“Human After All” – These Lamps Challenge Human Creativity by Removing All Manufacturing Robots/Machines

Posted on 03/07/2023 by Sarang Sheth

Ever tried to open a website only to be greeted by that odd message that has the audacity to ask you if you’re a human?? It’s funny how a computer has to determine my ‘human-ness’ (I wonder what a pain it must be for the Daft Punk folks), and it does raise some very meta questions – What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to ‘design’ as a human? And how much of our designs are actually human? Especially given how industrial our manufacturing setups are… Those are all important questions, even more so in the world of AI, where one’s humanity sort of gets lost in the fray. Designed as an antithesis to any form of mechanization or digitization, Jaro Kose’s “I am not a robot” series of lamps and lighting fixtures are entirely, 100% human-made. The lamps and lights are built using 3D printing filament… but without the 3D printer. Instead, Kose manually heats, melts, cuts, joins, and folds the plastic filament into the lamp shape, creating an oddly appealing wireframe with the kind of imperfections that add even more beauty and meaning to the lamps… because they were made with human minds and human hands.

Designer: Jaro Kose

What happens to the design process when you remove the automated aspects of it? That’s the question Amsterdam-based designer Jaro Kose found himself grappling with. Sure, the industrial revolution has helped transform artistry and craftsmanship into what we know as industrial design today… but how can we retain that ‘industrial design’ aspect without the machines that make it possible? Kose tried to go about the design process as normally as he could but decided to take a unique route when it came to manufacturing the designs. A route that involved zero automation and little to no machinery.

Kose built out his designs using 3D printer filament. Sure, you could say that plastic itself is industrially made, and the filaments are extruded using machines… but you’ve got to draw a line somewhere, right? Kose decided to use the filament, but not as it was intended. Most filaments are fed into 3D printers, which turn CAD models into physical prototypes by building plastic parts layer by layer. Kose’s approach didn’t rely on a CAD model OR a 3D printer. Instead, he cut, bent, melted, and joined the filaments by hand, using nothing but pliers, a blowtorch, protective gear, and human ingenuity.

Once the final form was made, Kose fed an LED bulb fixture in to complete the lamp. It would’ve been fun to actually use a filament bulb too (the incandescent ones), just to complete the filament metaphor, but that would generate too much heat and cause the plastic to melt. LEDs made for a perfect choice, bringing a unique charm to an already unique-looking series of lamps.

The beauty if the “I’m Not A Robot” lamps lies in their lack of precision, their imperfection, their human-ness. The lamps are made entirely using human effort and take painstakingly long to build. Kose’s made three variants, all in the style of antique Victorian-inspired lights. The two lamps are complemented by a rather brilliantly designed chandelier. The chandelier comes with 6 bulb elements, and a whole host of support structures to hold the piece together, because plastic filaments aren’t particularly rigid or sturdy. The result ended up informing Kose’s design process and resulting in a light that’s incredibly ornate.

“The I am not a robot project embodies the values of craftsmanship, playfulness, unpredictability, and creativity that distinguish human-like designs,” says Jaro Kose. “It serves as a reminder that while technology can assist in the design process, it is ultimately the human touch that makes a product truly special and unique.”

The project also reinforces the importance of human creativity in a world being dominated by AI. It aims to empower individuals in this uncertain AI-driven time, emphasizing the significance of human values in product development. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of human values in product creation and emphasizes the unique qualities that designers bring to the table.

The post “Human After All” – These Lamps Challenge Human Creativity by Removing All Manufacturing Robots/Machines first appeared on Yanko Design.

The Delft Stool and Table’s design has an unlikely source of inspiration – Oriental Pottery

Posted on 26/05/2020 by Sarang Sheth

Look at the Delft Stool and Table and its source of inspiration becomes immediately clear. Influenced by the world of pottery, the Delft Stool and Table look like artifacts from the Ming dynasty, with a ceramic top and three legs supporting the stool and table’s unusually pretty design. It’s surely unusual for furniture to be made from a material as ceramic, but I wouldn’t put it past designer Jaro Kose, who’s used to designing products with extremely distinct sources of inspiration. The result is almost always a design that stops you, makes you think, and then puts you in a state of awe!

The intricate and detailed design of Oriental crockery can often add a culturally artifactual appeal to a kitchen. The Delft takes that appeal and amplifies it in a way that immediately makes the stool and table appear as modern-day relics. They even come with the indigo artwork that so distinctly belongs to the world of Chinese pottery that you tend to question the design as your mind makes that association – but after it does, you just can’t stop admiring the furniture’s strong heritage!

Designer: Jaro Kose

The Invader Whisk looks like aliens redesigned our kitchen tools

Posted on 09/04/2019 by Sarang Sheth

The Invader Whisk looks like aliens redesigned our kitchen tools

There’s a particular short film in the Netflix anthology Love Death and Robots that’s about yogurt taking over the world. Scientists somehow managed to make yogurt sentient, and gave it incredible problem-solving abilities. A jar of yogurt began solving complex problems humans couldn’t, and eventually became president of USA.

Jaro Kose’s Invader whisk has little to do with the story above, but I often wonder how our world would look if another sentient being (not necessarily milk-based) looked at our lifestyle, our products, and our ways of problem solving and came up to us and said “You’re clearly bad at this, let me handle it”. The Invader whisk looks almost as if it was designed with a similar outlook. More organic and less complicated than your regular hand-cranked whisk, Kose’s Invader whisk doesn’t look particularly man-made. With a weird alien-octopus-ish form, and a radically different hemispherical radial gear, the Invader whisk looks great, and probably performs better than its dull, metal, man-made counterpart. I wonder what this alien-species will re-design next…

Designer: Jaro Kose

The Invader Whisk looks like aliens redesigned our kitchen tools

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The time-telling vase…

Posted on 02/08/2018 by Sarang Sheth

It’s quite poetic that Jaro Kose integrated the vase with a table clock, because both are, in their own ways, indicators of the passing of time. One’s more calculated, while the other one isn’t The clock tells you of each second passing by, while the vase holds flowers that, with time, grow and die, giving you a sense of the passing of time and the fragile, ephemeral nature of life.

The Clock Vase comes crafted out of ceramic, with gold-plated hands and an overall minimalist, modernist style. Its white design complements most spaces (white ones too), while the greenery you choose to put in one of its two openings gives the clock an absolute pop of color. Captivating, isn’t it?!

Designer: Jaro Kose