Metaform Urbis Article

.E. ZEALA •• PERSPECTIVES ARCHITECTURE 0 STYLE 0 DESIGN

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SPRING 2003

AN ELEGANT SHED AWARD-WINNING HOUSE GORGEOUS GLASS TUTU? HOMES &ENTERTAINMENT NEW YORK IN THE DARK OUTDOOR ROOMS ARTS FEAST

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HElIsTOP THE WORLD Architect Pete Bossley reflects on the high levels of craftsmanship and design exhibited by competitors in the Metaform 03 Design Competition. Photos by Michael Ng.

he latest In th.... rapidly evolving story of New Zealand furniture IS the MCI.lfonn Dr(~lgn Competition. the results of which were displayed ill the Auckland Museum f-rom 6Junc

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to 7 St>ptl!mbcr An ambitious pr'OJl'Ct run by lim Allan of Locw. Rcscarch. Sllpportl'd by Carter Holt Harvey and PRODESIGN. the rompchhon almt-"CI to promote design. IL'chnoIOb'Y and

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PractltlOncr-. iUlCI students from desIgn schools at Yieton.., Massey and Umlec. were mVlted to dcslgn furnltuTC usmg Grecn Seal, whIch IS PUIlIS rodwta lmprcgnatoo With n.lturally-b.lscd cellulose matcnals to &1\". It ~m\lLar propertlCS 10 il h.lrdwood Wantmg to explore , ..., blc and hU!'>lamablc uses for pme, New Zealand's Forest Research .lnd PaCific Hardwoods dl!\'cloped the mnQvahve pma.-ss over a pcnod of 18 years. The ,"colore is now bemg commercially expanded by Carter Holt Harvey Green Seal has oc-cn used prcdomln.lnlly In floonng..so the mmpelJhon was an opportUnity 10 promote other uses. Compeillors were asked 10 ubl.ise the inhen.'tll quahbcs of the timber, and explore ISSUes of transformatIon, renewal, Innovallve processes ,lnd personal exprc5Slon.

Entries were subrrutted In the fornl of draWings and models. Out of more than 80 enlnes, the ludges (Humphrey Ibn, Mark Pennington, lim Miller, Pradeep Sh.lrm.l .lnd myself) selected 38 pleas to be de\elopOO Into full seal.. prototypes for exhiblhon. From a ludglOg point of vlew, the first5tagc was a wonderful day; a day spent in a large SP.10'!: en\'eloped In a nol of draWings. models. virtual Imagery, endless coffee and debate, as we culled and re-culled the profusion of submISSions down (almost) to the n."'Iui!;lte numbers. As alway.!> With such compcllhons, entnes ranged from the Wild to the mundane, from he:lutifully conCClved and developed to harel} considered. Many schemes muld easil)' be seen as completed Pleas, while others were sdected somewhat nervously, with concems raised about the abIlity of potent Ideas to be mm"ertl'CI to furniture. We were also aware Iholl by selecting pu~ces we were committing the author.:; 10 hundreds of hours of h.lrd graft. and prob.lbly ruining their summer holidays, not to menhon theIr oonk路b,.llances'

Amvlng for the final stage. all the Judg~ admllied to hIgh level..

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of nt'rvous anhapaoon. We rememben.'d the chaUenges set by some of the models, and were prepared for potenbally cmbalTil5SlOg transfOfTT\ahons from small scale to large, both 10 terms of dt'Slgn and craftsmanship.

Few of us could have predlctl>d the delight ansmg from entenng the cxhibibon gallery. The exating.senc;e of being ImIDl.'fSlod 10 new Ideas and pr0ccsse5 was palpable. The furnIture was beautifully displayed, nicely balanced ben-.·een wall mounted and free-standing. the Itghting well modulated, and the o\erall sense of glOWIng timber was heightened by the sculptural shapes and colours. John Hayden and Tim Allan hold done a wonderful curatorial job. But even more exciting was the depth of professIOnalism and expertise we found as we dug mto the furniture m more detail.

Most of thc ideas had translated well to prototype, and some h.ld Improved dunng!.he dcvelopment process. The Gn.'Cn Seal had been exploited in the best sense, its unique qualities often forcing the furniture beyond where it might otherwise have gone.

Rmshmg Iva5 exccptional, supporting materials well chosen and detailed, proporllOlt!> carefully considered. Selccting thc winners was obviously going to be more difficult than culling the first stage! In fild, the works lh.lt seemed most appealing in model foon were h.lrd pl'CSSlod by othcrs which, now built, were more convmcmg.

produced beautiful pK.'CCS, enough of an adul'\emcnt m Itself Scrcms, IJghts, rechners, tables, chaIrs, shehing SPitems. a bath, even a sk<Jteboord and casc, a profusion of ongmallty dnd wit, commitment and skd! at all successfully adue\'ed IheJr iUrns. but they could h.l\ C, gJ\ en more bmc and dC\·elopmenL In the end SC\'en awards were gwen, bUI only after much animated dISCUSSion.

BeautIfully suspended m the COnlef" of the galief} \\ as CJII1lJmJ, (top far left), a highly commended collection of lights by Stu B.lfr-, c1uster.o of fine Slnps of tImber spreadmg downwards J.nd OUl\vards around bulbs, Cil5bng magIC shadows on the floor, \\.116 and cciling. Redolent .....Ith Imagery (Stflolted forests, "'larte brooms, .....Itches broomshCks), they achlC\·C nch ~iblhtlcs WIth minimal means.

Three t.lblcs demonstrate the vanety of ilpproach t.\l.en b) designers Neal Smith's Plal/ar (top fill' nght), profl'SSiOnal winner, M:£> his other entry Bird over Rsmgllolo, exud...' S c.llm confidence, with simple rorms elegantly resolved ,md dct'llkod The Green Scill blonded to silky white remforces the tlllldessnt.'SS of the forms. The hIghly commended We1M' Emh (prevIous spread, bollom nllddle) by compilflson IS rough, aggresslvc, and witty. icholas Len had tilkl'll stnps or the

Some deslgocr.o de.llt wIth the nohon of "transfonnation"

timber, bundled them WIth plilstic container transportatiOn strilpping. and left Ute ends ragged. Thc tubulilr stainless support structure emphaslS($ the coarseness of the top, .1lld

spconcally, whereas OUlCrs explon.'l:I the physical qualities of the l11.ltl'nal, eltht.... structurally or metaphorically. Some merely

stfCSSl'S thc notion of mobility mherent in the conccpL Intcrcsllngly, the beautiful Urban Gnr..r (special award) b)

FEW OF US COULD HAVE PREDICTED THE DELIGHT ARISING FROM ENTERING THE EXHIBITION GALLERY. THE EXCITING DISPLAYED. NICELY BALANCED BETWEEN WALL MOUNTED AND FREE·STANDING, THE LIGHTING WELL MODULATED

Some desiOIle'" deell with ttl. notIon of InR.tOl'1'Ntlon .,.elflcally wttar... om......plorad Ihe

phYlucal qlNlhU.. of tM mat.f1e" .ttttar ItntCtUl'IIlIyor

lMUIptioncally Soma m.... ty produced btielll1ful

piK'" enough of an achievement in itsell

Simon DcarslC)t, h'b clements of both approaches, combmmg elegance and tr.tnsfom1<1tion The mlncale stamless slnlclUre delicately supports a broken gnd of partt.all) concealed rods, mto which slJde double-sldoo Mluares of timbeT One side of each sqUolre is smooth.. !he other modulated "",th <iCft moon-like craters TIle fortunate o\"ner can choose between functional t..... ble or subtle sculpture 1nc thesIS might be that &,"'en table spend !iO little time hemg actually dilled upon. U1Stead of loollng 11k a surface WillMg for somethmg to happen, ~- could" ell rnetamorpho5e mto somethmg pasltne In tlus case, pcblt1\. e and "e~ beaullful As always With fumlture compehhons, seats demanded Significant attenbon. GI"en the millenrua we ha" e bt."Cn sltbng. one would thmk ""e would ha"e got scaMg perfected by now Bul somehow we managf' to keep de,,'elopmg new oncs The three a"'arded 10 IhlS e~lbltlon o1f{! no e"ception l\'c!rofu: RlI.Ilt1In1S (middle of large photo, pre\'IOUS spread) b) i\;athan Goldworth} (highly commended) transforms from a leonmc bench mto a floor-mounll'd baclrcst, cat~nng for monumen!.'\l fonnnhty or poolslde frl\'oht) With elegant ease Polynesian headresls ilnd Iiollvwood debauchery rolled mlO one, and also In nl} case, referenCe!> (Ill the cun 109 stamless rod/pivot) to e ....otlc mobile Siructures by Salnllago Calatrava Ulldt'r Cc",slrudlt'", (pre"ious spread, bottom nght) by Nadia Michaelson (spt.'Clal award) attracted Intense debate and cr1thuslasm Intended 10 be bUilt wlthm Ihe floor, the pH~e IS no more than a section of Ooorboards, hmged 10 """0 hnes to enable users to 10\, er themseh es onto the floor and find

Ihemscl\'("~ slumg within the depth of lhe ..tructurc. Decephvl ':;Imple, It b wonderfully direct and, 10 the s<'\me way that Rietveld's dehghtfully awkward路loo\...mg 'Z' chair IS, .lmazmg comfortable It amusmgly reflects the pn.."C1ommant current u: of Groen Seal as floonng.. and offers thilt wry crudeness thilt borders on the oft-ho1.nd and which u~ to be ta\..en as an

e"prcsslOn of Kn'l-ness The entry that shone as both lD1agmatwc and fuJly resoh"cc 10 stage one reappeared With aplomb as a full scale prototype Wggf!' (pre, IOUS spread, bottom leU), by James \Vhllta (student wmner). IS a ~ Imder fOmled of parallel stnps of Green Seal tl' morph fmm .!IoCJuare o1.t the ends to round 10 the centre. Bolted steel hoops, the stnps Oe, alarmmgl) under the weight of the user Elf'ganl and structuralh" danng. the piece stole the show.

Despite long dlSCUS.<;;:IOru; nbout the proportlOns of the stnps, n whelher the ongmal model had oc'(>n Improved or lessened, tt Los..~f!' milnagoo to Incorporale With dis.'\rmmg slmphclty nil th facets cilllt."C1 for 10 the bnef; innO\'i1l1on, transformation, e~plornllOn and

expression of the quallhes of the matenal.

The real \i1luc of thiS show lies well beyond the indlvidun ph_OCes 11,e .-.trength of design, lhe InnO\'iltne use of bloh.'e.hnology, .lnd the commeroal awareness combme to cre. a stunnmg e ....hlbltion that n!qulrcs even greater exposure.

Reduced to, So-'1y, 15 pieces, thIS would easily stand up to mternatlonal standards. Then.- ha\"e been discussions about H pos5lblhllCS of tounng o\erseas. It would be a shame If such opportumtles were mISSed

SENSE OF BEING IMMERSED IN NEW IOEAS ANO PROCESSES WAS PALPABLE. THE FURNITURE WAS BEAUTIFULL' AND THE OVERALL SENSE OF GLOWING TIMBER WAS HEIGHTENEO BY THE SCULPTURAL SHAPES ANO COLOURS