bigben design blog by susanna legrenzi

Passport. Why Design Now, Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York, fino allo 09.01.2010.

100 words. Quarta edizione della triennale del design per il museo newyorchese. Dividendo il terreno della progettazione per macro temi, i curatori in carica al museo, llen Lupton, Cara McCarty, Matilda McQuaid e Cynthia Smith hanno fatto ricerca tra 2006-2009. Interessante la sezione Simplicity, di cui anticipiamo un estratto.

More from Cooper Hewitt Museum.

Angle chopsticks, CarryOn collection, and InOut pitcher. Manufactured by Mater. Designed France, Denmark, and United States, produced Vietnam and China, 2007–8. Courtesy of manufacturer. Based in Denmark, Mater is a home-accessories company that supports traditional crafts, local economies, and natural materials. Mater is a member of the United Nations Global Compact, an independently audited framework that helps businesses align their practices with universal values in areas such as human rights, labor, and the environment. By applying creative thinking and ethical standards to product design and manufacturing, Mater seeks to leverage business to engender a more sustainable and inclusive global economy. Mater worked with French designer Aurélien Barbry to introduce the Angle chopsticks, ergonomic bamboo implements inspired by Japanese oki table settings. The InOut pitcher, designed by American designer Todd Bracher, has a minimal barrel form and a beak-like spout. Bracher made the pitcher white in order to avoid using dye and employed a rough finish to avoid the use of potentially toxic glazes. Danish designer Jakob Wagner created Mater’s CarryOn collection, a set of white porcelain bowls and plates fitted with nesting bamboo cutting boards for informal dining and serving. Like the InOut pitcher, the CarryOn collection employs white porcelain with a rough finish to protect workers and the environment. All three products are created by skilled craftspeople in small factories and workshops in Vietnam and China.

Pluralis chair. Cecilie Manz (Danish, b. 1972). Manufactured by Mooment. Denmark, 2009. Oregon pine. Courtesy of manufacturer. Human beings are drawn to flat planes: we sit, sleep, and build on them; we work, eat, and drink at them. Cecilie Manz plays with the language of planes to expand the functionality of familiar objects, from tables and chairs to ladders and shelves. In her Pluralis chair, three staggered surfaces share legs, merging a cluster of furnishings into a single artifact: seat, stool, table, and step. Drawing on the tradition of minimalist art, the chair contemplates the nature of cubes, lines, and intersections. It is also supremely functional, offering a convenient place to sit with a child or set down a glass.

Ash Wood bed. Naoto Fukasawa (Japanese, b. 1956), Muji design team. Manufactured by Ryohin Keikaku Co. Ltd. Japan, 2009. Ash wood. Courtesy of Muji
Bedding (seersucker & double-loop stitch combination). Haruna Morita (Japanese, b. 1980), Muji design team. Manufactured by Ryohin Keikaku Co. Ltd. Japan, 2009. Cotton. Courtesy of Muji. Torch light. Yohei Kuwano (Japanese, b. 1980), Muji design team. Manufactured by Ryohin Keikaku Co. Ltd. Japan, 2007. Polycarbonate, LED. Courtesy of Muji. Muji, whose name means “no brand,” is a Japanese company that has become a global purveyor of low-cost, high-quality goods that respect the environment and express a low-key, functional point of view. Economy drives the Muji ethos. By seeking out simple methods of production and basic materials that are not excessively processed, the company creates objects that share a unified sensibility without professing to be stylish and of the moment. Looking at common needs such as lighting, sleep, storage, seating, and dining, Muji has created 7,500 objects suitable to urban living.

t.e. 83 hanging lamp. Christien Meindertsma (Dutch, b. 1980). Manufactured by Ropery Steenbergen for the t.e. collection. The Netherlands, 2009. Flax, porcelain, rubber. Courtesy of Thomas Eyck. Design producer Thomas Eyck commissioned Christien Meindertsma to create a series of products inspired by the traditional Dutch rope-making industry. Meindertsma conceived a rich line of objects using flax, a versatile fiber derived from a plant that grows plentifully in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. Collaborating with a master rope maker, she used flax harvested from a local Dutch farm to create simple objects for contemporary life. In a series of hanging lights, the rope maker wound strands of flax around the electrical supply cord, combining power delivery and functional support into a single element. The connecting pieces were created in a specialized wood-restoration shop. Other works include a stool that resembles a ball of string, a rug made from a bound length of rope, and a power cord wrapped with rope. Meinderstsma’s Flax collection is part of a family of products that Eyck is building in collaboration with contemporary designers, who are working with special materials and skilled craft workers to create limited series of objects.

Wasara tableware. Shinichiro Ogata (Japanese, b. 1969), Wasara Co. Ltd. Japan, 2008. Reed, bamboo, bagasse pulp. Courtesy of designer. The phrase “paper plate” usually conjures images of haste and waste, not spiritual enrichment and ecological awareness. The Wasara collection of disposable tableware speaks to traditional Japanese hospitality, which employs diverse plates and bowls to focus attention on individually prepared food items. Wasara’s serene, inventive forms enhance the sensual experience of dining while offering the convenience of disposability. Paper tableware must be made from virgin pulp, owing to the impurities in recycled material. The Wasara collection is made from a mix of reed pulp, bamboo, and bagasse, or sugarcane pulp. Bagasse is a waste product of the sugar-processing industry, while reed and bamboo are fast-growing, non-timber plants.