Esquisse II

Between the folds

http://www.greenfusefilms.com/

Here is a link to a documentary i found.
It is about different artists and scientists who work with paper. There is also Robert Lang in it, who we saw in our last lecture. But unfortunately there is no screening of the movie in Australia.

Esquisse I

Marcel Wanders

Marcel Wanders (*1963) is a contemporary dutch designer.
He founded his own design office "Wanders Wonders" in 1995 which became the famous label "Moooi" in 2001. He also works with a lot of other companies like Moroso, Bisazza or Droog Design.
His first famous design was "Knotted Chair" in 1996. A chair made of carbon ropes, impregnated with epoxy and then hung upside down to get it's shape.
He uses a lot of old fashioned patterns and combines them with the latest technology.
The lamp "B.L.O." for example looks like a candle and can be switched on and off by blowing.

Frank O. Gehry

Frank O. Gehry (*1929) is a canadian architect and designer.
In the 70s he began to emerge his own style in architecture. He moved away from the conventional way of planning a building and created a more artistical way.
He begins his work with sketches and models that may look chaotic to other people.
But out of these sketches and models he and his team begin the constructive part of the work.
His architecture and designs look deconstructed and the buildings more like sculptures than buildings.

Verner Panton

Verner Panton (1926-1998) was a danish architect and designer. He began his career in Arne Jacobsen's office.
His first furniture designs in the 50s looked very typical for this time but he soon developed his own style.
The improvement of plastic in the 60s made it possible to realize his designs. He created the first inflatable chair for example.
The colourful furniture and organic shapes fit into the 60s lifestyle and look more like sculptures.
He came up with the new idea of the abolition of traditional structures of a room with walls, ceilings and a floor. Instead he wanted to create one organic room.

Charles and Ray Eames

Charles Eames (1907-1978) started his career as an architect. He met his later wife Ray Kaiser (1912-1988) when he became her design teacher.
Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen developed together a new technique of wood moulding, that made it possible to form plywood into three dimensions.
During World War II they used this technique to produce splints, stretchers and parts for airplanes for the U.S. government.
The main idea of their furniture design was to find a form that perfectly fits to the human anatomy.
Therefore they were working with a lot of different materials.
In 1948 Eames joined a competition about low cost furniture. His original design made of metal was too expensive so he decided to work with fibre glass. At this time fibre glass was used for radar screens. This material made it possible to produce seats in one piece.
At the same time they used wire for their designs because you can also produce three dimensional one piece seats with it.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) was one of the most important architects of Modern Architecture.
He spent his early years in Berlin where he got influenced by Neoclassicism.
World War I changed his attitude towards architecture and similar to LeCorbusier he developed the idea of creating functional buildings.
He became famous for his so called "Skin and Bones"- architecture. Skin describes the glass facades and bones the steel pillars. He also came up with the idea of open ground plans.
He not only designed the buildings but also the furniture for most of it.
Because of the Naziregime he left Germany in the 30s and spent the rest of his life in the U.S.A. where he realized a lot of skyscrapers with glass facades.

Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier (1887-1965) was a french-swiss architect.
When he started his career, architecture and design in Europe were characterized by Art Deco.
In the beginning his style was influenced by that but soon he developed his own ideas on architecture and design.
Based on new movements in art like Kubism and new materials like reinforced concrete, his designs became more clear and strict.
His buildings were based on geometric forms like circles and ashlars.
Beeing an architect to him meant creating functional and economic buildings. Therefore he used reinforced concrete, steel and finished parts to realize his projects.
Also for his interior designs he u
sed these materials and mass produced articles.
He only did a few furniture designs but in these he also stuck with his ideas of purism and function.