Design is in

Dumper, designed by Sam Johnson

“We talk about design and sustainability.” This is how ten.blog describes its intention. Ten is a group of designers who have got together for the last three years to create products based on responsible design. The designers are Tomoko Azumi, Stephen Bretland, Carl Clerkin, Gitta Gschwendtner, Chris Jackson, Sam Johnson, Michael Marriott, Hector Serrano, Onkar Singh Kular and Nina Tolstrup. Last year’s collection wood is a series of practical, affordable, and sustainable objects for the home. 

One of the designers, Chris Jackson, was frustrated with the general low level of social awareness in the design industry. In 2005 he took a year off to research sustainable and ethical design. He came up with a project called ‘Ten’, where he grouped together ten London-based designers, and then asked them to source materials for new products within a 10 km radius of their homes, and within a budget of ten pounds each. 

Jackson feels this was a great chance for designers to get back to their most basic skill, ingenuity. More than aesthetics, the design of an object was dictated by its function, resulting in some pretty interesting outcomes. Constraints and limited resources produce fantastic pieces of design, often created by users and non-designers. 

Ethical living is one of the main issues Ten addresses. As Jackson explains, we now live in a use-and-throw society, people don’t think of repairing every day objects, but just replace them without a thought. It is this issue that these designers strive to resolve, which is apparent on each of their sites. They create, re-use products, and re-invent products. Their strong focus on functionality does not mean that aesthetic considerations suffer, in fact, far from it. Their products have instant likeability, and many have that ‘wow’ factor, besides being sustainable, affordable and usable. 

Some of the products I really liked were this wedge racer, designed by Gitta Gschwendtner, which also doubles up as a door-wedge, and can be enjoyed by adults and children.  

The extreme flexibility of Nina Tolstrup’s designs makes them ideal multi-purpose prodcuts. The 1 X 1 Trestles are pieces of wood that can form a range of interior objects, including lamps, a chair, a ruler, and hooks, all made in the same 1 x 1 wood sections. The 2-hanger utilizes the parts that generally go waste in manufacture, to create another unique product. The on/off alarm is the easiest thing to switch on and off, just tilt it one way or the other.

Do check out each designer’s site, as they all feature really some unique and intriguing products. 

By Armeen Kapadia

The Japanese architect, Shigeru Ban, believes that the strength of a building depends on the structure, and not necessarily the materials. The materials don’t have to be strong to ensure strength. He has constructed a paper bridge, and a pavilion from adhesive labels. 

The Artek pavilion was built in 2007 as part of an installation in Milan. The mobile exhibition space was commissioned by Finnish furniture company, Artek, and forest industry group/paper producer/wood materials manufacturer, UPM. In keeping with both companys’ philosophies, the structure had to be sustainable in form, function and material. Shigeru Ban was commissioned for the project, and the material used was an extruded wood plastic composite made primarily of recycled paper material, specifically recycled self-adhesive labels. He believes that any weak material can also be used to build a strong structure, as the strength lies in the design of the structure. The advantage of this material, as he explains, is that you can make any number of profiles out of it, for different parts of the building, such as an L-profile, square profile or a circular profile. 

The pavilion has corrugated roof and wall panels, and the sloping roofs ensure the run-off of rainwater. The design is highly modular, and the pavilion has been de-constructed and rebuilt several times since it was first built. The pavilion can move to many locations, for a variety of events. It is open on both ends, allowing for good ventilation and movement. Used self-adhesive labels are the main primary material of construction, and the building can be entirely recycled back to raw materials. 

Ban has also built a paper bridge in France, out of eco-friendly, lightweight materials. The steps are recycled paper and plastic and the foundations wooden boxes packed with sand, and the bridge is strong enough to hold 20 people at a time. The bridge was open to the public for six weeks, before being dismantled for the rainy season. 

As Ban says, each material has different advantages and disadvantages, and we have the choice, of which is the best one to use. He is not interested in decorative material, saying it is a superficial thing, and feels that if we design a beautiful structure, that is already a great decoration. Letting in natural light to create shadows, is the best decoration that architecture can give.

By Armeen Kapadia

P.S.: R.I.P., MJ.

Aldo Bakker's vinegar flask

Aldo Bakker, a product designer from the Netherlands, exhibited his tableware series in Milan. His philosophy would raise many questions on the very definition of design. According to him, design that is well thought out would turn out to be clear and sober. He believes that such an approach fails to show the character of things.

“To me, creation should be about beauty,” he says. Bakker believes that design, which is too rooted in concept does not produce the best shapes. He is one of the torchbearers of Dutch design. Also Kroog has, in a way, changed how we define contemporary Dutch design. Dutch designers are masters at elevating banal objects to preciousness. One of the products of Kroog that we really like is Milk Bottle Chandelier by Tejo Remi.

Autonomous design, a revolution in design, spearheaded by Kroog is contentious. Bakker aligns himself to the philosophy of autonomous design. No one has been able to define autonomous design in its entirety. Some define it as straight-forward, down-to-earth and witty design, while other see it as art. Some of the contemporary Dutch designs are now walking a thin line that separates art and design.

Bakker's tableware collection reaffirms the walk.  "I treasure this phenomenon of autonomous design," Bakker says. "It is crucial to reach new and original things." And when asked whether or not design can be art, he says, "My thinking and my products are somewhere in between. I like to stretch the limits of function to the point where one starts questioning and perhaps even developing new functions." His tries to place feelings in a creation. This way he is placing his designs alongside humanity and not alongside time.

The tableware collection includes a salt cellar, oil and vinegar flasks, oil platter, milk jug and water carafe. It is exquisitely produced by master craftsperson Frans Ottink. They are lyrical and when a human interacts with them, you may hear music too. “I wanted to make one object that had no additional pieces, like a lid,” he says. “But at the same time it had to be able to take care of the oil.”

Bakker's work summarizes autonomous design: following instincts and giving basic feelings a place inside things.

By Armeen Kapadia and Sanjay Basavaraju