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É daquelas coisas... Primeiro estranha-se depois entranha-se! :)

100 Chairs in 100 Days_by Martino Gamper

This project involves systematically collecting discarded chairs from London streets (or more frequently, friends’ homes) over a period of about roughly two years, then spending 100 days to reconfiguring the design of each one in an attempt to transform its character and/or the way it functions. My intention is to investigate the potential for creating useful new designs by blending together stylistic or structural elements of existing chair types. I see this as a chance to create a ‘three-dimensional sketchbook’, a set of playful yet thought-provoking designs that, due to the time constraint, are put together with a minimum of analysis. As well as possibly making one or more designs that might be suitable for mass production, I intend to question the idea of there being an innate superiority in the one-off, to use this mongrel morphology to demonstrate the difficulty of any particular design being objectively judged ‘the best’. I hope that my chairs illustrate – and celebrate – the geographical, historical and human resonance of design: what can they tell us about London, the sociological context of seating from different areas, and the people who owned each one? The stories behind the chairs are as important as their style or even their function.

The project suggests a new way to stimulate design thinking, and provokes debate about a number of issues, including value, different types of functionality and what is an appropriate style for certain types of chair – for example, what happens to the status and potential of a plastic garden chair (conventionally located slap bang in the idiom of unremarkable functionality) when it is upholstered with luxurious brown suede? In essence, this exercise champions a certain elasticity of approach – both in terms in highlighting the importance of the sociological/personal/geographical/historical context of design, and in enabling the creative potential of elements of randomness and spontaneity to be brought to the fore.-

Words: Courtesy of Martino Gamper
Individual Chair images: Åbäke and Martino Gamper
Exhibition images: Angus Mill

I´m in Love!

Quero Muito Muito Muito estas botas! Exactamente ESTAS! Agora só falta descobrir onde as arranjo... :(

Plumage_by Kevin Chupik

Plumage by Kevin Chupik

"My current body of work entitled, "Plumage" has been dominated by the presence of both women and birds. Avian and human figurative elements are set within a divided picture plane format. Each composition suggests a dialogue between colorfully patterned male bird bodies and it's corresponding female visage.The pairings become metaphorical embodiments within the dynamics of emotion, thought and attraction. A staggering amount of painted dots and dashes are individually applied to create strangely congruent associations amongst these disparate forms. Color and composition continue to remain strong underpinnings for each piece. The intricate nature of this process demands lengthy studio time, with larger works taking 300-400 hours to complete. I continue to enjoy the poetic potential that this imagery suggests, as new pairings are discovered."-

Words and images: Courtesy of Kevin Chupik

Youth Centre Amsterdam_by Atelier Kempe Thill

In the garden city: Osdorp grew during the extension of the city of Amsterdam after the Second World War on the basis of the urban plan of De Stijl – architect Cornelis van Eesteren. Since the nineties, a large urban renewal project is in progress in which the poorly maintained buildings are subsequently demolished and are replaced by new ones. An attempt is made to eliminate the urban problems of the CIAM planning while nevertheless maintaining its qualities. One of these qualities is the green, lush areas between the building blocks.

In 2005, Atelier Kempe Thill won an invited competition to construct within such an area of the „Reimerswaalbuurt“ a small youth- and neighbourhood centre. The task was to integrate the small building as carefully as possible in the existing tree population, to keep enough distance to the adjacent building blocks and to design a monumental, polydirectional and well visible free-standing building.

Two room types: The realized building consists of the simple stacking of two – diametrically opposed – concepts of space. The ground floor level is designed as a flat sandwich-space, which opens up completely to the surroundings thanks to the glazing on all sides. The public green with its dominated tree canopy becomes part of the interior and generously extends the small space to the outside. This effect is enhanced by the modest interior design and the greyish colour scheme. Used as a „public living room“ of the neighbourhood, activities on the inside are well visible and stimulate the direct interaction with the public space.

On the upper floor is the Community Hall. In order to realise the desired multi-functionality and neutrality, it has a fully closed façade and forms a hermetic and introspective space. Its desired, very neutral appearance is offset by its generous ceiling height and two skylights that illuminated the space naturally. The room is deliberately kept modest with whitish colours in order to maximize the effect of the skylights on the interior. With this, the hall is given a very specific character without limiting its multi-functionality.

The combination of these two room types, the open and closed space, determines the appearance and character of the building. From the outside, this is directly visible and dominates the design of the façade. On the inside, the contrast between the two room constellations determines the perception and surprises, as the fully enclosed room is much brighter than the fully opened.

Cheap-tech: As usual in these projects, the available construction budget was very low. In order to realise a spatially appealing building within this framework, it was necessary to apply a variety of very cost-efficient construction methods.

Like a cheap industrial compound, the building is made of a steel frame structure with a wall infill of sand-lime brick. All technical installations are integrated in the walls and the floors, so no lowered ceilings where necessary, which contributes to higher rooms. The glass facade is made from an inexpensive all-glass system, which uses large glass pannels up to 5 meters in length, clamped only on two sides with a 5cm high steel profile. The structural glazing doors were specifically designed for this project. A polyurethane spray system was applied for the closed part of the façade that normally is used in the insulation of oil tanks and pig shed. The insulation is sprayed onto the sand-lime brick in liquid form and froths up on-site. Then, the very rough surface is finished with an UV protective coating. The appearance of the exterior façade is essentially derived by the creative tension between the two systems; on the extremely smooth, transparent and reflective glass base rests a rough and scale-less polyurethane box.

The interior is governed by a similar economic and creative approach. The slightly rough concrete floor is only coated with a layer of polyurethane; the ceiling is covered with an acoustic spray plaster. Contrarily to this, large reflective interior glazing, smooth industrial lights and two elegant steel staircases were installed. -

Words: Courtesy of Atelier Kempe Thill
Photos: Ulrich Schwarz

 

So Loving Relationships

L´amité… Arrive dans formes trés Différentes