Designed by Swedish design duo, Fulo, Bits is a bench encased in a type of fabric made of hundreds of small triangles of birch plywood. Although the faceted ‘upholstery’ looks hard on the surface, it is padded and therefore feels soft when sat on. Bits also comes with a bolster that can be adjusted along the bench based on a person’s seating mannerism, and also works as a lounge bench.

Images courtesy of Fulo

Taking cues from origami and architectural cable structures, Holland-based designer, Yuya Ushida, created a furniture constructed from 8000 chopsticks that switches from a chair into a couch and vice versa just by the act of pushing and pulling.

SOFA_XXXX, as its name implies the cross-cabling system, consists of 4 different lengths of sticks, connective rings and joints assembled to form a strong structural lattice that expands and retracts. The chair/couch also adjusts to proper seating heights depending on its use.

Recently shown at the IMM Cologne was the Accordion Cabinet – a shelf with flexible skin. The cabinet is the result of a collaboration between designer Elisa Strozyk and artist Sebastian Neeb, and is constructed with a combination of veneer wood and textile with accordion-like folds that can be opened and closed.

Similar project: Textile cabinets by Moritz Schmid

Japanese designer, Makoto Orisaki, together with Olfa, developed the ‘or-ita’ – a special shaped blade that perforate cardboard and any dull materials for folding mechanisms. For the recent ‘Cardboard High’ show at Claska gallery and shop in Tokyo, six designers created some pretty nifty cardboard pieces utilizing the blade.

origami magic ball by makoto orisaki

cardboard houses by makoto orisaki

the olfa ‘or-ita’ rotary cutter blade

cardboard boxes templates mitsuru koga created with the ‘or-ita’

architect ryuji nakamura made a simple, lightweight chair reinforced with dowels inserted into the corrugated structure of cardboard.

detail

via designboom I, designboom II

Thank you for bearing with the long hiatus here at Pleatfarm! I’ve just received an email from Dutch designer, Sophie de Vocht about her gorgeous Wallfurniture which deserves some props for its concept and execution. The suspended textile screen uses the technique of a garland that can be bunched up or pulled out to create a physical separation. With its translucency and the tactility of the screen, Wallfurniture engages the users to ‘carve’ their spaces without promoting detachment – certainly a desirable alternative to the harsh, opaque partitions of a typical workspace.

Much thanks to Sophie for the images!

In Sophie’s word:

With this wall you can create a separation out of “nothing” and on different places. By using the technique of a garland, but also light and thin material, you can push the wall together into a compact bundle and create a significant wall by pulling it out.

The wall can be pulled out or pushed up by hand and on different places. This creates a sort of wave of open and closed sections. Everybody can create their own workspace and the workspace is never the same.

Because the wall is hanging permanently in the room and is operated manually it is very easy and intuitive to create a separation. By using colour and soft materials tactility is also brought into the office. This makes the perception of the office more pleasant and exiting.

The openness of the wall show that there is not much needed for a separation and the sense of privacy.

Wallfurniture is nominated for the Brainsaward 2010, a prize of brainport Eindhoven. Voting is possible until the 15th of november here.

For more info on Sophie, check out her website: Sophie de Vocht

Versatility is the verb that dominates the works of Morgan & Marley. The Danish designer/architect duo intended their furniture, in this case the Unfold Table and Zip Chair, to adapt and transform based on the user’s preference. Check out the pics and videos after the break:

- Unfold –

Click here to view the embedded video.

In the words of the designers: Unfold breaks with the notion of a table, which often consists of a regular surface with legs. Why not make a table on its own premises?
People change their home all the time. Why not change the furniture so they can be used in different situations and sizes? Why not use a piece of furniture in an unconventional way?

The table’s folding mechanism allows for size changes depending on type of use.

- Zip –

Click here to view the embedded video.

In the words of the designer:

The intention was to develop a contemporary seating typology and experiment with the dynamic relationship between body, object and space. The aim of the project was to create an adaptable structure, in which the body have freedom, accommodating contemporary needs for transformation, as the world we live in is developing and changing rapidly.

Unlike typical chairs with conventional characteristics, the Zip Chair is a self-supporting construction made of memory foam and textile elements connected by zippers. The chair switches from a hiding place to a dating seat, from a lounge chair to a workstation, with just the pull of the zipper.

What an awesome storage cabinet that I would absolutely love to own! The Aris cabinets by German designer, Moritz Schmid, caught my eye for its airy, lightweight structure and the pleated fabric coverings that slide along the frame. Check out the video below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Aris cabinets were designed for Swiss manufacturer, Pfister.

Aris wardrobe

Aris sideboard

the designer with his scale model of the cabinets

via dailytonic

Recently unveiled at the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna is Enzo – a colorful series of outdoor furniture. Jointly conceived by Austria-based creative duo, MN*LS and PPAG Architects, Enzo is an improved fireproof version of a previous outdoor installation called the “Enzis” which were destroyed by a fire in 2009.

The “Enzis” which were previously installed (below)

images courtesy of MN*LS. Bottom image via PPAG Architects

It all began with folding paper cranes at her elementary school in China. Dutch designer Tian Zhen now applies the origami to many of her designs. Check out her origamic Lotus table base and the Swan lamps.

Thanks to Tian Zhen for the images.

Swan Lamps

Inspired by fairytale swans, the Swan lamps are made from sheets of folded Tyvek paper with no hidden support. Swan comes as a floor lamp and a pendant lamp.

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Lotus Origami Side Table

Paper origami is structurally and flexible, and with that in mind, Tian Zhen creates the LOTUS. The side table can be switched from one form to another in few seconds. In total, it has six different appearances.

See Tian Zhen’s works here

Thanks to Liya Mairson, designer and a graduate of Israel’s Shenkar College for Engineering and Design, who recently shared  images of her latest product.

My Space takes you back to your early childhood entertainment consisting of blanket forts. However, the realities of today’s tight apartment living in urban areas doesn’t afford kids the luxury of space. Designer Liya Mairson responded by designing My Space – a clever pop-up playroom for kids aged three up to the young-at-hearts. As a cardboard flat pack which can be stored  behind doors or under a bed, My Space unfolds into a playroom equipped with pop-up shelves and cutout windows. The folding mechanism of the walls allows kids to operate on their fantasies by creating spaces around the play area.

My space is fully recyclable.

Watch how My Space unfolds

Check out Liya Mairson’s portfolio here.

SHE is an Oslo, Norway-based design studio fronted by Silje Søfting and Eva Marit Tøftum. Both designers came up with a type of textile made of wool and thermoplastic yarns and constructed of structural pleats. The textile is implemented in their series of furniture: a lounge chair, an ottoman and a room divider.

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DUO Chair

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FOFO poufy ottoman

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AKU room divider

images courtesy of SHE

via dagensdesign.dk

Tensor Voting is a skeletal system of iron components conceived by Swiss designer, Giulio Parini. It consists of iron rods in varying lengths which are slotted into fasteners, and in turn are nailed to the wall. Tensor Voting allows the user to play with varying geometrical configurations by rotating the rods and switching the location of the fasteners. It can function as a wall sculpture or a shelving system which can hold up a few items decently, such as paperbacks and CD cases.

- Design process -

According to Giulio, Tensor Voting is a mathematical algorithm to estimate various characteristics, as dimensions and orientations, of geometrical shapes made by clouds of points. The project began as part of a  continuation of a concept based on Giulio’s scenography design which consisted of triangular modules of cardboard (see image below). (continue)

The result is a trapezoidal chair, and with iron as his material choice, Giulio pursued his design while renting an atelier of an iron sculpture artist.

Discovering the bulk and expense that the metal put him through, Giulio later conceived a deconstructed version of the chair which consisted of rods and bars as ‘skeletons’ of the form.

The chair that never was became a fascinating system of irregular members with shifting geometries.

rods slotted into place

The swinging rods

wall system images via Giulio Parini

Thanks to Giulio for a giving us a peek of his sketches!

Polish designer, Małgorzata Mozolewska, created the M Chair made by pleating fabric. When a seater wants a little privacy, simply pull the handles on both edges, and the chair transforms into a partitioned seat. Depending on user preference, the size of the partition can vary by pushing and pulling.

Thanks to Małgorzata for the images!

Inspired by the large sleeves on Japanese kimonos, German design duo Nora Schmidt and Ines Königsmann of NOI created two types of storage systems called Haori and Yukata. Each rack consists of a system of storage sacs made from Tyvek, and is hung on a minimal wooden structure.

- Haori -

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- Yukata -

German designer Wing Fung Ng, came up with a furniture concept that works as a space-saving measure in response to Hong Kong’s tight living condition. The Changeable Chair transforms instantly into a coffee table by simply unfolding the seat portion.

shelving compartment for easy storage

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the table/chair production: laminated wood veneer were soaked, and later bent into shape within a vacuum press

the vacuum press

the end-result of the chair/tabletop

shelving skeleton made of strips of rounded metal

felt is glued to the seat backing

images courtesy of wing fung ng

A set of chairs, a couple of fun book lights and a handbag with pleating elements made up the Octagonal Series, conceived by designers Mi-Seung Kim and Myung-Seo Kang of Studio MS. By studying and exploring origami, the designers discovered numerous possibilities of pleating octagonal shapes which produce flexible and structurally rigid forms.

The Book Light. UV stable pvc / cotton for bookbinding

Inspired by traditional bookbinding, the Book Light consists of a book cover and a pleated cotton shell with a light bulb within. The amount of light can be adjusted by simply opening and closing the ‘book’. There are three different Book Lights: a table lamp, a pendant lamp, and a floor lamp.

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The Closer (chair). plywood with pleated leather

The chair consists of two hollow wooden boxes linked with pleated leather connection that flexes and extends. You can simply link a few more boxes and connecting pleats to create a bench for group seating.

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The Octave (Bag). leather

Photography by Merlin Hendy

Debuting at this year’s DMY Berlin is the Cloud Stool by Eindhoven-based Studio Joon & Jung. The highlight of the seat is its cushion which is constructed of grey and white stuffed cords, knotted and twisted to resemble that fluffy substance in the sky. Cloud stool can be used as a single seat, or as a group seating by simply rounding up the stools.

Design statement: “All nature is making relation and alive in everyday. It creates a constant surprising composition of shape and color. People are individual, but sharing the common senses with group, and it makes them unique and unified.” (cont.)

“Cloud Stool is inspired by the flexibility and softness of the cloudscape. It can be singular or become a group as a human being. It gives the illusion that it’s alive, by using irregularity, flexibility and subtle differences in tone of perception. Conclusively, the form interacts between objects, and people could explore with it. ”

images courtesy of Studio Joon & Jung

Mowo Studio of Poland designed the Bufa Chair inspired by the craft of pleating. A two-dimensional felt folds into a seat at the pull of a string on both sides of the fabric.

Material: polyester felt and stainless steel.

Mowo is made up of Monika Elikowska-Opala and Wojciech Opala

The Cut-Series, designed by Swedish designers Daniel Enoksson, Lucas E Hinnerud and Jens Boldt, are inspired by the first few steps of design: cutting and folding simple and quick paper models which are translated into functional full-sized furniture. A coat of matte lacquer finish is applied to the super-thin, lightweight aluminum furniture, resembling full-scale paper models.

Photography: Jens Boldt