Transmaterial » furnishings

Digital Dawn

Blaine Brownell — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 14:00:46 +0000

Designed by Rachel Wingfield, Digital Dawn is a textile that responds to environmental stimuli. Digital Dawn functions as a traditional window blind with a reactive surface that is in constant flux, growing in luminosity in response to its surroundings.

Wingfield intended Digital Dawn to emulate the process of photosynthesis using electroluminescent printing technology. Light-dependent sensors monitor the changing light levels within a space, triggering the growth of the organic foliage on the blind. A natural environment will appear to grow on the window surface, exploring how changing light levels within a space can have profound and physiological impact on our sense of well-being.

Contact: Loop.pH Ltd & Elumin8, London, UK.
Find more information in Transmaterial.

It

Blaine Brownell — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 14:00:25 +0000

Jakob + MacFarlane, the Paris-based architects known for their Georges Restaurant at the top of the Centre Pompidou, have designed a form of seating called “It” which is inspired by organic structures. Made from hand-shaped and fire-lacquered resins with a high-gloss finish, It seating has a complex curvilinear form which is perforated with nearly spherical voids for lightness and rigidity.

Contact: Sawaya & Moroni, Milan, Italy.
Find more information in Transmaterial.

Parametre

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 15:00:07 +0000

Parametre is a lightweight, expandable 3D textile system designed to deliver visual impact with minimal material. Made of 100% non-woven polyester, this flexible textile can be used in a variety of residential or commercial applications in which a rich visual texture is required. Parametre may be used as a solar shading device, space divider, light diffusion panel, or screen for rapidly reconfigurable spaces.

Contact: 3form, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Woven Horsehair

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:00:47 +0000

Marianne Kemp develops woven textiles out of unconventional combinations of materials. Using small bunches of horsehair interwoven with linen or cotton, Kemp creates curious fabrics in diverse colors and textures. The horsehair is sourced from live horses overseas, mainly from Mongolia. In the weaving process, Kemp manipulates the bunches through knotting, curling, and looping. Each final weaving expresses the unique shine, texture, and flexibility of the horsehair fiber.

Kemp explains, “I’m fascinated by the movement of the weavings, how the horsehair is manifest in the net of the weaving technique. Also, the way the light falls on the weaving plays an important role in the process. Each piece of work has its own unique character.”

Contact: Marianne Kemp, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Flowerfall

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:00:19 +0000

Michelle Brand designed Flowerfall specifically to address our ever-growing amount of plastic thrown away each year. Flowerfall is an eco-contemporary “curtain” made of the bases of discarded PET bottles and articulated tagger ties, the plastic ties typically used to connect a price tag to an item. In her construction of the soft screens, Brand pays great attention to minimizing processing, and uses no melting, reforming, or molds in her handmade fabrication process. Flowerfall celebrates both form and function in sculptural installations that are decorative without being overly fussy. The material has an unexpected softening quality that can counter hard surfaces or spaces, and its translucent properties harness and filter light in dramatic ways.

Contact: Michelle Brand, UK.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Based Upon Surfaces

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 14:00:22 +0000

Based Upon has developed a series of multi-layered textured surfaces in metals, resins, and lacquers that are available to be specified as surface finishes within architectural and interiors projects. Taking inspiration from elements as diverse as stingray skin, laburnum leaves, or the fine lines within a human hand, Based Upon has conjured a rich and varied collection of surface features using construction-ready materials.

Based Upon Surfaces may be hung like wall paintings, although they are often used to create detailed feature walls or monolithic furniture pieces. The surfaces also make visually-stimulating ceilings or hardwearing metal floors that subtly evolve over time.

Working the metal from a liquid to a solid state, Based Upon plays with the changing state of the material, and experiments with the way the liquid metal dries, drips or settles upon a surface. The finishing process is careful, considered, and intricate. Sanding and polishing excavates the metal from beneath the earth-like surface that forms, allowing the application of traditional metal techniques.

Contact: Based Upon, London, UK.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Delight Cloth

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:00:14 +0000

Delight Cloth is a light-emitting textile comprised of thousands of fiber optic strands. With a diameter of only 0.25 to 0.5 mm, the optical fibers are woven into a large translucent tapestry that can be hung vertically or horizontally. The material may be used for wall or ceiling treatments, as well as banner signage or clothing. Delight Cloth can be fabricated with imbedded graphics or logos, and may be used to emit a wide variety of colors of light.

Japan-based Tsuya textile Co., Ltd. developed “The cloth fiber cross which glittered” in cooperation with Fukui engineering center.

Contact: Lumen Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Living Surfaces

Blaine Brownell — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:00:54 +0000

With the aim of developing interactive environments, Gianfranco Barban and Gregg Brodarick of B.lab have created a series of tabletop surfaces and floor tiles, which are made of layers of plastic sheets encapsulating nontoxic liquids. These liquids move and bubble in various ways based on touch, depicting constantly changing patterns.

The bichromatic floor tiles generate colorful forms in continuous evolution, so walking on the tiles leaves a trail of footprints. These tiles are comprised of two shock resistant layers of PVC, and the upper layer is treated with a nonslip surface. Welded together, the layers create a rigid tile.

Contact: B.lab Italia, Gallarate, Italy.
Find more information in Transmaterial.

Give Back Curtain

Blaine Brownell — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:00:51 +0000

The Give Back Curtain is part of a series of techno-fabric designs that rethink the traditional and modern applications of portable fabric screens. The Give Back Curtain gives a pliable fabric matrix the capacity to illuminate, define space dynamically over time, and provide a portable form of privacy without partitions.

The Give Back Curtain recycles light through a fabrication process that integrates photo-luminescent pigments in synthetic or natural fibers. Light of a shorter wavelength, such as sunlight or fluorescent light, is absorbed by the fabric, retained, and then released as visible light emitted within another part of the color spectrum.

Contact: Sheila Kennedy with Sheetal Khanna-Ravitch, Boston, MA, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial.

Dune

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:00:01 +0000

The Dune Project projects a vision of a techno-centric nature and its creative application within public space. Viewers look at, walk around, and interact with a large, undulating field of light-emitting tubes.

Designed by Studio Roosegaarde, Dune is an interactive landscape which responds to the location and behavior of people. This natural-technological hybrid is represented by large numbers of fibers that are brightened according to the sound and motion of passing visitors. Studio Roosegaarde completed a recent installation of Dune which is 40 meters long and filled with interactive lights and sounds.

Contact: Studio Roosegaarde, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.