Designed by Dror Benshetrit, QuaDror is an ingenious system yet structurally and aesthetically stunning as a simple building block or multiple modules. Constructed of four identical L-shaped parts, the form folds flat and opens up as each piece rests around the corner hinges. Its applications vary in scale ranging from room dividers to acoustic buffering for highways. The system’s potential also extend to trestle design for bridges and prefab elements for disaster relief housing. Expect to hear more of QuaDror in the upcoming months as it’s currently competing at the Buckminster Fuller Challenge.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

via Fast Company

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

My posts will be very sporadic in the coming weeks as I’m undergoing some transitions in life. But, do stay tuned! Recently I came across recent works by Boaz Cohen & Sayaka Yamamoto of BCXSY. They teamed up with a Japanese joinery craftsman to design the Join series of folding space dividers, merging Japanese Tategu craft with angular screens and geometric shapes. Each screen is made from Hinoki (Japanese Cypress) that is highly rot-resistant and emits a pleasant woodsy scent. Thank you Boaz & Sayaka for the images!

The three screens in the Join series are available in a limited edition of 8 pieces each and are all handcrafted by Mr. Tanaka in his workshop in Tokyo.

“Mr. Tanaka’s work, and the other works we were exposed to, made a deep and lasting impression. We found the process, the extreme skill and accuracy required by the craft fascinating. We were also inspired by the personal touch each Tategu master applies to his work. Every piece requires a variety of different tools that are often custom made by the craftsman to address a specific task. There is a hidden dialog between the Tategu master and the work he creates – there is a reason for every step, a story behind every pattern. Our challenge manifested itself in developing a project that was innovative yet still honored the traditional aspects of the craft.” – BCXSY

images courtesy of BCXSY

Recent images of Laura Boffi‘s new project showed her curtains designed for The Salon exhibition at London’s Architectural Association while Laura was a student. Each lycra curtain comes with a longitudinal slit in the middle to form two segments which can be ‘opened’ when folded and secured in place. The slits on the curtains were intended to minimize the views from the windows to allow visitors to focus on the main exhibition. The also function as a screen for visual projections when the curtains are ‘closed’.

Sascha Akkermann of confused direction recently informed us about their recent exhibition of the la melle lamp at Blickfang. The lamp was hung in the middle of a tipi structure whose wooden lattice is partially exposed. Read the previous post on la melle, and here.

Photography by Tanja Leonhard

Just discovered this awesome dynamic facade design. Called the Kiefer Technic Showroom, it is an automated facade control system designed by the Austrian architectural office Giselbrecht + Partner.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The dynamic system consists of metal panels that fold up and down, and the automation allows for these panels to be operated based on user comfort.

images taken via youtube video Dynamic facade “Kiefer technic showroom”

I simply adore Swedish designer Mia Cullin‘s textiles with an emphasis on handcrafted construction and geometric assemblies inspired by folding and origami.

Flake wall screen

photo credit: Sameli Rantanen

Cabbage foldable bowls

photo credit: Mathias Nero

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Polygon cushion cover

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Lily cushion cover detail

photo credit: Mathias Nero

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Flower wall screen

photo credit: Sameli Rantanen

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Loop wall screen

photo credit: Mathias Nero

via Mia Cullin

Central Saint Martins grad and textile designer, Eunsuk Hur, conceived this amazing series of interchangeable modular system of textile pieces as a response to our temporal identities and constantly transformative human nature. Called the Nomadic Wonderland, each garment can be pieced together in numerous ways, giving the user freedom to design and manipulate into a variety outfits and interior accessories.

Eunsuk used laser cutting and various printing processes such as sublimation printing on wood, acid printing on wool felt, etching onto leather as well as handcraft techniques. The user is given the choice of color, shape and textiles that can be altered many times, thus creating a durable and sustainable product.

photo credits: Eunsuk Hur

View her complete portfolio here

Thanks to Design Academy Eindhoven grad & designer Laura Boffi for introducing her eco-friendly curtain/air-conditioning unit called Fresco di Lana, made of wool felt moistened by the pumping of water from ceramic tanks to create a cooling effect. By placing the the curtain in front of open windows on hot days, heat passing through the wet honeycomb felt structure would cool as it enters the room. The curtain also acts as a vertical green screen for growing plants. Another ‘green’ bonus is the use of pure wool from the native sheep in Sardinia for the felt structures. Cool!

The curtain/air-conditioner/green wall = triple cool!

functional diagram of the pump and the curtain

the honeycomb structure

Diagram showing the curtain assembly

You can check up Laura’s design activities on her blog

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Act of Sweden came up with Different Angles – a portable screen made from a sheet of paper that is folded in opposite diagonal angles and comes in three different sizes from one that fits a window to a free-standing screen used as a spatial divider. Currently displayed with a limited edition of the screens for sale at Designgalleriet for the ‘Unique Pieces’ Exhibition from October 1st – 24th.

the screen comes folded in a package

images via Act’s portfolio at Behance

I’m a huge fan of Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, and their recent Clouds design never fail to amaze me. Made in collaboration with the Danish textile company, Kvadrat, Clouds is a system of puzzle-like, polygonal textile modules joined at the ends with rubber band attachments to form faceted tapestries at varying scales. What’s amazing is that the tile surfaces begin to fold based on the configuration, thus creating numerous volumetric possibilities. You can arrange and rearrange the tiles to your whims and fancies, create a decorative screen wall, a sculptural installation, and even tent structures. Go figure.

More detailed images after the jump.

close-up of the tiles

edge detail showing the rubber band attachment

You can find Clouds at Ligne Roset

London-based textile artist/designer Deepa Panchamia created her structural wall art, sculptures and apparel using her signature pleating technique.

Read an excerpt of her philosophy:

“I have taken an unconventional approach to textiles. Combining silk organzas and leathers with inventive pleating techniques, I create intense, double-sided, structural surfaces. The combination of transparency and solidity give my fabric enhanced properties allowing it to be moulded, manipulated and transformed – moving textiles away from its traditional two-dimensional form.

With this technique I have developed a network of structural wall art and sculptures for interior spaces. My designs consist of energetic pleated waves juxtaposed with delicate pocketed constructions. Material and colour selection are paramount to the design. The transparency of the organza allows the internal formation to be revealed, creating an engaging relationship between the exterior and interior. I intentionally use a limited range of subtle colours that create shadows on the surface, enhancing the contours of the piece.”

close-up of her textiles sculptures

images via deepa panchamia

Anne Kyyrö Quinn’s studio collaborated with installation artist Francesco Draisci to create a wool felt curtain system. Called the Icework, the curtain’s surface is folded into honeycomb textures to reduce sound levels in a library, and the system also acts as a shielding device for the library’s video and audio equipments when not in use.

images via Anne Kyyrö Quinn