Posts Tagged ‘industrial design’
Design for Repair: Teakettle Craft Project
Posted in Models, Research by Kate Archdeacon on August 11th, 2011
Source: Fast Company‘s Co.Design
Photos: Jean Baptiste Fastrez
From A Series Of Teakettles, Merges Craft and Mass Production by Belinda Lanks:
Like so many generic office towers, electric teakettles (standard in European households) soak up precious real estate without offering the slightest bit of aesthetic value. The Parisian designer Jean-Baptiste Fastrez wants to change that, by creating one-of-a-kind teakettles, with the help of artisans and a few mass-produced parts. For his “Variations Upon a Teakettle” project, Fastrez merged the industrial and handmade, combining standard-issue electric parts, which meet safety and heat regulations, with beautiful, artisan-crafted vessels. In his words: “In opposition to the industrial ideal (an object for all) is a more human and sustainable production: something for everyone.” The project is a touch profound — demonstrating how craftspeople can still add lasting value, despite all the trappings of modern production.
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If an electric teakettle can be assembled from off-the-shelf (OEM) heating elements as well as handmade vessels, then these separate components can be repaired or replaced if they are damaged or when the owner’s taste changes. That would be an enormous improvement on the current system, where mass-manufactured kettles are very difficult to repair and are usually thrown away. Kate A
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Reinventing Invention – A new way of looking at Industrial Design
Posted in Visions by Virginia on May 13th, 2009
Excerpt from March Issue of Metropolis. To view the article, please visit Metropolismag.
By Susan S. Szenasy
I’m having a wabi sabi moment. Thoughts of simplicity, tranquility, and balance envelop my senses even as I feel a lively intelligence hovering around me. I’ve escaped into Tadao Ando’s Suntory Museum, on Osaka’s carnivalesque waterfront, and I’m strolling through white interiors, looking at an array of famÂiliar objects. They tell a story about how inventive forms, in conjunction with material and technical innovation, can result in an iconic family of industrial designs.