HELEN KONT OURIS 101 CHAISE LONGUE 2002
DESIGN & SOCIETY TASK
3
Hannah Williamson_ 3543897_June 2015
KONTOURIS’ ZOIE PLANTER
KONTOURIS Introduction | 3 HELEN KONTOURIS | 4 101 Chair | 5 Concept ONE | 7 Concept TWO | 9 Concept THREE | 11 Reflection | 13 References | 14
INTRODUCTION For Task 3 of GRAP1041 we were required to study a designer and their works. My designer for this task was Helen Kontouris, a local whose career has (flourished) as a result of her unique design concepts. Within this task we were required to document the designer’s life and career as well as conduct a detailed study on one of their most iconic pieces of furniture. For this I chose her 101 chair.
3
Using this study we were then required to develop three of our own design concepts in the style of the chosen piece.
HELEN KONTOURIS Local designer Helen Kontouris began her career like many others; with a passion for art. Although starting as a child it slowly grew over the years until turning into what Helen describes as a ‘full blown obsession’ by the time she hit her teens. At the age of 12 she had already decided that she wanted to follow her passion in design and become an interior designer. It was for this reason at the age of 17 she began a two year TAFE course at RMIT studying Arts Interior Decoration & Design which she finished in 1995. As a young enthusiastic designer, upon finishing her course at the age of 19, Helen started her first interior design business. However, with little knowledge of business and few contacts the business failed. At the time Helen believed that as long as she had great ideas she would somehow find clients, but this was not the case. Around the age of 22 she tried again opening a second business in interior design. Without learning from her initial mistakes that business also failed, Helen then decided to take a break and go travelling. Upon her return she tried again. On the third attempt she finally had some success. This time learning from her mistakes she worked with a friend who was also in the industry establishing Migg Design. Helen worked very hard on her projects within the business, however found herself focusing more on developing the product designs within the interior based projects. While feeling as though she was not reaching her full potential and with the discovery that product design was her real interest, two years into the business she decided to pursue that, leaving the partnership and opening her own studio ‘Helen Kontouris Design’ in 2002. At the time Helen’s ultimate goal was
showing in Milan. With many of the world’s best young and emerging designers exhibiting in Salone Satellite Milan Helen aimed to join them. With this is mind Helen contacted Kjell Grant, a design professor from RMIT. Upon meeting him she presented a range of furniture and product design concepts. Grant, enthusiastic about her talent, invited her to join the Melbourne Movement, who showcase the work of gifted Melbourne design graduates which Grant founded in 1999. One of the design concepts shown to Grant was for the 101 chair; a continuous curving surface inspired by Meadmore’s sculptural work. This design was Helen’s first real product design which she described as ‘an absolutely huge learning curve’. The chair was then shown in 2002 at Tokyo Designers Block in ‘Hybrid Objects’ (a design exhibition hosted by the Australian embassy in Tokyo) alongside other Melbourne Movement designers. The same ‘Hybrid Objects’ exhibition was shown in Melbourne in 2003. Although the Melbourne Movement designers exhibited at Salone Satellite later in 2003 Helen left to follow her own path. With financial assistance from scholarships and government funding Helen was able to enter a solo exhibition in Milan where she showed her 101 chair alongside other designs of her own. Helen received enormous global press from her exhibition however gained nothing beside that.
an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald. Within six months of being contacted by Kundalini her La La Lamp was in production. The following year Helen attended their launch of the La La Lamp at Euroluce (the international lighting exhibition held biannually at the Mulan Furniture Fair). There she said “Two years in, this is exactly what I’m after, this is my big break”, in which she appeared to be right. From there her career grew significantly. Her designs began to be produced both in Australia and internationally, she was able to establish relationships with appropriate companies, entering into a more long term collaborative engagement with them, significantly increasing her clientele. Over that time she was also shortlisted and won various awards and titles in product and furniture design. Her proudest , however, being awarded the IDEA ’Designer of the year; People’s Choice Award’ in both 2009 and 2012. Today Helen is working to develop designs for both her brand and for her clients with the hope to begin developing more designs under her own name as well producing designs for the mass market. With her vision for her business, her success can only grow as time goes on.
The following year she returned to Milan with a new set of designs including her La La Lamp. Once again she received huge press coverage. However, in addition was also noticed by Italian lighting manufacturer Kundalini. "In 2004, one of the owners of Kundalini walked past my lamp and took a few notes. I was contacted by the company a few days later," Helen said in
4
101 CHAIR Kontouris’ 101 Chair is arguably the piece that launched her career in furniture design. When she brought her deigns forward to Kjell Grant it was this chair that he chose to prototype and in turn it was this chair that made Helen’s dream of going to Milan come true. The design of the chair is inspired by the sculptural work of Meadmore. His works often exhibit designs made by one flowing material, folding to make the shape he desired. This concept was what Helen adopted when designing this chair. The materials it’s made from, like many of Helen’s designs has been chosen carefully to fit the piece. The 101 chair is made of moulded fibreglass. This allows for the back of the chair to flex slightly when leaned upon, adjusting mildly to suit each individual and hence making it more comfortable than to be expected of such a design. The chair is then upholstered in Kvadrat Divina II fabric. This material allows for the chair to be manufactured in a vast range of colours, however the most popular being black and red. In terms of measurements the chair is 860mm wide, 860mm high and 770mm deep. Today this piece is still sold by Schiavello and can be seen in their Melbourne showroom.
5
Weight distribution wrong; would fall backwards.
Hole ruins flowing aesthetic
Continuous loop doesn’t reflect Helen’s unique style Weight distribution wrong. Back would bend down when sat in.
CONCEPT ONE The first concept I chose, inspired by the 101 chair, was also a chair. For this I aimed to maintain Helen’s concept, designing a piece that is also inspired by Meadmore’s sculptures. I explored various designs with this idea however in order to create a functional as well as visually appealing piece, as Helen’s is, the continual flow was needed to be broken, destroying the aesthetic. A design was finally established that maintained this continual flow as well as being quite functional. The final design maintains the 101 chair’s flexible backrest as well as the materials used. This should allow for comfort as well as versatility with colour.
7
For the final design a continuous flowing style was chosen in order to reflect Helen’s style as well as meet the practical needs her designs do by the back rest flexing slightly as her 101 chair does. The bright colours could be produced by using the same materials as the 101 chair; moulded fibreglass and upholstered with Kvadrat Divina II fabric
The dimensions of the chair would be approximately 500mm in depth, 700mm in depth and 800mm in height.
8
Too simple. Not unique at all.
A lot of wasted material with no purpose.
Very simple and practical however doesn’t reflect the style of the 101 chair.
CONCEPT TWO My second concept was a table. For this I aimed to use the folding appearance of the 101 chair. Although challenging I developed a concept for a small coffee table that incorporates the ‘folds’ of the 101 chair. The table could potentially also be made of moulded fibreglass. This would allow the ‘legs’ of the table to flex slightly as weight is applied to the top reducing the pressure on the design. The table, however, would not need to be upholstered like the chair as this would be impractical. Instead the versatility in colour could be achieved by the fibreglass itself.
9
The final design is held up by two ‘folded’ legs. The table could be made of moulded fibreglass allowing for a variety of colours. The width of the material that appears to be ‘folded’ would be 500mm wide therefore the length of the table would be approximately 1300mm and the width 900mm.
10
The material of the lamp should would appear to be folded ot wrapped around the light source.
Although Helen has designed many lighting products there is a lack of both wall mounted designs and lamps in her collection. For this reason I based my design concepts around this.
The material of the wall mounted light would be transparent so that the light would make the material glow.
CONCEPT THREE For the third concept and development I chose a lamp. Although I brainstormed various lighting concepts for the final design I decided on a desk lamp. Like the other two concepts, the desk lamp incorporates the ‘folding’ design of the 101 chair. With the ‘flat’ surface spiralling around to form the base of the lamp as well as the lamp shade. The material used to do so could again be moulded fibreglass.
11
The final desk lamp design looks to be a singular panel wrapped around to form the shape of the light. The material used to do so could be moulded fibreglass potentially upholstered with the same material as the 101 chair either way offering versatility in colour.
As the lamp is only small the dimensions would be approximately 400mm tall with a 100mm radius.
12
REFLECTION Studying Helen Kontouris was a very interesting project. To learn how a designer in today’s society is able to reach success as opposed to the designers studied in task 1 was very fascinating. Through studying Helen’s career it’s clear that in order to be successful in today’s industry it is crucial to develop unique designs that people can resonate with. Studying the 101 chair was also interesting. I was able to visit the Schiavello showrooms and although many of their pieces weren’t there due to their redesigning I was lucky enough that one of the few remaining pieces was the 101 chair. Although smaller than I had imagined the chair itself was lovely. I expected it to be highly uncomfortable as I assumed to be made of such a thin material it would be sturdy and impractical but due to the material flexing slightly when it is sat on the chair is surprisingly comfortable and to be aesthetically pleasing as well made the chair such a beautiful piece. Developing design concept inspired by this design was then a lot more enjoyable than I had first expected. It was challenging but interesting trying to incorporate ideas into the design that Helen had also done; for example the continuous flowing appearance. Overall this task was a pleasure to study. With the designer being modern and local, it made the content a lot more relatable than many other iconic designers.
13
REFERENCES -
Kontouris, Portrait, Manufacturer products, and Helen Kontouris. 'Helen Kontouris - Designer Profile At STYLEPARK'. Stylepark., 2015. Web. 17 May 2015.http://www.australiandesignreview.com/features/27019-interview-helen-
kontouris -
Australian Design Unit,. 'Helen Kontouris Design: Helen Kontouris — Australian Design Unit', 2015. Web. 17 May 2015.
http://www.australiandesignunit.com/helen-kontouris/ -
InDesign Live,. 'Profile: Melbourne Designer Helen Kontouris - INDESIGNLIVE', 2007. Web. 17 May 2015. http://www.indesignlive.com/articles/people/profile-melbourne-designer-helen-kontouris#axzz3aMYhtmMc Howlin, Jan. 'Helen Kontouris'. InDesign Issue 47: 55-59. Print. Sydney Morning Herald,. 'Australian Idols - Home Lifestyle’., 2015. Web. 17 May 2015. http://www.smh.com.au/news/home-lifestyle/australian-idols/2006/09/26/1159036546474.html
14