorrow [Saturday] – the first ever held in America’s cradle of industry and what many view today as a post-industrial laboratory for the future./p

pThe two day event will be packed with inspiration and enjoyment for people of all ages and walks of life, including Maker Faire favorite a href=”http://www.lifesizemousetrap.org/” target=”_blank”The Life-size Mousetrap/a, hot-rodded Power Wheel racing, demonstrations on everything from circuit-bending to screen printing, rocket building and cheese making, and lots of robots. Lots and lots of robots…/pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/events/maker_faire_detroit_is_here_17052.asp”(more…)/a
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Exquisite craftsmanship honors the Industrial Revolution in this luxury timepiece

by Meehna Goldsmith

Designed by complications maestro Christophe Claret, the Palace is the latest addition to the luxuriously retro watch line Jean Dunand. The timepiece, inspired by the dynamic Art Deco age (the company’s name references a famed artisan of the time period), embodies the spirit and style of the glamorously functional arts movement. Even the name is a shout-out to London’s Crystal Palace, which was built for the Great Exhibition of 1851 and set the stage for the era.

Sourced from a range of classically Jean Dunand geometric shapes, consistent with the Art Deco ideals of function, craftsmanship and the highest grade of materials, the watch also references imagery from two iconic films of the era—Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” and Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times”—each giving life to the machine and its tools.

The Palace’s movement takes aesthetic cues from the architecture
of the Eiffel Tower, with plates supported by tiny pillars to suggest the reinforcement of a
massive, cast-iron structure. From the profile, the watch even resembles the great tower’s base. But the Industrial Revolution and its fascination with mechanized function anchor the thematics of this timepiece. The eye wanders over a landscape of tracks, wheels and a chain, evocative of those used on the chain drives of vintage Indian and Vincent motorcycles.

Exhibiting his trademark mechanical virtuosity, Claret powers the Palace with a manually wound, one-minute flying tourbillon with a 72-hour power reserve.
True to the company’s motto, no two watches share the same materials or design, making each one a truly unique piece in the collection and helping to justify the $417,000 price tag. It’s available through select retailers around the world.

University of Lincoln graduate Sebastian Cox has made a range of furniture from unseasoned coppiced hazel wood.

Presented at New Designers in London earlier this month and entitled Products of Silviculture, the range consists of two chairs, a lamp and a hat stand.

The Suent Chair (above) has a steam-bent solid hazel frame and a seat made of woven green hazel, which can be replaced as it wears out.

The back and seat of the Kerf Chair (above) are made of sawn hazel branches joined to the frame without glue, so that the structure strengthens as it dries and shrinks.

The Rod Desk Lamp (above) has a stem made from a steam-bent hazel branch and a shade made of hazel fibres.

Here’s some more from the designer:

‘Products of Silviculture’

My work embodies a strong ethos of sustainability. For this project I have used coppiced hazel as my primary working material – a material that is strong, light, entirely renewable, and grows in abundance in the UK.

The challenge in this MA project was to find creative ways to utilise this material. To do this I combined my furniture making skills with the traditional methods used to manipulate green hazel, along with a bit of creative imagination.

I see a move to a more sustainable material culture possible in several ways – using environmentally benign materials; lower impact processes; and designing products that are durable, both physically and emotionally. During the design process, this final point of being durable became the overriding idea – essentially sustainable design should avoid landfill. To make products emotionally durable they must be engaging; providing a platform upon which a relationship with the product can be built. This collection was designed to achieve this with aesthetic interest in detailing within a simple form and each piece willingly accommodating wear or patina. Being lightweight, both aesthetically and structurally, and unobtrusive were also important within this ethos – visually and physically lowering the impact of each product.

This collection also aims to promote the use of hazel as a contemporary material – an abundant resource that, I feel, is hugely overlooked in this country.

‘Suent’ Superlight Chair

Steam bent hazel, woven hazel, lacquer finish.

This piece is designed to be visually and physically lightweight – weighing only 1.8kgs. The simple form is intended to make the chair unobtrusive, so it will ease into any interior space and will not be susceptible to premature disposal brought about by heavily style-led design. The frame is made from solid hazel that has been steam bent and shaped by hand, and is constructed using traditional mortise and tenon joints. The woven hazel seat gives detailed aesthetic interest and represents the traditional methods used for thousands of years to manipulate green wood. It has also been designed to be removable so it can be easily replaced with as it wears.

‘Kerf’ Chair

Machined hazel rods and poles, lacquer finish.

This chair is a demonstration of an interesting area of my research. It uses the same form as the Suent chair but shows a totally different process. The panels on the seat and back are made from sawn hazel rods and are assembled without glue, using the shrinkage of the green wood as it dries. The profile of the rods are still visible in the panels which gives the piece varied texture and aesthetic interest.

‘Rod’ Desk Lamp

Hazel rod, hazel fibres, copper core, LED bulb and components.

This piece was the result of a lengthy design process in which I was trying to find ways to make an adjustable lamp using limited materials and processes. The weight of the lamp shade tips forwards to grip onto the stem, simultaneously connecting the copper wire and illuminating the LED bulb. The stem is a steam bent rod, and the shade is made up of hazel fibres. All components are as standardised as possible so this piece can be easily repaired and the bulb is 12volt LED so there is no risk of electric shock or overheating.

See also:

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Unhidden by Leon Li and Ryan Ran	Vaisselier Système D by Matière A	More furniture stories

The CR cutting board has never seen the like

The final cut-out-and-make project from CR’s Bumper Summer Fun issue is perhaps the most challenging. But to prove it can be done, here’s our very own ‘Pinolta’ pinhole camera that we made earlier with some invaluable help from our intern Jasmin…

The Pinolta camera is one of several models you can make from Justin Quinell and Josh Buczynski’s Build Your Own Paper Cameras, published by Ilex Press (£12.99).

Justin and his publishers kindly let us include the instructions to create the Pinolta model in the new issue and also house downloadable templates for the camera on the CR website, along with notes on how to load and expose your film.

So all you need to make your own Pinolta is a copy of the Bumper Summer Fun issue, some A4 card (220 gsm recommended), a printer, a scalpel or scissors, some glue, a needle, an aluminium drinks can and two regular camera films. (The needle is used to make the tiny hole you need in your flattened square of aluminium).

Of course, the photographic fruits of our endeavours will be shared on the CR blog once we read up a bit on how to properly expose our film in a pinhole style. Suffice to say we’ll be taking our surprisingly sturdy Pinolta around the office and on to the streets of Soho early next week. So once we’re back from the chemists, expect a holiday slide show courtesy of CR!

Here’s a better look at Jasmin’s Pinolta, with the shutter closed…

…and – wait for it – open. The metal you can see is the “lens” of the camera which is made from a drinks can. The “pinhole” is in the centre of the lens and is easily made with a needle:

More details on the book, Build Your Own Paper Cameras, at ilex-press.com. Make sure you also check out pinholephotography.org for examples of the kinds of images you can make.

And we’d love to see any pictures you take with your Pinoltas, not to mention shots of your cameras too.

Reader Anonymous submitted the following to Ask Unclutterer:

I’ve started to notice how disorganized my office is … not my personal office, but the office as a whole.

Some examples:

1. Office supplies are disorganized, so no one knows where to find anything, which leads to ordering more of things we usually already have.
2. Our shared computer folders are a mess — everyone has their own systems which makes it hard to find anything unless you ask someone for it.
3. No one has cleared out the paper files for years. When people leave a position, their paper files (which the new person probably doesn’t need or has their own system) get shoved onto a shelf somewhere and pretty much never looked at again, but no one will get rid of them!

I’d like to find a way to help with these problems, but I’m struggling with it because it’s not really my job and I don’t want to step on any toes or take on additional work just because I’m the only one who brings it up.

Any suggestions? I’ve heard about some companies doing a 2x a year “office clean-up” day — I don’t know if my office will go for it, but I’m interested in hearing if others have experience with this method.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Anonymous, I think you could have entered your name as “Everyone,” seeing as most of the working world is in the same position you are. Companies waste so much money being disorganized in the exact ways you have mentioned. They’re doling out unnecessary dollars for wasted productivity, duplicate supply ordering, increased network storage, and offsite archival paper file storage. A little organizing and uncluttering could save companies thousands, but often these activities are seen as wasted time.

The first thing I suggest doing is documenting on a sheet of paper some of the troubled areas in your division or department. Don’t add commentary to the listed items, simply write notes like, “No inventory system on the office supply closet. Janet has two drawers of files she hasn’t opened in two years.” Then, track down your favorite human resources staff member and see if you can take him or her out for coffee or lunch.

During this casual meeting, talk about some of your concerns. Put greater emphasis on the positive benefits that result from a more organized workplace. Don’t complain or blame or bring up office politics — just focus on why you think uncluttering and organizing could save your company money and improve worker productivity. If all goes well, the issue will be pushed up the chain of command and eventually your HR department might make a twice-a-year organizing day a reality for the entire company. Every time I’ve worked with a company for such a project, I’m always contacted and contracted through the HR department, so my assumption is that this is how it would be handled at your company. If your organization is structured differently, go through whatever department is most likely to be responsible for planning such an event.

A few, rare and wonderful companies have regular organizing days. They’ll hire one or more professional organizers to come in and give a pep talk at the beginning of the day and then be on site to assist workers as tough questions arise. Some of these companies have organizing weeks if it’s the first time they’ve gone through the process. And, these uncluttering days usually help to build employee morale because everyone is working together to improve their place of employment. Happier, more organized, and more productive employees — I’m surprised all companies aren’t already doing it.

Regarding your specific examples, your office could save money by installing a more formalized inventory system for office supplies. Also, check out our tips for organizing a shared drive and the comments to the post for ideas on how to tame the data on your office network. Finally, before clearing out paper files (and there are lots of tips for how to do this in a corporate environment in Unclutter Your Life in One Week), talk with a lawyer. You might not be able to get rid of all of these documents based on whatever it is your company does.

Thank you, Anonymous, for submitting your question for our Ask Unclutterer column. Good luck!

Do you have a question relating to organizing, cleaning, home and office projects, productivity, or any problems you think the Unclutterer team could help you solve? To submit your questions to Ask Unclutterer, go to our contact page and type your question in the content field. Please list the subject of your e-mail as “Ask Unclutterer.” If you feel comfortable sharing images of the spaces that trouble you, let us know about them. The more information we have about your specific issue, the better.

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