DAMn°52 - web teaser

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A MAGAZINE ON CONTEMPORARY CULTURE

Martí GuixéEdgar MartinsPierre CharpinFrancis KéréSean ScullyMichaël BorremansSnøhettaMartin Boyce

Special:A Food Parade

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DAMN°52 magazine / CONTENTS

#5222 / In the Belly of BMW

Through the lens of Edgar Martinstext ANNA SANSOM

A few years back, Edgar Martins obtained exclusive permission to enter the inner sanctum of the European Space Agency to photograph such things as are never seen by the outside world. Recently, the artist was allowed access to BMW, with the same aim. And with equally stunning

results. Having jumped from photographing rockets to cars, Martins’ current mission is to explore the representation of death in homicides and

suicides. Dare we analyse his trajectory? Storage area for crash test dummies at BMW Group Research & Innovation Centre (FIZ), Munich

A Force of Nature / 46 Pure Sean Scullytext JURRIAAN BENSCHOP Coincident with the artist’s 70th birthday is an impressive exhibition in Venice, running parallel to the Biennale. With a rigorousness to his art, combined with much human feeling, it is clear that Sean Scully’s paintings are imbued with love. This abundance of emotion, however, does not run over into sentimentality, as Scully is not that way inclined. Enamoured of painting’s ability to move without needing words, he genuinely believes in art touching something deep inside people.Sean Scully, 2013; photo © Carla Borel

40 / Ever OnwardFrancis Kéré praises the power of architecture

text VEERLE DEVOSFrancis Kéré’s architectural philosophy of providing more using less is a sound one.

Focusing on local materials, local knowledge, and local technologies to create holistic and sustainable design solutions, he firmly believes that architecture can serve as a vehicle for collective expression and empowerment. This has proven to be the case. Working closely with local communities during all phases of the design process, and

supporting the educational, cultural, and civic needs of local communities through dignified, appropriate architecture, progress is furthered in rural Africa and beyond.

Diébédo Francis Kéré, with his installation at Louisiana in Humlebæk, Denmark ; photo © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

"It never leaves the white sheet." /30Pierre Charpin’s obsession with formtext OSCAR DUBOŸThis is a designer who still draws by hand, valuing the method of designing as highly as the forms he creates. Pierre Charpin’s passion runs deep – he does not chase design houses for commissions, as he would much rather push the limits of his work without concern for the restrictions imposed by the commercial world. And that has made all the difference. From his charming studio in Ivry–sur–Seine, Charpin spoke with DAMN° about this, that, and the other.Pierre Charpin in Villa Noailles, Hyères

Photo: Walter Bettens

52 / All in the FamilyThe magic of Magis

text SANDRA HOFMEISTERFor this family-driven company, design involves filling one’s head

with ideas and then screening those ideas to determine which ones to choose and develop. Spending a vast amount of effort on design

at the cutting edge, Magis retains an experimental approach, making oblique associations –taking elements that work in certain contexts, extrapolating them and applying them to others, in order to discover

new functions.Alberto and Eugenio Perazza in the courtyard at the Magis headquarters in Torre di Mosto,

near Venice

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56 / Do Not Trust RealityMichaël Borremans alters appearances

text JURRIAAN BENSCHOP Those with a keen sense of perception and art-historical insight will have recognised that Michaël Borremans could only be from Belgium, for his works carry the tell-tale

characteristics of the culture within them. In his drawings, paintings, and films, the artist evokes complex, inconclusive scenes that engender conflicting emotions in

the viewer, ranging from dark through comical to grotesque. They are disturbing in any number of ways, but are not necessarily grim. Borremans’s works contain

profound ambiguities at many levels and cannot be ignored.Raio, 2014; oil on canvas; 285cm x 370cm x 4cm; photo: Jan Liégeois

The Name of the Game / 80Design and Violence at MoMAtext LYLE REXERA two-year-long MoMA project has addressed the topic of violence in design – that is, the industrial reality that produces computer viruses, lethal drones, and plastic machine guns as readily as it does clever gadgets and sinuous chairs. The topic could not help but strike a chord, as this is the reality of our current era. While it is preferable to think lovely thoughts about all the good that design can do, the flipside cannot be ignored.IRRI scientists Peter R. Jennings and Henry “Hank” M. Beachell join IRRI director Robert Chandler, Philippine

president Ferdinand E. Marcos, and U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson in a field of IR8 rice plants (left to right),

Los Baños, Philippines, 1966; courtesy of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)

72 / In a strange, sculptural way… Martin Boyce’s fondness for the surreal

text ANNA SANSOMAt different points, Martin Boyce has represented Scotland at the Venice Biennale and has won the Turner Prize, all the while continuing to exhibit far and wide at galleries and institutions of note. His works are sculptural

in nature and modernist in feel, with the gallery or museum being the most prevalent sort of setting, and indeed the most favourable, as these are spaces

that convey a suspension of time. And that suits Boyce’s work very well.Martin Boyce, photo: Martin Boyce, courtesy of the artist

Lit by Nordic Light / 66Snøhetta confronts the Arctic Circletext LUISE RELLENSMANNSnøhetta has undertaken a project studying elderly people in the Arctic Circle. Although technically a side project, it relates very well to the firm’s work and philosophy, which involves continuous research into the historical, philosophical, and psychological fields. The architects examined the effect of the Nordic light on people who have lived 100 years or more in that environment, producing comprehensive documentation and thereby gaining insight applicable to designing intuitively and creatively.3D by Sølve Sundsbø

86 / Making Architecture TangibleArchi Depot Foundation models the future

text NORMAN KIETZMANNThe primary objective of the Archi Depot Foundation is to conserve

and present to the general public architectonic models that play an important role in the transmission of architects’ visions and thoughts. Established in Tokyo in early-2015, a representative

sampling of scale models has been brought to Milan on the occasion of the Triennale. These physical models are honest representations

of the architectural development process, also serving to prevent silly mistakes being made in the final building.

E xhibition at the Milan Triennale, a preview of Archi Depot Tokyo ,

designed by Setsu & Shinobu Ito; c ourtesy of Archi Depot Foundation

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92 / Parts of a WholeEvolving the legacy of Sir John Soane

text EVA STEIDLLike potent extracts from different places and different times, the objects in Sir John

Soane’s Museum in London are ripe for contemplating. In a special exhibition, five designers present new work that directly responds to the unusual antiquities and

oddities positioned throughout Soane’s former home and place of work. Displayed within the historic interiors of the museum itself, these contemporary interpretations of the

fragments engage in a dialogue with their source.Timbrephone by Peter Marigold, photo: Alice Masters

96 / A FOOD PARADE 98 / Bringing Food to the Table

What are designers doing?text ALINE LARA REZENDE

It could well be that food design is at its peak. One can never actually know if that’s true or not until later, but it is fair to say that the subject is currently experiencing a

mighty explosion of hoopla worldwide. Given food’s component parts: the substance itself, its production, processing, and consumption, there is actually quite a lot there for

designers to play with. As is our wont, DAMN° has snooped-about to discover what is happening at the edges of the spectrum.

Algae Digester from Designs for an Overpopulated World: No. 1 Foragers, by Dunne & Raby

All Twist and No Shout / 95Franco Clivio’s LAMY fountain pen text NORMAN KIETZMANN Swiss designer Franco Clivio has a passion for the fountain pen. Making a giant leap in the sleekness of its operation, he designed the pico for LAMY in 2001 before surpassing himself some eight years later with the dialog 3 for the same company. Clivio believes that a pen is not an object of representation but a practical tool for everyday life, and he has designed it to actively serve this function impeccably, with meticulous attention to detail.dialog 3, designed by Franco Clivio for LAMY, © LAMY


Food Design in Context / 102Martí Guixé lauds the edible objecttext SILVIA ANNA BARRILÀFor Martí Guixé, design is strictly connected to the socio-political context. He likes projects that force him to consider design in a social way and to speculate over its consequences in a certain socio-political context. The same principle applies to food design. Guixé makes the analogy that design is to food design as physics is to quantum physics: the same, but more complex. Therefore, there is no difference between designing a chair or an edible object, it is just more complicated.SPAMT Factory, 1997, Galeria H2O, Barcelona

Photo: Inge Knölke / Imagekontainer

106 / Being SustainableThe noble efforts of honey & bunny

text SILVIA ANNA BARRILÀUnder the adorable moniker of honey & bunny, Austrian designers Sonja

Stummerer and Martin Hablesreiter offer the world a thousand-and-one ways to appreciate food in all its aspects. Through the many sorts of projects,

books, films, and performances they produce on the topic, the duo drives home the point that food is the most fundamental and exquisite of all of

life’s offerings, and that each and every one of us should wake-up to that realisation as soon as possible.

From the book EAT DESIGN / Drinking vessels are – together with spoons – among the oldest eating tools

Courtesy of Martin Hablesreiter / Sonja Stummerer / Ulrike Köb / Daisuke Akita

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110 / Minding the GapMaximum impact at the MAXXI

text ANNA SANSOMThe exhibition Food. Dal cucchiaio al mondo at the MAXXI in Rome presents works by architects and artists, which ranges in scale from the human to the planet, from

the kitchen to the home, from the city to the region and to the world, addressing the global political, social, urban and economic effects that the production, distribution,

consumption, and disposal of food have on communities and territories. It is a show with a solid point to make. DAMN° conveys the highlights.

Dabbawala Lunch Delivery System, 2014; RMA Architects, Mumbai; photo © Rajesh Vora

122 / The Sky is FallingTasty installations everywhere

text ANNA SANSOMIn case it might have slipped anyone’s notice, DAMN° wanted to provide an overview

of the synthesis between art and food that has been happening for a rather long time, and to emphasise this with a glimpse at recent projects that unashamedly combine

these two fields to create highly innovative works involving edibles. With a tour round Art Basel, Vitra Design Museum, and historic New York, we are confident that you will

acquire a taste for it.AFRO-POLIS CITY, an installation celebrating the new generation of makers coming from the continent,

as explored in the Making Africa exhibition.

Bon Appétit / 116Edible everything by Ido Garini text SILVIA ANNA BARRILÀStudio Appétit designs products, too, that’s true. But, as Ido Garini points out, only at the end of a research process that focuses on the experience, and the studio’s way to enhance the experience is through food. In fact, it rather goes to extremes. For instance, in keeping with the standard fashion schedule, Studio Appétit creates a new flavour each season that it then transforms into a fragrance. And that is only the half of it…Dining concept for Bellboy, 2014; photo: Studio Appétit/Haim Yosef


Eat Your Heart Out / 126 RECIPROCITY design liège 2015text EMMA FIRMINThe second edition of the International Triennial of Design & Social Innovation in Liège sees an even more forthright approach taken towards the importance of design in improving the daily lives of all citizens. Involving manifestations, experiments, research, and policies, the event evolves around design as a means of social impact; innovating public services, raising ethical awareness, and providing new models of working together, from the creation of objects to their production and marketing. A serious subject that aims to do a world of good.Local Eat by Julie Royaux

130 / ProductivityVery much a part of the special Food Parade section of the magazine, here can be found the latest in contemporary tools designed to facilitate the making of meals while looking smart in

the process. On top of this are interviews with company directors and designers, who lend their views on the importance of kitchenware today.

Daily Spoon assortment, by Stian Korntved Ruud

166 / AgendaAside from all of the particularly wonderful art exhibitions, the potent architecture

shows, and the prime fashion offerings at this time of year, are oodles of design events that span the planet – never before have so many cities celebrated design.

176 / The Internet of FoodCarlo Ratti on the mass distribution of comestibles

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DAMN°52 magazine / COLOPHON

#52

STRING LIGHT

BY MICHAEL ANASTASSIADE S

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DAMN°52 magazine / EDGAR MARTINS

After his tantalising project photographing the inner workings of the European Space Agency (see DAMN°42), Edgar Martins sashayed into BMW, eager to capture equally evocative views of scenes to which others aren’t privy. Unlike rockets, though, the production of cars is repetitive and constant, which proved slightly tricky when it came to taking people-less pictures inside the plants. But it was absolutely achieved, and in the artist’s own inimitable style.

IN THE BELLY OF BMW Through the lens of Edgar Martins

ANNA SANSOMPHOTOGRAPHS BY EDGAR MARTINS

Storage area for crash test dummies at BMW Group Research & Innovation Centre (FIZ), Munich / Each dummy, weighing 54-106 kg, has an ID tag attached, indicating its weight, the configuration of the test sensors, the calibration status, and the test history.

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An ambience of silent efficiency permeates Edgar Martins’ new photo series on BMW plants and re-search & development centres in and around Mu-nich. Taken during production breaks, the body of work “surveys the fabrication, tooling, and assembly of the modern-era automobile vehicle”, says Martins. However, fully assembled cars are conspicuously absent, as are the members of BMW’s workforce. Rather, the photographs home in on wind tunnels, crash centre dummies, and body and paint shops where car parts are assembled and painted. The high-tempo, technological sites, emblematic of Germany’s automobile industry, appear frozen in time. Indeed, the series is aptly titled 0:00.00. “It references a digi-tal clock – you could either see it as time suspended or time to resume operations”, says Martins.“I was interested in photographing what would otherwise be a highly productive and dynamic environment, when it’s completely still.”

Martins, 38, has a longstanding fascination with technology, machines, and the automated process. Born to Portuguese parents who moved to Macau when he was three, he grew up during China’s in-

dustrialisation. “I've always been around places in perpetual change, and this has impacted on my life and work”, he explains. At 18, he moved to Lon-don, where he completed an MA in Photography and Fine Art at the Royal College of Art. His previ-ous series focused on Portuguese hydropower sta-tions and on the European Space Agency (ESA), which has private aerospace sub-contractors on the outskirts of Munich. “During the ESA project, I knew that I would end up spending a lot of time in Munich, so I felt I could reconcile this and the BMW project”, Martins says, adding that he chose BMW’s Munich plant because of its historical rel-evance.

Aware of BMW’s history in working with artists (over the last 40 years, the company has commis-sioned Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Alexander Calder, and Jeff Koons, among others, to design cars), he was hopeful that his independent proposal would be accepted. BMW authorised him to make several research trips and granted him unprecedent-ed access to photograph its premises. A member of staff was allocated to accompany him on shoots, in

case anybody became suspicious about him taking pictures. “Car production is shrouded in secrecy, so some conditions are imposed”, informs Martins. “There were instances when I was photographing the assembly lines before new models were released. But BMW knew that my project would be launched two years later, and therefore I was allowed to pho-tograph some of those cars.” The main issue to re-solve was when to shoot such that BMW’s employ-ees would be out of the frame. “Luckily, my first visit coincided with the seasonal break in produc-tion. The covers over the cars and the spaces in the assembly line gave me the idea of experimenting with production pauses. So we spent a lot of time finding locations and waiting for 30-minute-long shift breaks in order to take pictures.” For certain images, such as those of the presses, advance coor-dination was necessary. “The presses are continu-ously bearing down on the metal [of a car body], which creates a terrible amount of vibration; if you were to use a long exposure, the picture would end up completely blurry. So we arranged specific times when BMW would be able to temporarily halt the presses.”


The 18-month-long project culminated in a body of images characterised by precision and symme-try, sometimes to the point of abstraction. Martins attributes this formalistic, visual language to the ethos of the spaces. “These places are quite abstract because they’re very geometrical and linear”, he explains. He photographed at three different loca-tions: BMW’s main plant in Munich, its research and development centre called the FIZ – where cars are tested prior to production, and a crash-test cen-tre in the nearby town of Aschheim. The crash test dummies, according to Martins, have around 200 embedded sensors, in order to give accurate read-ings as to whatwould happen if a certain body part were hit in a crash. Another crash-test image shows five figures in the middle of a large space. It tran-spires that these are made of sound blocks printed with pictures of people. Martins also ventured into the big electromagnetic chamber (recognisable by the white, spiky elements on the walls), where tests are carried out on a vehicle’s electric components.

Martins admits to being “in awe” of the technologi-cal spaces he has visited. But he adds, “You're always

Paint shop, BMW Group PlantMunich / This is one of several lines where automated painting robots and technicians paint all surfaces of a car body.

Crash test centre, one of BMW’s two such centres in Aschheim (just north of Munich) specialised in rollover tests

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Wind tunnel test centre at the FIZ / This section is where the air is redirected from the large turbine to the test area, recreating the airflow pattern in a driving vehicle.

View of a stamping system for the design and form of BMW and MINI car bodies, at the tools and dies facility, BMW Group Plant Munich

Robots covered in blue cloth apply a protective spray coating to car underbodies at the paint shop, BMW Group Plant Munich

EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility) test centre at the FIZ, where a vehicle’s electric components are tested

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edgarmartins.com

0:00.00 is being published by The Moth House and will be launched at Paris

Photo 12-15 November 2015. themothhouse.com, parisphoto.com

wrestling with ideas about the impact of technology on our individual and social consciousness. How technology influences us and how we influence it is something that will always define us as human beings. The car is seen [in my project] both as a catalyst and a product of market economies but also as a metaphor for the world of mobility, flux, and flow that we live in, a symbol of the wider dreams and aspirations we attach to technological develop-ment.” Now, however, Martins is making a radical rupture in his work by moving into a totally dif-ferent domain. His latest project is concerned with the contradictions and problems inherent in the conceptualisation, definition, and representation of death, particularly violent death (namely, suicide), which involves collaborating with the National In-stitute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences in Portugal. “I wanted to move onto something a lot more personal, because I think I’ve really made my peace with this theme of technology”, he muses. ‹


Press shop, BMW Group Plant Munich / Around 250 tonnes of steel are formed into sheet metal components for car bodies on a daily basis, totalling 200,000 parts per day.

9/8/2015 | CS_1211_AD_DAMN_2015_b

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DAMN°52 magazine / PIERRE CHARPIN

Since the early 1990s, Pierre Charpin has devoted himself to designing furniture and objects. He loves to draw, and indeed each project begins with a blank piece of paper. His career started when he researched the possibility of ‘anthropomorphic’ furniture, presenting this in Paris alongside a series of silver tableware pieces. A few years later, he developed the distinctive Stackable Chair, and his output has flowed at a steady pace ever since. The form of an object is of utmost importance in Charpin’s eyes, if even it also serves a function. DAMN° had an in-depth chat with the designer about his working practice.

"It never leaves the white sheet."Pierre Charpin’s obsession with form

Overview of the exhibitionin the squash court at Villa NoaillesPhoto: Lothaire HuckiOSCAR DUBOŸ

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DAMN°: How did this exhibition at Villa Noailles come about?Pierre Charpin: Jean-Pierre Blanc called me in late March, asking me to visit the empty villa, which gave me the idea of a scenography where you could view the objects as well as the space. We had to come up with a mixture of choices, especially those pieces that were available fairly quickly. Otherwise, the situation was rather vague, even though I knew that I wanted to include the drawings in order to pursue the principle of my recent exhibition at the ELAC gallery in Renens, La part du dessin (The role of drawing).

DAMN°: You opted for a more scenic rather than chronological approach. Why?PC: For me, it was obvious. My first big exhibition in Hornu, Pierre Charpin at the Grand-Hornu, 20 years of work in 2011, served me well here. It was too early for a retrospective and it is not my idea to have one. Simply put, I have some works, and start-ing from there I let them speak together in a freely associative way, whereas the chronological approach would have been too analytical, too cold, too didac-tic. Villa Noailles is a place people come to on holi-day, not necessarily to find information about Pierre Charpin. The notion is rather ambiguous, as if the objects were standing about, at rest in an exhibition.

DAMN°: Despite the number of years between them, one obtains a sense that all the works come from the same group. Except perhaps the Stackable Chair, which does stand out...

Pierre Charpin is a discreet designer, one who is always at work, constantly searching, each of his objects potentially being the starting point for the generation of another. For him: “A chair is a chair when you sit in it, but it’s primarily a form.” Charpin continues to refine forms with an obses-sion to take them still further. His recent exhibition at Design Parade has demonstrated this and the current Marbles & Clowns presentation at Galerie kreo only confirms it.

It is in his studio outside Paris that Pierre Charpin meets with DAMN°, in Ivry-sur-Seine, a cult 1970s architectural complex with Jean Renaudie and Renée Gailhoustet’s signature. You immediately wonder whether these plastic geometries in which the designer grew up have influenced him, since forms are so central in his work. When we ask him this, he swears he has never dreamt of being an architect. Still, the pieces brought together for his Villégiature (Vacationing) exhibition this summer in the poolroom and squash courts at Villa Noailles, retrace the origins of a grouping that’s been going on for over 20 years, injecting a dash of colour against the white backgrounds so dear to Robert Mallet-Stevens. This is an opportunity to discover some valuable items that were snatched-up all too quickly by collectors from his faithful Galerie kreo, but also one for remembering his mass-produced furniture. Because there’s no snobbishness about Pierre Charpin, just a consistency with certain principles of balance, and an unwavering loyalty to drawing. 5

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Views of Charpin's atelier in Paris (1/2)

Face (Monkey), 2012 (3) Indian ink on paper48cm x 56cm

House (lithograph), 2012 (4)

Interni, 2007 (5)Coloured felt-tip pens on A4 paper

Chaise Empilable (StackableChair), 1993 (1/2)PrototypeFIACRE grant, FranceSteel and fibreglass43cm x 50cm x 81.5cmPhotos © Pierre Antoine

Pierre Charpin au Grand-Hornu, vingt années de travail (PierreCharpin at the Grand-Hornu,twenty years of work), 2011 (3)Exhibition viewGrand Hornu Images, BelgiumCollaborator: Julie PfligersdorfferPhoto © Pierre Antoine

Rocking Chair, 1995 (4)PrototypeVIA Carte Blanche, FrancePolyurethane foam and metal49cm x 68cm x 77cmCollection: Centre PompidouPhoto © Pierre Antoine


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PC: Yes, I have very few drawings of that. I like to put it in exhibitions, as it is quite heavy-handed; whereas usually it is the type of exercise that the designer will try to make super stylish. In 1993, working on the idea of elegance didn’t interest me; it represents a stage at which I renounced decora-tion in order look into the structure. I’d deconstruct the object to make each element legible and auton-omous. This chair is a strange object. At the same time, the Rocking Chair, which I made three years later, still retains a continuity, although it marked the introduction of another stage, one where colour is used to unify all materials.

DAMN°: In 1980 you didn’t choose to attend a tra-ditional design school but instead registered at the Beaux-Arts school in Bourges. Did that allow you more freedom?PC: Visual training has a positive side and a negative side. I don’t need to wait for an assignment in order to work, whereas other designers often work accord-ing to specifications defined by a design house. For a long time, nobody sought me out, which didn’t stop me from generating my own projects. Thus, it was understood that I was a designer at a time when I my-self wasn’t really sure of it. Then again, I had to learn about production systems and their impact on design on my own. It took me some time... Today, students leave school already knowing the business. But have I really learned it? I’m not sure I know anything.

DAMN°: When did you feel that you were a designer?PC: At the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts, I was already proposing things that were more akin to furniture, that were designed for domestic spaces and connected with everyday life, which is not the case with art. My work was very attached to form. That was in 1980, at the end of conceptual minimal-ism and the beginning of free representation, with a return to painting. But painting wasn’t my thing. Furniture was more in tune with my sensitivity to-wards architecture, which was steeped in my family environment. And then there was this heavy debate about post-modernism!

DAMN°: People tend to associate you more with Galerie kreo than with design agencies. Is there a desire on your part to focus on galleries?PC: The projects come about through meeting peo-ple, which is very important to me. With Didier Krzentowski at kreo, it was mutual right from the start. The gallery context allows me to do some things I cannot do with a design house, especially in terms of pushing certain limits. My Stands pieces at the Design Gallery in Milan are practically domestic sculptures, highly abstract, almost theoretical. The expo never sold anything, but it impressed people and, for me, it was important to make these, because it opened the door to a lot of other things. I was also still in contact with design houses, but when that didn’t come to anything, I preferred to think it was the design houses that weren’t any good, rather than me. (Laughs) All joking aside, it’s because they became terribly cold. It’s not snobbery on my part – I had as much fun working on the pieces for Alessi as I did on those for kreo. Concerning this point, I’ve inherited a bit from the Italian way of working, where everything is very integrated, without hierar-chy. During my stint with George Sowden in 1993, I could work on a computer keyboard and on two duplicates of a ceramic vase on the same day.

Homme Vase, 1990 (main image) Photo © Pierre Charpin

Cestini (PCH02/20), 2011 (1)Basket, edited by AlessiMirror-polished stainless steelØ 20cm x 5cm Collaborator: Joachim Jirou-NajouPhoto © Pierre Antoine

Ignotus Nomen Box, 2011 (2)Limited edition, numbered and signedEdited by Galerie kreo, FranceHoneycomb, resin, Krion®

100cm x 46cm x 158cmCollaborator: Joachim Jirou-NajouPhoto © Fabrice Gousset


Marbles & Clowns console (1)Limited editionEdited by Galerie kreo, France MarbleCollaborator: Julie RichozPhoto © Sylvie Chan Liat

Marbles & Clowns vases: Pipo, Nello, Zippo, 2015 (2)Limited editionEdited by Galerie Kreo, France Enamelled porcelain, hand paintedMade by Manufacture Nationale de SèvresCollaborator: Mathieu Peyroulet GhiliniPhoto © Sylvie Chan Liat

Untitled, 2014 (3)Serigraph drawing, printed at ECAL50cm x 70cm

ST9, 2002 (4)ScreenFrom the Stands collectionDesign Gallery Milano, ItalyLacquered fibreglass105cm x 30cm x 188cm Photo © Pierre Antoine

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DAMN°: As for your drawings, it almost seems as though some objects take shape directly from the paper they are drawn on, ready to be looked at head-on... PC: I’d agree. The point about frontality is quite apt. I often draw in a very frontal way: in a kind of out-line, where I define an external form before filling it in with detail, colour... Then my two assistants translate my drawings into 3D because I don’t know how to do that – intentionally. I prefer to keep a dis-tance vis-à-vis the manufacturing, to better observe the object and find out what’s wrong with it, though obviously 3D drawing is useful for checking a lot of parameters, like the proportions. Quite simply put, it should never lead to complicating things.

DAMN°: Do you wish to retain this two-dimen-sionality?PC: The CIRVA vases, for example, were placed one in front of the other on purpose. That’s how I chose to make them visible in the exhibition. The fact that there is a direction induces a particular relationship between the person and the object, so the way you place it in space becomes a conscious choice: How do I want to look at this?

DAMN°: Your pieces are always highly aesthetic and, at the same time, they’re pretty raw, free of any pretentious fuss. What is your relationship to ornament? Is it achieved through colour?PC: It’s somewhat paradoxical: everything stems from drawing, but I always like to stick to elementa-


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CIRVA vases (1)Villa Noailles, swimming poolPhoto: Lothaire Hucki

Scatola 9 (2), Lampada 23 (3), Ceramica 2 (4), 2005From the Oggetti Lenti collectionLimited editionEdited by Design Gallery Milano, Italy(2) Lacquered wood; Ø 32cm x 18cm(3) Natural wood and lacquered metal;47cm x 27cm x 49cm(4) Ceramic; Ø 19cm x 47cmCollaborator: Joachim Jirou-NajouPhotos © Ilvio Gallo

Slice couch, 1998 (5)Exclusive distributor: Galerie Kreo, FranceWood, foam, 100% wool fabric76cm x 87cm x 87cm (armchair); 41cm x 87cm x 33cm (pouf)Photo © Pierre Antoine

Oblong 1, 2013

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ry forms from the language of geometry – ultimately fairly common ones – without trying to transform or invent them. Then I introduce tiny changes... I often draw with repetition and then something assumes a final shape, usually through a process of removal. I am tremendously wary of drawing because it eas-ily leads to over-refinement. I avoid anything that has to do with the expression of virtuosity, displayed ostentatiously. Sometimes the simple act of assign-ing a colour to an object is enough for it to have a decorative role; it gives it another quality, as in the CIRVA glass vases.

DAMN°: In the end, you rarely depart from the material... PC: Yes and no. It happens... For Marbles & Clowns, in addition to the clowns, kreo asked me to design pieces in marble, which I wanted to do as a block rather than in pre-prepared slabs. It was this block idea that inspired me to proceed with the process of removing material. In this case, the shape of the object came about through a reflection on the mate-rial, as it did before with the occasional table Stump for Ligne Roset. ‹


pierrecharpin.com

Villégiature at Design Parade, Villa Noailles, France until 27th September.

villanoailles-hyeres.com/design-parade-10

Marbles and Clowns by Pierre Charpin is at Galerie kreo, London from 13 to 20

September 2015. galeriekreo.com / londondesignfestival.com

Stump, occasional table, 2009 (1)Edited by Ligne Roset, FranceMarble30cm x 36cm x 45cmCollaborator: Joachim Jirou-Najou

Marbles & Clowns table base (2)Limited editionEdited by Galerie kreo, France MarbleCollaborator: Julie RichozPhoto © Sylvie Chan Liat

Vase Ruban: vase in 3 different versions (red, green and black), 2008 (3)Co-Edited by Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres and Galerie Kreo, FranceEnamelled porcelainØ 33cm x 45.5cm Collaborator: Joachim Jirou-NajouPhoto © Gérard Jonca

Untitled, 2009 (4)Lithograph drawing59cm x 84cm

Fritz Hansen_Ad_DAMn_230x300mm_Series 7_Bestseller.indd 1 13-08-2015 09:29:58

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DAMN°52 magazine / MARTIN BOYCE

In a strange, sculptural way… Martin Boyce’s fondness for the surreal

Martin Boyce has a poetic way of articulating his ideas about his work. Take the title of his current show at Galerie Eva Presenhuber in Zürich: Inside rooms drift in and out of sleep / While on the roof / An alphabet of aerials / Search for a language. Sometimes Boyce borrows phrases from literature or from lyrics (for instance, Virginia Woolf’s novel The Waves and the album Power, Corruption & Lies, by New Order) that resonate with the kind of landscape atmosphere he seeks to achieve. This time, though, the Scottish artist wrote the title him-self. Asking what it refers to begets a descriptive re-sponse about the sculptural exhibition.

In the first room of the gallery, a fairly sparse in-terior is evoked through scaled-down fireplaces, cast-bronze socket outlets and light switches, hang-ing lamps from his Dead Star series, and geometric, column-like lamps. It’s a muted palette of terracotta tones and greys, the only ‘moments of colour’ com-ing from the lamps. The scale shifts in the second room, which is more nocturnal. Punctuated by ten softly lit chimneypieces in four different shapes ar-ranged in clusters with TV aerials, Boyce likens it

to spindly branches looming above. “It’s a mixture between being inside a piece of architecture with pillars or in a forest of trees or walking among chimneys on a rooftop with overlapping aerials sil-houetted against the sky”, says he, adding that the alphabet idea comes from how aerials are transmit-ters of information and language.

This exploration into spaces and landscapes is char-acteristic of Boyce’s practice. The raised fireplace sculptures follow the presentation of another such piece at Johnen Galerie in Berlin last year, and have a stepped design inspired by a motif used by Italian architect Carlo Scarpa. Boyce discovered examples of Scarpa’s architecture, such as the Fondazione Querini Stampalia, when walking round Venice in 2009, the year he represented Scotland at the Venice Biennale. Another reference point is the miniature fireplace that Carlo Mollino designed for his apart-ment in Turin. In the mind’s eye, Boyce’s fireplaces occupy a larger space beyond the objects them-selves. “The one at Johnen had a rectangular hole, which could be a door, and a small circle of perfo-rated steel, painted yellow and suspended from a

ANNA SANSOM

A Scottish sculptor inspired by early 20th century modernism, Martin Boyce makes sculptures, photographs, and installations that examine the intersections between art, architecture, design, and nature, creating works that fall betwixt or overlap the various categories. Collapsing distinctions between past, present, and future, each of Boyce’s works seems to exist in an autonomous world, detached from any fixed time or place. His current exhibition in Zürich succinctly captures the essence of his oeuvre. DAMN° talks to the artist about his work today as well as about what has gone before.

Martin BoycePhoto: Martin BoyceImage courtesy of the Artist

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wire, that becomes a sun or a moon”, he says. “As soon as you have these two elements, you’re drawn into a surreal situation, as the work becomes a little landscape.”

Events in his personal life have seeped in too. Boyce was renovating his house in Glasgow and became “consumed with every detail”, like the light switch-es, tiles, and fireplaces. “When I look at how the work has developed, it feels like all those obsessions have filtered in, but in a strange, sculptural way”, he reflects. As for the chimneys, Boyce’s memories flitted back to a visit to the undulating rooftop of Casa Milà / La Pedrera, designed by Antoni Gaudì in Barcelona. Boyce reinterpreted the Spanish archi-tect's organic forms into geometric ones.

Discussing how these various ideas intersect, he says, “All this stuff is swimming in my head, but there’s no linear or rational connection. It’s just a combination of things that I've experienced or come across in books. It’s almost about catching a glimpse of something and allowing it to resonate in your imagination.”

What has been most influential in the development of Boyce’s artistic language is a cubist concrete tree by French sculptors Jean and Joël Martel made for a garden designed by Robert Mallet-Stevens in 1925.

Since seeing it in a black-and-white photograph ten years ago, Boyce has used it to develop ‘a palette of shapes’ that are central to his work. This was evident in his installation Do Words Have Voic-es, which won him the Turner Prize in 2011 and formed part of his exhibition at the Museum für Gegenwartskunst in Basel, Switzerland this sum-mer. The shapes of the mobile placed above a Jean Prouvé-inspired table derived from the Martel tree, as did the pattern of ventilation grilles in the walls, the white fins on the ceiling, and the leaves scat-tered across the floor.

Boyce even created typography by tracing the lines of his repeat pattern of the Martel tree. To his sur-prise, the exercise resulted in a representation of every letter. “There were a couple of amazing weeks in the studio in 2005-2006 that were a bit like an Ouija board kind of thing, where, by way of this tree from 1925, language, phrases, and words were being whispered through the pattern”, he reminisc-es. “The poetic possibilities within that were quite incredible. I hadn’t developed the pattern with any hope or notion that there would be a language lurk-ing in there.” The aerials at the Eva Presenhuber show also came about by tracing lines and shapes to form a repeat pattern, while the lamps echo the Martel tree’s diagonal leaf-form and are structured slightly like Louis Poulsen’s lamps. “It has almost


We are Resistant, We Dry Out in the Sun, 2004Concrete, steel, steel tubing, copper tubing, powder coatings, fluorescent tubes, electrical fittings, hardware, fabricDimensions variableCourtesy of the Artist, The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow and Galerie Eva Presenhuber, ZurichPhoto: Stefan Altenburger Photography, Zurich

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Against the Night, 2013 (1)Perforated steel, steel chain, plywood, wood stain, wood oil, galvanized steel, wired electrical lights; table: 320 x 170 x 170 cm; 3 six sided lanterns, each 29 x 22 x 22 cm; 2 four sided lanterns, each 38 x 14 x 14 cmCourtesy of the Artist, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York and The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow; photo: Jean Vong

Eclipse, 2013 (2)Jesmonite, wood, steel, enamel paint, acrylic paint; 219 x 155 x 6 cmCourtesy of the Artist, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York and The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow; photo: Jean Vong

A River in the Trees, 2009 (3)Cement fondue, plywood, paraffin coated crepe paper, powder coated aluminium, steel chain, electrical components; dimensions variableInstallation view ‘No Reflections: Scotland and Venice’, Palazzo Pisani, Venice Biennale, 2009Courtesy of the Artist, The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow and Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich; photo: Gilmar Ribeiro

Installation view, Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel, 2015 (4)Photo: Gina Folly

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reached the point where I think less and less about the Martel tree and use these shapes as I’d use any shape”, he considers. “I’m very interested in rep-etition and series in my work, which becomes in-terconnected with these objects and forms, being filtered through this one system. If I want to make a chandelier or a table, these shapes fight their way into that structure.”

Boyce’s interest in landscape and design dates back to his student days. From the Glasgow School of Art, he received a BA in environmental art as well as an MFA, and he also studied at the California In-stitute for the Arts, where a friend of his had an old Eames table. Years later, Boyce refashioned the ESU shelving system by Charles and Ray Eames into a De Stijl-like colour scheme. He also remade Arne Jacobsen’s Series 7 chairs, cutting them into parts and arranging them like suspended mobiles, an al-lusion to Alexander Calder.

More broadly, much of Boyce’s work has been about urban landscapes, deserted places, or car parks. Part of his No Reflections installation at the Venice Biennale comprised of a pathway of concrete step-ping stones, a black geometric chandelier, and an abundance of brown leaves. It captured the feel-ing of an autumnal stroll after a windy downpour of rain. His piece, We Dry Out in the Sun (2004),

restaged in the Unlimited exhibition at Art Basel in June, evoked a terrace of sun beds – blue lin-ear sculptures with branched-out neon lights and trashcans. Night, terrace, lantern chains, forgotten seas, sky (2011), at The Modern Institute in Glas-gow, saw lines of brightly coloured lanterns illumi-nating a table and a partition.

“Many of the shows have taken the form of a frag-mented landscape”, says Boyce, referring to how disparate elements combine to form a setting. “Through the use of details and elements, there are ways to describe an almost archetypal place.” This spatial sensibility saw Boyce commissioned to de-sign a set for Run For It, a ballet choreographed by Martin Lawrance for the Scottish Ballet. His model for an imaginary stage-set had inspired his proposal for the Turner Prize, which in turn led to the Scottish Ballet commission. Boyce also designed the scenography for a Sonia Rykiel catwalk show a few years ago, based on his installation Our Love is Like the Flowers, the Rain, the Sea and the Hours (2002). The runway was transformed into a cob-bled lane flanked by chain-link fences and linear trees illuminated by fluorescent tubes, with trash cans dotted around.

This autumn, the RISD Museum at the Rhode Is-land School of Design (US) is staging a survey ex-


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Mobile (For 1056 Endless Heights), 2002Powder coated steel, chain, wire, altered Jacobsen Series 7 chairsDimensions variableInstallation view, Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel, 2015Image courtesy of the Artist, Johnen Galerie, Berlin and The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, GlasgowPhoto: Gina Folly

Untitled, 2010 (1)Painted steel205 x 144.8 x 45.7 cmCourtesy of the Artist, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York and The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, GlasgowPhoto: Jean Vong

Absent Eyes , 2012 (2)Painted steel, painted and rusted steel, brass146 x 49 x 40 cmIn Praise of Shadows exhibition at Johnen Galerie, Berlin, 2012

Lighting sculptures (3) Runway: Sonia Rykiel A/W 2011 Ready-to-Wear fashion show, ParisPhoto: Martin Boyce, courtesy of the artist

Perforated and Porous (signal) 2010 (4)Painted steel, fabric64.8 x 81.3 x 52 cmCourtesy of the Artist, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York and The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, GlasgowPhoto: Jean Vong

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hibition of Boyce’s work. Entitled When Now is Night, it’s named after a work from 2002 composed of a suspended web of fluorescent lights and grid-patterned wallpaper. “That’s when I became inter-ested in bringing soft furniture and interiors into a very film noir atmosphere and seeing if you could bring the function of film noir into architecture, design, and sculpture”, explains Boyce. The piece is at the core of the show, along with examples of his different types of mask sculptures. “The exhi-bition is populated by all these strange phantom/figurative presences”, he adds. Early photographs, Interiors (1992), and part of the Scottish Pavilion installation are also included. According to curator Dominic Molon, “It characterises the modern city as a place charged alternately by wonder and anxie-ty.” Indeed, a feeling of abandonment or the desola-tion of beauty often permeates Boyce’s installations. “I’m drawn to this balance between at what point something is lost and that sense of coming across something and seeing it for the first time after it has been lost”, says the artist.

A continuum of Boyce’s exhibition making, appar-ent both at the RISD Museum and at Galerie Eva Presenhuber, is about conveying a suspension of time. “I’ve always been interested in the idea that the gallery space feels outside the linearity of time in the real world”, he says. “There’s something very still and frozen about the sculptural pieces that I make, and I quite like the idea that you’re stepping into a frozen moment.” ‹


Inside rooms drift in and out of sleep / While on the roof / An alphabet of aerials

/ Search for a language, at Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich, until 24 October

2015. presenhuber.com

When Now is Night, at the RISD Museum, Providence, Rhode Island, USA from

02 October 2015 until 31 January 2016. risdmuseum.org

Martin Boyce (monograph), published by JRP Ringier. jrp-ringier.com

Set design, 2012 (1)Scottish Ballet: Martin Lawrance's ballet production Run For It, as part of the Cultural Olympiad Photo: Martin Boyce, courtesy of the artist

When Now Is Night, 2002 (2)Fluorescent light fittings, plywood, powder-coated and lacquered MDF, altered Series 7 Jacobsen chair parts, silkscreened wallpaperDimensions variableCourtesy of the Artist and The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow Photo: Photographic services

Dead Star (Red), 2014 (3)Painted steel, cast and painted bronze61 x 37 x 43 cmCourtesy of the Artist, Johnen Galerie, Berlin and The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, GlasgowPhoto: Jens Ziehe

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READ MORE IN DAMN° 52

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DAMN°52 magazine / FOOD FILE

A FOOD PARADEOffering you another few recipes, from the cunningly creative to the distinctly bizarre.

Every year, in our autumn issue, DAMN° brings you various twists on FOOD, from the fields to the kitchen to the table to your bellies. Guess it’s that change-of-season appetite that gets us going – the winter veggies, the fresh game, the magic mushrooms… Together with falling leaves and the melancholic reflections associated therewith, the season also provides a lush abundance of colourfully prepared, edible matter, as presented during the world’s favourite design events and VIP parties.

honey & bunny productions (Sonja Stummerer and Martin Hablesreiter)From the book EAT DESIGN / Using knives to pick up food was normal for centuries. Nowadays, only in mountain huts is it ‘allowed’ to eat like Louis XIV did in Versailles – using the knife as a fork.Image courtesy of Martin Hablesreiter / Sonja Stummerer / Ulrike Köb / Daisuke Akita

And with design somehow going back to basics, its link to gastronomy has become quite a hot – and cold – subject; food is on everyone’s lips. Creatives have been making a meal of it, messing about with this holiest of materials and applying even more of a twist to food manipulation. But before we throw all this substance in your face, we wish to warn you, once again, that it is probably better not to try any of this at home. Take it away, food designers…!

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DAMN°52 magazine / FOOD

Have you ever imagined eating a delicious burger, minus the guilt of killing animals to satisfy your desires? Eating as much chocolate as you want, without the added calories? How about a different grocery-shopping experience, where you can find products in the supermarket organised in relation to calories or recipes, and find info on display that allows you to track down all the data related to your produce, from its country of origin to its route to the supermarket shelf? These options are all available right now. Welcome to the future!

Although designers have been exploring such things since around 2006, food design is now at its peak. This year, two of the world’s most prestigious design schools, Design Academy Eindhoven in the Neth-erlands and Scuola Politecnica di Design in Italy, launched programmes devoted to the subject. Expo Milan 2015 is also dedicated to food, its challenges

and possibilities. In mid-July, MIT Media Lab, in its first ever summit, Knotty Objects, discussed four items and their social, economical, material, and ethical entanglements, from a critical design view-point. The steak was one of them, symbolising the reality of modern food production, demand, sup-ply, and consumption. In this complex, engendered, and already existing food chain – business, market, science, and gastronomy – what else can designers add? How would the largest industry in the world benefit from a designer’s approach? And how exactly are designers contributing?

“Food – the substance itself, as well as its methods of production, processing, and consumption – has al-ways been the subject of tinkering and design”, says Nicola Twilley, journalist and writer of that mouth-watering, mind-bending food blog Edible Geography, and an absolute expert in everything related to food.

From the shape of watermelons in Japan, to the de-sign of kitchenware, to the layout of supermarkets, designers have always been involved in creating for the food industry. But the idea that food designers are designers working with the subject of food falls short of explaining the term. To demystify food de-sign, Twilley, in an interview for GOOD magazine that she conducted in 2010 with Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator of Architecture and Design and Di-rector of R&D at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, brilliantly helped identify three spheres of food design: the world of genetic and molecular modifi-cation; the level of the food unit, with so many chefs and designers reinventing food at the unit level; and the systemic level – considering herein the systems of production, distribution, and even digestion. Fast-forward to 2015. We analyse these three levels to find that the next frontier of food design is the pairing of food and technology at a systemic, unit, or molecular level.

Expo Milan 2015, under the theme Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life, sought the best answers, technologies, and concrete ideas the world has to offer to satisfy the planet’s vital need: being able to

guarantee healthy, safe, and sufficient food for every-one while respecting the planet and its equilibrium – as stated on the Expo website. Future Food District, one of four thematic areas, explains how technology will change food storage, distribution, purchase, and consumption. Designed by architect and professor Carlo Ratti, head of the SENSEable City Lab at MIT, the pavilion explores how data could change the way we interact with the food that we eat, inform-ing us of its origin and characteristics, and thereby promoting more informed consumption habits. Through big data, data visualisation and storytell-ing, the project intends to clarify and make available all information related to the products we buy.

A project by Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby tack-led the human digestive system, in a dystopic sce-nario that considered the likelihood of there being no more food left on the planet in the near future. Called Designs for an Overpopulated World: No. 1, Foragers, it proposes a new device inspired by the digestive systems of other mammals as well as that of birds, fish, and insects, in combination with syn-thetic biology, which would help us extract nutri-tional value from non-human foods or foods that we

The next design frontier is food. Innovations range from production to consumption, taste to shape; from how and what we eat to how we digest it, all infused with a high dose of technology.

Bringing Food to the TableWhat are designers doing?

ALINE LARA REZENDE

Future Food DistrictPhoto © Delfino Sisto Legnani

Designs for an OverpopulatedWorld: No. 1 Foragers, by Dunne & Raby

Forager (1)Photo: Jason Evans

Algae Digester (2)Augmented Digestive System and Tree Processor (3)Images © Dunne & Raby

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are currently unable to digest. It proposes a solution to the problem we face of ignoring the warning signs of resource abuse and overpopulation.

Using algorithms to decode food smells, bio-engi-neer Bernard Lahousse creates unusual food pair-ings, helping chefs and amateurs alike innovate in their recipes. On his website foodpairing.com, La-housse states that 80% of taste comes from our sense of smell, and explains that at the molecular level it is easy to understand why strawberry and chocolate make such a perfect match. With this in mind, other curious pairings are formed; for example, smoked shark and jam or oysters and pears. It sounds deli-cious.

Harvard professor and inventor David Edwards has a different input in relation to food and smell. He has found a way to receive nutrition through one’s nose instead of through one’s mouth. Characterised as Quantum Design, he also creates at the molecular level. One of his most amazing products is inhalable chocolate, whereby you can taste the chocolate and get some nutrition from sniffling it instead of actu-ally eating it – this means lots of chocolate minus the calories. There is inhalable coffee, too. Edwards is also concerned with sustainability issues; he created WikiPearl, an edible wrapper for desserts, in a quest to avoid packaging waste in the food industry. His inventions are already being commercialised in the U.S. and France.

To make matters on food design even more com-plicated, at the Knotty Objects summit, it was sug-gested that there is perhaps no design subject more complex than food, considering the many different agendas intertwined within it. The steak served as the object in focus, serving to represent food. Re-searchers presented studies that attempted to de-velop a commercially viable laboratory-grown meat product that they hope will replace conventionally raised animal meat. Issues like synthetic biology, an-imal slaughtering, technology, and ethics were raised as design topics, together with taste, desire, sustain-ability, and more. Behind questions about technol-ogy or in-vitro meat being able to solve current problems, a bigger query was posed to the designer: are those the right questions? Daisy Ginsberg, the designer who introduced the subject at the summit said, pertinently pondering: “Is it a matter of rede-signing the supply or redesigning the demand? To change what we eat and the way we think about it involves redesigning desire, as then the problem is not in the meat but in the scale. Solving the scale means changing our expectations, our demands, our desires and our tastes, as well as our systems.” And who else better to do this than a designer? ‹


ediblegeography.com senseable.mit.edudunneandraby.co.ukfoodpairing.comwikipearl.commedia.mit.edu

Quantum Designs:AeroLife Coffee (1)WikiPearl (2)by David Edwards

Mark Post, a researcherat the University of Maastricht,holds a sample of 'in vitro' orcultured meat (3)Photo: David Parry/ PressAssociation, via EuropeanPressphoto Agency

Foodpairing, by Bernard Lahousse (4)

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Kinnarps_DAMn_Annons_1_230x300mm.indd 1 2015-02-23 12:45

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BJÖRN DAHLSTRÖM Designer for Iittala Since its launch in 1998, the Tools range of cook-ware by Björn Dahlström has established itself as a de-sign classic for cookery enthusiasts, along with Iittala’s Sarpaneva cast iron pot. Tools has been developed with the insight of professional chefs and material know-how, and comprises of a broad range of easy-to-use products that fulfill all aspects of cooking and serving. Now, Iittala is adding a long-awaited selection of fry-ing pans. The pans are uncoated and are of the same three-layer composition as the others. “Tools has taken its place as a collection of products with extremely high standards. We were not sure if we were shooting a bow at a target, but in the end, Tools showed that consumers are willing to invest in quality. I think that products which prove to be long lasting, both from a visual and a technical point of view, and have life spans like this, are more relevant than ever. We need to come away from trends and throwaway consumerism”, Dahl-ström reflects. Among the various design recognitions, Phaidon Design Classics has included Tools in its se-lection of 999 objects of aesthetic value and timeless quality: “Rather than the utensils competing with the food for attention, the simple form of the casserole pot, for example, and its understated matte, brushed-steel finish allow the food to be shown to its best advantage. Where a shiny, mirrored surface shouts machine-made, the matte finish of this cookware has a more tactile, do-mestic feel.” He goes on: “The elegant range surpasses the expectations of the original brief, and is realised as a beautiful object.”iittala.com

KNINDUSTRIEThis Foodwear collection of pans, salad bowls, cooking plates, and accessories was designed by Rodolfo Dordoni for KnIndustrie, and was realised for the purpose of cooking as well as for the graceful serving of dishes. Each container has a dual use: thanks to an easy system for hooking and unhooking the handle, the pan turns into a tray, the salad bowl into a casserole, the low casserole into a fruit dish. Moreover, when the handles are removed, the utensils are easy to stack, thus consistently saving space. The lids come in bronze-coloured glass or polished steel, and the particular size and shape of the knob makes it possible to turn the lid upside down, instantly transforming it into a cake stand on which to serve quiches, tarts, biscuits, or whatever the creativity of the cook brings into being. knindustrie.it

ALBERTO ALESSI President and head of marketing strategy, communications, and design management at Alessi Attentive observers of reality and subverters of the functions of everyday objects, Gabriele Chiave and Lor-enza Bozzoli offer a cowbell for grating cheese. Cheese please is a grater whose unmistakeable form is particular-ly suitable for translation into a new function. The han-dle makes it easy to hold, and the curved bell provides a generous surface area for sliding over, while its narrow mouth ensures that the grated cheese falls directly onto the plate below. “This project”, says Alberto Alessi, “is a fine example of the use of metaphor, or perhaps allegory, or who knows what other figure of speech. Not infre-quently applied in the field of design, figures of speech have almost become fundamental in regard to so-called playful objects. This is apparent in Chiave and Bozzoli’s projects, in which, for example, a cowbell alludes to parmesan cheese and a chestnut-shaped pill box evokes (to those who recall it) the ancient custom of keeping a small portion of chestnut powder handy to put under your nose in the event of a severe cold.”alessi.com / lorenzabozzoli.com / gabrielechiave.comCheese please, designed by Gabriele Chiave and Lorenza Bozzoli, 2015

ANTONIO ARICÒDuring Stockholm Design Week last February, Italian designer Antonio Aricò presented OLDWAYS, a small collection of crafted pieces that refer to past traditions through their basic, simple forms and the reuse of materials. These wooden kitchen tools are a collaboration between Aricò and his grandfather, who handcrafted the objects based on the designer’s drawings. antonioarico.com


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DIEGO GRANDI Designer Mollicola /015 is about a certain kind of placemat. Designed by Diego Grandi, the project was presented during the last Milano Design Week in the A Stomaco Vuoto / On an Empty Stomach exhibition, a journey into fasting as a meaningful, powerful act. Mollicola /015, produced by Essent’ial, comes with a special, pierced pattern: a sequence of holes makes up a starch molecule — a carbohydrate present in most foodstuffs, especially bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, etc. A placemat is meant to preserve the integrity and cleanliness of the surface on which it is positioned. However, this is a mat that does not obey the rules of logic, but those of the imagination: a thin layer of cellulose fibre contains a specific pattern, a sequence of holes that at first glance seems random but actually contains secret information that only manifests itself after the deposit of crumbs. The only function of this particular placemat is to leave a trace, albeit symbolic, of what we eat, giving cause for us to reflect on the value of daily food waste.”diegograndi.itessent-ial.com

CHRISTOPH THETARDUser studies have shown that a food processor, a coffee grinder, and a hand blender are the most need-driven appliances in a kitchen. Christoph Thetard’s idea was to place all of these items in the same container and to power them using human energy, thereby reducing electricity consumption. In R2B2, these three different kitchen appliances each function via a single, rotating flywheel, which requires the user to simply pump on a pedal. All products and pieces in the set include studies on longevity, high functionality, easy cleaning, easy demounting, and high quality appearance. christoph-thetard.de

FRANCESCA LANZAVECCHIA Designer and co-founder of Lanzavecchia + Hunn Wai SUNPlace is a project created by design studio Lan-zavecchia + Wai for the Le Affinità Selettive exhibi-tion at Expo 2015, curated by Aldo Colonetti. This is a solar-cooking device for a convivial cook-out with zero emissions, a culinary experience that utilises an inexhaustible source of energy. “SUNPlace is the result of our explorations within the theme of communal cooking and energy-saving technologies, intended to provoke thought and discussion and to propose em-powering possibilities for a considered and enlightened future. SUNPlace is for cooking and sharing, using the most basic energy source: the sun. You can experiment and enjoy the experience and togetherness of solar cooking, with the rays of the sun concentrated through a fresnel lens onto a cast-iron grill. The station requires the full involvement of all its users, who need to be well-equipped and protected with gloves and special glasses. This kind of teamwork also promotes interper-sonal relationships. The idea is to recover the ritual of the banquet as a shared moment. SUNPlace may well become a new key to living outside, an evolution of the ancient fireplace that warms, entertains, and feeds.”lanzavecchia-wai.com

ALESSANDRO ZAMBELLICucurbita, by Alessandro Zambelli, was presented during Expo 2015. It demonstrated how the Mantua pumpkin can become a living skin and serve as a refined cladding on a handmade object. The surface treatment is the result of careful research: a natural coating is produced from a mixture of starch, sugar, and pumpkin. The binding of this concoction to a wooden surface occurs by means of a chemical reaction between the starches and fibres of the pumpkin and the porosity of the wood, thus eliminating the use of chemical adhesives. Zambelli’s research aims to explore new processes and finishes for furniture, in order to re-establish an ontological relationship between man and object.alessandrozambelli.it


At the transition that occurs through the act of cooking, lie many cultural meanings, aftermaths, and investigations — worldwide. New instruments are appearing, hybrids that cross between nourishment, sustenance, and sustainability. In this modified implementation of food and appliances, each project identifies a particular focus or offers a tailored solution. It’s time to start giving these the attention they deserve.

From the raw to the cooked

PATRIZIA COGGIOLA

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An architect and engineer by training, Carlo Ratti practices in Italy and teaches at MIT, where he directs the SENSEable City Lab. This year, he designed an innovative, 7000-square-metre thematic pavilion that explores how digital technology can change our interaction with food and with our fellow human beings. The Future Food District (FFD), as it is called, was unveiled at the opening of Expo Milano 2015: Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life. Positioned at the heart of the exhibition grounds, it provides information on the origins and characteristics of the food we eat, and promotes more informed consumption habits – it’s effectively a supermarket where people can interact with the products. The interior resembles a warehouse, with over 1500 products displayed on large, interactive tables, while the exterior features the world’s largest plotter. Made of mechanical arms that move along two axes, the plotter draws on the façade using spray paint of different colours, transforming it into a dynamic data visualisation display fed by visitor-generated content.

Future Food District (FFD), an interactive supermarket

Carlo RattiPhoto: Lars Kruger

DAMN°52 magazine / MANIFESTO

Remember Italo Calvino’s Mr. Palomar, who, immersed in a Parisian fromagerie, feels like he is inside a museum? "Behind every cheese, there is a pasture of a different green under a different sky […]. This shop is a museum. Visiting it, Mr. Palomar feels as he does when in the Louvre: behind every displayed object is the presence of a civilisation that has given it form and takes form from it.”

Mr Palomar should be the inspiration for tomorrow’s supermarkets, lending products a voice, allowing them to share their stories, and ultimately, stimulating more informed consumption patterns. Each prod-uct, in fact, has a story to tell. Today, information reaches the consumer in a fragmented and partial way. In the future, however, products should be able to ‘speak’ for themselves. Information will be contained in simple, smart labels, such as an RFID tag, and then seamlessly transmitted to users. Think about it as an Internet of Food: you will be able to find out everything about an apple – the tree from which it was col-lected and the journey it made; the carbon dioxide it produced, and the chemicals that were used on it...

Such traceability will also allow new relationships between producers and consumers. Tomorrow, the growth of urban agriculture and the increasing possibilities for sharing brought about by the Internet could transform our supermarkets into free exchange areas open to everyone. Consider it as being a kind of an Airbnb product: a place where new digital tools recreate the relationship between producers and consumers, something that was lost in the mass food chain of the 20th century. Already now, thanks to the Internet, each of us can get in touch with a small-scale organic farmer cultivating a few hectares of land in the mountains.

Of course, the above are just visions. In order to translate them into reality, we need ‘design’. Not industrial design, but design in its broader, fuller meaning. Herbert Simon said: “The natural sciences are concerned with how things are. Design, on the other hand, is concerned with how things ought to be.” In this defini-tion of design, we can possibly detect a new relationship with tomorrow’s world. Not a continuous search for pre-visions, but an occasion to experiment and accelerate the transformation of the present — and to build a shared, common future. ‹

The Internet of FoodCarlo Ratti on the mass distribution of comestibles

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