The MYTO chair designed by Konstantin Grcic utilises BASF material Ultradur High Speed. Its complementary characteristics led to the Idea of developing MYTO a cantilevered chair conceived as monoblock plastic injection moulding. Its high flowability, coupled with the strength of this plastic, allows an elegant transition from thick to thin cross sections and this has allowed for a design like this which has never been seen before in plastic.
2 cups of light by Yeongwoo Kim is the perfect example of how fluid plastics can be. These plastics show the material in motion, splattering on the table (it's the splatter that holds it up! whoa). Just check it out.
Eduardo Gutiérrez Munné and Jordi Fernández Río, the 31-year-old partners of ON-A Arquitectura WWW.ON-A.ES, This design is for a station that emulates the feel of (a) subway cars. Light-weight, white glass-enforced concrete covers the vertical surfaces and a resin component helps make the white floors vibration-proof.
This company Martha Sturdy creates furniture and accessories from resin. On their website you have the option of selecting a resin color for the specific product. I find it interesting the variety they achieve from one material. (accessories, chandeliers, furniture) This chair's frame is composed of aluminum, and the seating area is resin.
Elena Manferdini describes her research and installation at Los Angeles’s SCI-Arc Galley as the “effects of traditional clothing techniques on buildings”. In this project she used a laser-cut polyester as an graphic screen to conceal and reveal the body. Later this work transitioned into a pavilion designed for the architectural Biennale Beijing constructing a facade that resembled three-dimensional lacework in plastic and plywood.
This is a beautiful Art installation by Daisuke Hiraiwa called 'Skin of Spaces 02'. Hiraiwa used 1400 disposable knives which he perforated all by hand. It is amazing what he created out of this everyday material! also this perforation gives it a completely different feel to what we consider as plastic. This roughness gives the illusion of the imperfection of the natural materials.
The arena facade is constructed of 2,874 ETFE(ethylenetetrafluoroethylene)-foil air panels that are kept inflated with a constant steam of dry air to a differential pressure of 0.038 hPa.The foil has a thickness of only 0.2 mm. No two of the 2,784 diamond-shaped cushions are alike—each fits in one spot and one spot only and their installation required 35 mountain climbers. The panels appear white from far away but when examined closely, there are little dots on them: when viewed from far away, the eye combines the dots and sees white. When viewed close up however, it is possible to see through the foil. The cushions are illuminated by 5,344 lamps. Each panel can be independently lit with white, red, or blue light. On game nights, depending on which team is playing, the entire building glows with differnt colors.
This is Rachel Whiteread’s Water Tower (1998). To me, this project captures one of the most valuable qualities of resin (the tank is made of resin) -- that of being both present and nearly invisible simultaneously. And while this obviously also applies to glass and other transparent materials, there is something shadowlike resulting from this resin’s ghostedness, its (imagined) density, and its (imagined) thermal qualities that makes this water tower somehow less present than if it were glass, not to mention the absence of the cultural legacy of being a glass object. I am particularly enthusiastic about this project because of the stark contrast between two materials well outfitted to hold large amounts of water on New York’s roofs: wood and resin.
Eindhoven designers Formafantasma present this range of plastic vessels resulting from experiments with natural polymers at Spazio Rossana Orlandi in Milan. Called Botanica, the project was commissioned by Italian foundation Plart , a research institute dedicated to preserving plastic works of art and design. The designers experimented with making plastic from natural resins, rubbers, shellac, wood and animal products. These materials have been combined with traditional materials like wood, ceramic metal to furniture, lighting, vases and bowls that have shapes and details derived from natural forms like pine cones or seed pods.
The free-standing kitchen islands conceived by architect Zaha Hadid in collaboration with Ernestomeda and DuPont (developer of Corian®worktop) brings with it concrete innovations that will be useful for future production and that involve the processing of the materials, the structural organisation and the integration of advanced technologies. "The Z-Island is in line with a series of formal studies emphasizing the conceptual term of ‘fluidity’. The overall composition contains the main cooking island, the secondary island as well as a background of wall panels. The main Island is an elongated cantilevering shape (450 x 70 cm), which evolves from a horizontal cooking and eating surface continuously into a vertical digital surface. In contrast to this stretched figure the secondary Island resembles a point/drop. It contains the sink the dishwasher as well as a shelving unit. The background is an elevation of a wavy morphological puzzle consisting of modular 60 cm x 60 cm thermoformed Corian elements that are rotated and reassembled in various ways creating complex patterns on the interior walls." (Zaha Hadid website)
Amber Chamber The Amber Room in the Catherine Palace (Winter Palace), Tsarskoye Selo, near Saint Petersburg, Russia, is a complete chamber decoration of amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors. It was designed by German baroque German sculptor A.Schluter and conctructed by the Danish amber craftsman G. Wolfman, in 1701 to 1709 in Prussia period. It was lost in the chaos at the end of the war during WWII by Nazi Germany and found and rebuilt in July, 2010.Â
Ross lovegrove is attempting "organic essentialism" and is sculpting his design to fit natures engineering. This is a mold for a "designer" water bottle. it is made of polyethylene terephthalate. [polyester]
As plastic bags slowly become a thing of a past and reusable totes take over, one artist is putting the leftovers to good use Robert Janson's beautiful plastic bag installations range from delicate to heavy and resemble giant pink jellyfish. Using light, heat and air, Janson and his friends recycle the plastic bags into moving sculptures. from: http://inhabitat.com/robert-jansons-floating-plastic-bag-sculptures-resemble-giant-pink-jellyfish/