Much better than energy saving lamps in many respects, LEDs are not yet popular because of their light quality, due to their narrow colour spectrum.

Here, porcelain diffusers bounce the light off an ultra-matt inner porcelain layer; the light quality is much improved whilst keeping the luminance high. Also, the LEDs are hidden from view; the light is glare free.

A drop of water keeps its shape through surface tension. Inspired by the thin-shell architecture of Felix Candela, Hans Isler or Frei Otto, we are evolving minimal surface porcellain shapes used as ideal diffusers for lighting with LEDs.

High lumen performance modules are mounted upwards on aluminium or brass plates that double as heat-sink, generated by Michal Piasecki.

Exhibitions

DMY Berlin 6/2011

100% Futures London 9/2011

blickfang Vienna 10/2011

Awangarda Jutra Lodz 10/2011

A drop of liquid is chosen from a photograph; its contour traced off it and simplified; any arbitrary self-drawn contour is a valid input, too.

Depending on the desired design and performance, some properties of the liquid - the surrounding atmosphere and contact angle - are simulated.

Within seconds, software then grows single surface 3D drops, which are further triangulated and Laplace-smoothed, depending on whether a discrete or curvature continuous surface is needed.

Finally, data for digital fabrication is output, whether for CNC milling, sheet metal folding or other.

On average, porcelain shrinks 16% in firing. Handmade, it can never be fully controlled, its mysteries rather to be embraced and exploited; its whiteness, translucence and tactility.

The desired diffusing properties made us decide for unglazed bisque or biscuit porcelain.

Because our surface generation process results in personalised bespoke forms, we aim for preserving that individuality in the process of making.

Each form can be CNC milled or fabricated with 3DP, sealed, and a plaster mould for slip-casting single or dual-layer porcelain taken from it.

The next step would be direct fabrication of slip-casting plaster moulds from the form generation data via CNC plaster milling.

Made in collaboration with Uta Koloczek of manuFACTORY Berlin.

Available through

16% - Porcelain Objects Berlin.

Personalised or bespoke furniture, locally produced from readily available or recycled materials, is hard to source.

While experimenting with evolutionary form generation and constraint based optimisation, we saw that form-finding design methods can deliver just that.

Shelves and tables evolve algorithmically, generating a family of solutions to chose from, taking individual needs and requirements as well as technologic constraints into account - simultaneously.

This approach presents designers or consumers with a continuum of always feasible possibilities

Exhibitions

DMY Berlin 6/2010

FDC Malmö 10/2010

greenhouse Stockholm 2/2011

100% Futures London 9/2011

Starting point is chosing a natural structure from a library; a morphology that is aesthetically promising - but has equally interesting properties in terms of stability, material minimisation and variability.

To evolve shelves and tables, we encoded the physical properties of engineered wood, i.e. plywood, and sheet metal, i.e. steel, as well as the constraints of the associated production technologies.

That way, we can ensure that each evolution is structurally sound and manufacturable without the need for costly and time-consuming prototyping.

Initially, we built models with the envisoned materials to find out about their behaviour in a production environment, settling for CNC sheet metal bending and engineered wood cutting.

The shelves can be produced with either CNC wood cutting or CNC milling. The individual cells are fixed with countersunk DIN 921 flatheads, screwed into recessed DIN 7965 type B inserts.

That way, each unit can be assembled and shipped easily, many cells fitting into larger ones.

The tables are made from CNC bent sheet steel, aluminium or brass cells.

To avoid additional visual details, all parts are glued with performance adhesive. Glass tops are waterjet cut and supported on silicone nibs.

A lightsource one can direct downwards, sideways and upwards by twisting it. Having looked into closed tetrahedral chains, we saw kinematic potential in them.

As in the cell tables, we liked to revive brass, fusing a somewhat quaint material with contemporary form. Unintentionally, some visual analogies to nautic instruments of old emerged.

Each tetrahedron is fitted with one or more high-power 490lm warm-white LED. There's no need for conventional thermal management; the sheet aluminium and brass tetrahedra double as heat-sink.

Exhibitions

greenhouse Stockholm 2/2011

DMY Berlin 6/2011

Closed chains of tetrahedra exist in cyclic molecules where they determine a specific degree of flexibility. Each chain rotates freely through 360°.

With the help of mathematician Dr. Marcus Engel, we explored many configurations, a wealth of cardboard models was built to test kinematics.

Because of our sheet-metal forming experience from previous projects, we realised that the most challenging part was the forming of an integral hinge on two sides of each module; we solved that reasonably well with 90° twisted tongues.

We have not yet found a solution to CNC bend each tetrahedron shut, a one-piece module may not be possible to achieve.

To reduce glare, we designed a grille that allows no direct view of the LEDs. In later versions, we replaced that with a PP diffuser.

In future versions, we hope to simplify the hinge and overall construction and maybe motorise the adjustment function with a remote controlled actuator.

Tubular and non-metal versions are next on the agenda.

Why revisit the usual suspects - triangles, squares, hexagons and the like? Equal sided pentagons and in fact many other polygons make perfect tiles, too.

In combination with sheet brass, a material still somewhat uncommon in contemporary design, we developed a modular table system.

With four different elements, an entire family of tables ranging from 250x250 mm up to 2000x750 mm can be configured.

Also available in sheet aluminium and powdercoated.

Exhibitions

DMY Berlin 6/2011

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The tables are made from CNC bent sheet steel, aluminium or brass cells. To avoid additional visual details, all parts are glued with performance adhesive. Glass tops are waterjet cut and supported on silicone nibs.

A plywood construction would be feasible, too. In that case, the individual cells could be fixed with DIN 921 flatheads as used in our shelves.