Design  

The iconic American industrial designer, Niels Diffrient has passed away at the age of 84.  Diffrient will be remembered for his bringing ergonomics to the fore in design and for his famous Freedom Chair.

N iels Diffrient was a pioneer of ergonomic design -- taking the radical approach of examining the human body as it interacts with furniture, and asking, Is there a better way to sit?

The iconic American designer has passed away at the age of 84.

 Design  

Carl de Smet has developed a concept for self-assembling furniture that’s just as cool to watch. Once removed from the box, his block of smart foam quickly unfolds and stretches into a perfectly useable chair.

The armchair up top was created Belgian designer Carl de Smet. The furniture is made of a smart polymer that "remembers" its shape, even after being compressed down into a tiny little box.

The technology arrives at a dynamic moment in materials design. With 3D printing becoming affordable enough to use for more than just prototypes, other designers, entrepreneurs, and researchers are either reviving older techniques that the 3D printing craze has overshadowed or introducing even newer concepts, like 4D Printing another smart materials concept rolled out at TED last month.
The trick to the polymer's shape-memory is heat, which de Smet demonstrates in the BBC video below by warming the material to 158 degrees Fahrenheit. "The material is the mechanism," he says. "Finally, the material is doing the work."—


SOURCE  Fast Company Co.Exist

By kree8tiv

Subscribe to kree8tiv

 Alexander Lervik  

One of the top designers in Sweden has a new limited-edition chair inspired by a rainy trip to the Philippines   Alexander Lervik's Spike Chair is as mush about sculpture as it is about seating.

Alexander Lervik is one of Sweden's most well known designers, collaborating with a number of national and international producers, including Moroso, Dark and Johansson Design.

Though his main focus is lighting, furniture and product design, he also creates concepts for hotel and restaurant interiors and collaborate with fashion brands. Throughout the years, Lervik has received a number of awards, amongst them Best of The Best at 100% Design, +1 Best in show at Stockholm Furniture fair, Utmärkt Svensk Form and the prestigious award Design S. he is represented at Nasjonalmuseum in Oslo, Nationalmuseum in Stockholm and the design museum Rhösska in Gothenburg, Sweden. —

Lervik's Spike chair is unique in shape. The seat and seat back are fashioned from a number of rods, like a bed of nails, which collectively mimic the curve of a body. The base of the chair is made of tubular steel, welded together with a three-millimetre steel base plate. The upper section is made of turned ash components.