Hasta La Ideas

Vienna Design Week 2011: a rotating arm deposits spirals of quartz sand on the showroom floor at crystal company Lobmeyr in Vienna this week, thanks to Canadian designer Philippe Malouin.

The Time Elapsed installation moves in precise hypotrochoid patterns, gradually building up a ring of sand over the course of the week.

Resembling a scaled-up chandelier component, the intricate machine was manufactured by Lobmeyr’s craftsmen in Austria according to Malouin’s design, right down to the detailing of the screw heads.

Malouin collaborated with Lobmeyr as part of the Passionswege project, where Vienna Design Week commissions young designers to collaborate with traditional and highly skilled Viennese companies.

Lobmeyr have participated in Passionswege every year, collaborating with Mark Braun, Claesson Koivisto Rune and Maxim Velčovský in past years.

Vienna Design Week continues until 9 October. See all our stories about the event here.

See all our stories about Malouin’s work, including our own offices, here.

Here are some more details from Malouin:

Time is a quality that makes Lobmeyr so special.

Not only do their glass objects posses timeless designs, independent of changing fashions, but the calibre of the crystal itself means they stand the test of time. Great investments of time are taken in producing and decorating the crystalware, up to 100 hours for a single object, and this investment differentiates Lobmeyr from other glass manufacturers. We have used the theme of time here to illustrate how unique Lobmeyr is.

The flow of sand through an hourglass is traditionally used to keep track of elapsed time. It is also physical representation of the fine line between the past and the future. Through the machine in this room, the deposition of sand forms not minutes and hours on a clock face but abstract and changing patterns, illustrating the link between time and decoration. The sand also holds a physical connection with Lobmeyr, since it is the raw material from which the crystal is created.

See also:

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The Hourglass by Marc Newson for Ikepod	Night Night by Vanessa Hordies	Sand by Yukihiro Kaneuchi