Transmaterial

Friday, April 11, 2008

Lumi-Line

The depth of designer Kazuko Akamatsu’s Lumi-Line tabletop is only 1/8 inches (.3 centimeters), thanks to engineering ingenuity and a synergistic combination of materials. Akamatsu adhered bundled fiberglass threads to a nonstructural, translucent plastic sheet with a translucent liquid glue. The pattern of the reinforcing “strings” is not random, but rather the result of a structural study to determine how to construct the thinnest tabletop possible. The table surface, reinforcing, and legs all act together as one system in order to resist loads and allow the legs to be placed away from “expected” locations.

While Lumi-Line allows light to pass through its milky surface by day, it assumes an entirely different character at night. Akamatsu imbued the fiber strands with phosphorescence, thus rendering the strings as sharp glowing lines floating midair in the dark. [Contact: CAt, Tokyo, Japan.]

Labels: 12, light, plastic, recombinant, table

Friday, November 30, 2007

Topo Table

TOPO is a series of Corian tables with built-in reconfigurable landscapes. Plastic inserts drop into the table to create functional topographies. TOPO uses rapid-prototyping technology in a way that enables each table to be different, and customers color in the areas where they want inserts placed in the finished product. These inserts sit in the holes and can be swapped out and rearranged. The little hills and valleys are made of plastic that is formed over real rocks. When not in use, these functional land forms invert to become sculptural mountains. According to designer Scott Franklin, “We spend a lot of time sitting at tables, so it’s nice to have some basil planted nearby.” [Contact: NONdesigns, LLC, Los Angeles, CA.]

Labels: 06, landscape, multidimensional, plants, plastic, table