April 11, 2011

3D printed chair by Bram Geenen designed using the same methods as the Sagrada Familia

Filed under: Design by Branko Collin @ 10:14 am

Writes Bram Geenen:

Designed using the same methods […] Antoni Gaudi [used], who made models of hanging chains [which, when viewed] upside down, showed him the strongest shapes for his churches. […] The chain models […] combined with a software script are used to generate the structure of the ribs. This is necessary because of the complexity of the forces in a chair’s backrest.

This video shows you what this means:

The chair can be bought from its printer, Amsterdam-based Freedom of Creation, who have over ten years experience with 3D printing. The measly sum of 15,977 euro, making the chair not as cheap as a CatCase, will ensure this treasure becomes yours. Not a word on whether you get complimentary new car smell with that order.

(Link: Bright. Photo: Studio Geenen. Video: Vimeo / Studio Geenen.)

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April 9, 2011

Store your books and cats in the same place: CatCase

Filed under: Animals,Design by Branko Collin @ 12:38 pm

This mixed bookcase and moggy palace called CatCase is sold by UrbanCatDesign (CamelCase) for 1250 euro. For that price you get Dutch design, MDF, and a choice of carpet colours.

(Link: Bright. Photo: UrbanCatDesign.)

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February 2, 2011

Bench follows the shape of the branch it was made with

Filed under: Design by Branko Collin @ 8:52 am

Brench? Banch? Be your inner Mowgli without falling out of a tree.

Or as creator Floris Wubben writes, all business like:

This bench is made of polypropylene, wood and lacquered metal. The wavy polypropylene is attached to the wooden branch with metal rods. As a consequence, the shape of the polypropylene is given by the shape of the branch.

There’s also a video explaining how to sit on it. It’s not clear whether his designs are actually being produced.

Link: Floris Wubben, no. 3 bench. Photo: Floris Wubben. Via a BoingBoing story about Wubben’s willow stool.

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November 19, 2010

Folding an envelope into a chair

Filed under: Design,Sustainability by Orangemaster @ 1:13 pm

If you like innovative Dutch design that saves space and looks cool, you have to check out the Flux Chair. Imagine stacking 77 chairs in no more than a one metre space, with one chair taking 10 seconds to unfold. The Flux Chair has just hit the market, comes in a variety of nice colours and has been throuroughly tested for up to 160 kg. Graduates from the Delft University of Technology, designers Douwe Jacobs and Tom Schouten have won awards for their innovative design.

Watch the trendy video on how they do the unfolding and folding it back.

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July 4, 2010

Paper pulp cabinets by Debbie Wijskamp

Filed under: Art,Sustainability by Branko Collin @ 1:04 pm

Not only the cabinets shown here were made out of paper pulp by Debbie Wijskamp, but also the assorted ‘crockery’ on the shelves.

The colour of the vases and plates is determined by the amount of ink there was in the newspapers Wijskamp recycled for this project.

The 2009 Artez graduate writes on her website: “Experimenting with the re-use of wastepaper resulted in a material with its own characteristic appearance and structure. As well, it is a very versatile material with many possible applications.”

(Link: Bright. Photo: debbiewijskamp.com.)

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May 30, 2010

26 letter shaped chairs by Roeland Otten

Filed under: Art,Design by Branko Collin @ 12:19 pm

Designer Roeland Otten hopes to mass-market these alphabet chairs, writes Bright. He can see them being used by elementary schools.

The so-called ABChairs were made possible thanks to a grant by Fonds BKVB, the rich government sugar daddy for the visual arts. Otten, a 1999 Design Academy Eindhoven graduate, calls the Naked Alphabet by his teacher Anthon Beeke an inspiration. He is looking for a manufacturer to help him mass produce the chairs in plastic.

Unfortunately Otten uses one of them newfangled and unlinkable Flash sites instead of a real website, I would have linked to his work earlier if he had not. If you go there, see under “recent stuff / transformatie-transformatorhuisje” how he let an ugly electrical substation disappear from his Rotterdam neighbourhood.

(Photo: Roeland Otten.)

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May 17, 2010

Rocking chair meets cradle

Filed under: Design by Branko Collin @ 1:14 am

The Rockid is a combination of a rocking chair and cradle by Ontwerpduo (‘design duo’). This isn’t apparently a new idea, as it is based on the so-called nanny rocker.

According to Bright, one of Ontwerpduo’s happiest customers is the duo’s daughter, Jasmijn. The Rockid can be had with a separate sideboard, for when the cradle is no longer needed, and can be had for 850 euro.

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August 31, 2009

Robots made from sturdy stackable storage boxes

Filed under: Design by Branko Collin @ 8:39 am

Guus Oosterbaan, a Dutch designer living in Denmark, is looking for somebody to take these boxes into production for him.

The boxes can be used to store all kinds of things, and when stacked can be combined into huge toy robots. On his blog, Oosterbaan says that his “kids find it very amusing to build robots that are much taller than them and then knock them over while shouting superhero stuff.”

(Link: Bright.nl. Photos: Guus Oosterbaan.)

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April 30, 2009

Tilburg to give 1.5 ton park bench to Changzhou, China

Filed under: Design by Branko Collin @ 9:30 am

When mayor Vreeman of Tilburg goes to Changzhou in China next September, he will present the sister-city with a so-called Socialsofa, reports Brabants Dagblad (Dutch). The Social Sofa is an invention by local comedian Karin Bruers who wants the outdoors to be a place where people talk to each other again.

Meanwhile real Tilburgers shun the English, marketing-friendly name and call the thing ‘benkske’ (little bench).

The Socialsofa is made of concrete, weighs about 1,550 kilo, and can be illustrated using paints or tiles. The bench in the photo is one of eight placed in The Hague in October last year.

(Photo by FaceMePLS, some rights reserved. Design of this bench’s mosaic by Wouter Stips. The text reads “If You Love I Hope It’s Me.”)

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February 28, 2009

New designs for Amsterdam’s Vondelpark

Filed under: Design,Nature by Orangemaster @ 3:05 pm

vondelpark-furniture-by-anouk-vogel-and-johan-selbing-4jpg

Landscape architect Anouk Vogel and architect Johan Selbing have won a competition to design new lighting and furniture for the Vondelpark in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Their winning entry, called Vondel Verses, includes designs for a kiosk, a park bench and a lamp post. Each design contains a different organic motif such as birds in the frame of the bench. The furniture is made from cast iron and painted black. The concept will be extended to other items, such as drinking fountains, signposts and litter bins, and will gradually replace existing furniture in the park from 2010 onwards.

(Link: dezeen.com)

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