easy assembly | GIZMODO.cz

Chairs are one of the most common projects given to design students because it takes a lot of creativity to turn an everyday mundane object that has already been redesigned a million times into something innovative – it is the design world’s equivalent of “How will you sell me this regular pen?” Designers Martinelli Venezia and Alessandro Stabile discussed the idea of a chair that represents the contemporary world, in terms of production technology, sales methods, and features. The chair had to be an iconic, democratic product, meant to be sold online, and explored the theme of hyper-seriality.

Chair 1:1 was born after a rigorous five-year design process. Venezia and Stabile had finally achieved their goal and created a mountable/demountable chair whose every piece was molded in one go. This optimized the mold size, speeded up production, and reduced waste drastically when compared to a traditional chair. “The chair is sold just as it comes out of the mold, bypassing several steps; it will be the buyer who will complete the process: this is what we call hyper-seriality,” says the designer duo. “When looking at the Chair 1:1, it is inevitable to have a blast from the past, remembering the boxed toy kits. As in that case, there are no screws nor bolts: assembly is effortless and immediate. Mounting an object makes a bond with it and makes you feel its full value; it builds an affection that stops you from getting rid of it.”

The fastening elements of the individual parts are made to be easily producible and extremely resistant. It has been designed to be easily stored, shipped, and transported – 26 boxed up chairs take up only 1 square meter which is the key to increasing online sales as well as shipping sustainably! “While designing, we have often wondered whether in a world saturated with products, it was right to work in the direction of hyper-seriality with a material such as plastic. We believe, however, that the real mistake is to combine it with other materials that make it hard to recycle as well as to use it for packaging or in disposable products,” explain Venezia and Stabile. A sustainable product also has a long lifespan which reduces the need to replacement and therefore reduces excessive consumption as well as production waste which is why Chair 1:1 is made with single-material.

Designers: Martinelli Venezia and Alessandro Stabile

chair1

I know there are some items from my childhood bedroom I wish I kept around to repurpose for my current bedroom as an ode to not only the long-lasting relevancy but also the potential longevity of the design. While I loved my Winnie-the-Pooh wallpaper, night lamps, and bedspread as a kid, I’m talking about those timeless designs like toddler-sized hardwood stools and miniature treasure chests that could be repurposed as nightstands and jewelry armoires. Pupupula, a self-described lifestyle brand for kids aged 1-100 based in Beijing, designs household products with that intent in mind, their aim being to produce simple and innovative designs that will adapt to the changing needs that come with aging.

Pupupula recently debuted their Tree Clothes Rack Series that transforms through the years from a simple wooden clothing rack to either wall-mountable or upright coat racks. While the construction process is fairly involved, including lots of heavy-duty machine operation and precision detail sanding, assembling Tree Clothes Rack’s initial form is simplified as a result. Requiring few, if any tools for assembly, the Tree Clothes Rack Series utilizes wooden pegs and corresponding holes in order to transform into different structures that adapt to the user’s varying and evolving needs. Once Tree Clothes Rack’s preliminary product reaches the end of its life cycle, it can later be transformed into either a single-beam, pegged coat rack or one that’s wall-mountable.

When users first set up their Tree Clothes Rack, two vertical beams support the main, horizontal wooden beam to form a standard clothing rack. To achieve this frame, the vertical beam’s protruding pegs easily slide into the horizontal beam’s holes that were accurately sized and bored during construction. Then, once the user feels ready for a new form to take shape, the clothing rack can be changed into a stand-alone coat rack that follows the same peg-hole assembly pattern exhibited by the product’s original structure. Moving from a standing coat rack, suitable for an apartment entryway or storage room, users can once more morph the Tree Clothes Rack into a wall-mountable coat rack that requires some tools and minimal screws for mounting.

Designer: Pupupula

Tree Clothes Rack’s original form connects two vertical wooden beams with a single horizontal wooden beam via pegs that slip into previously bored holes.

From a clothing rack suitable for hangers to an upright coat or tote rack – the Tree Clothes Rack Series can grow or shrink to match your needs.

With help from additional hardware, screws, and tools the Tree Clothes Rack Series can be mounted onto walls to function as additional coat racks or even as a fixture where you can hang your houseplants.