Floorscapes by Shradha Chaudhary

floorscapes design project

guide: aditi ranjan shradha chaudhary

| p.g

textile design

november 2011

floorscapes

floor coverings and beyond A fresh perspective on floor coverings was explored in this four week module. In India, floor based seating is traditional and the use of floor activities is prolific. A belief that floor based products could be needed in this context was the premise on which this course was structured. The approach for this course was based on an indepth study of a user group, where their use of the floor was studied, their needs were analysed and a product was envisaged. A design process was followed where exploration, proto-typing, testing and evaluation were emphasised. Presentations were made to peers at every stage for critique and feedback on ideas. Unconventional materials were explored in an attempt to repurpose and reuse skills and objects creatively.

contents Course Brief

Areas of investigation

Methodology

Choosing area of study

Identifying the need

Concept

Explorations

Prototype

User testing

course brief

areas of investigation

Identify opportunities for design through an indepth study of users and activities carried out on the floor or on low level seating.

Lifestyle & trends:

User group:

Types of floor coverings:

Study use of floor and daily activities of chosen user group. Analysis of daily activity to identify a need for floor covering. Develop a concept idea and explore by sketching. Identify unconventional materials available at local markets that can be used creatively to make floor coverings.

home office work space indoors / outdoors study travel retail outlets wellbeing : yoga, meditation public spaces : gallery, atrium, lounge

Materials

Techniques

professional student housewife single parent elderly children convalescent

animal skin felt rug flat rug carpet grass mats rag rug prayer rug blanket quilt mattress cushion

Develop the explorations to make a prototype and test it with users for feedback

methodology

sustainable

need identification

information collection

feedback

choosing area for study testing evaluation further improvement

culture

concept

prototyping

keywords -

reuse re purpose metaphor analogy interactive modularity flexible environment friendly reinterpretating traditional techniques

research analysis synthesis articulation of concept

exploration sampling

Today, the bridge between our professional and personal life are thinning. Technology has made it possible for us to work anywhere.. The concept of carrying office in a briefcase is well known and working from home is a chosen lifestyle. This routine is quite understood as one saves time, money and energy by avoiding the obvious traffic and pollution. Home has now become a versatile space. Several activities revolve around one specific space which has to accommodate different needs. Work, relaxation and entertainment are such basic activities. Proper utilization of this limited space for varied purposes has created a need for a multipurpose seating. Our society is segmented in terms of income and profession. These attributes define the lifestyle and hence the requirements of an individual. To identify, and to understand a need, several people from different segments of the society have to be observed and studied.

segment 1 small business professionals work at home

Name: Amdo from Himachal Pradesh Location: Paldi char rasta Profession: Runs a small momo place

Observation: - One room, where he entertains his customers during the day and sleeps during night. This room is shared by him and his friend.

- He folds his ‘chatai’ for his customers to sit and eat on. He unfolds the same ‘chatai’ to sleep at night.

- He painted the walls white with blue stripe. It makes the room look bigger and it illuminates with the natural light coming from the big windows.

- To extend space for his kitchen he broke one wall and extended it with net and tarpaulin This allows him a lot of ventilation and light.

- There is a low sitting arrangement, which adds to the comfort and gives a casual look.

Name: Jyoti Ben Location: Madhavpura Profession: Sells footwear : mojiris and rubber chappals

Observations: - She stays alone. - She buys mojiris from the artisans and sells them in front of her house.

- She uses a newspaper while sitting outside and has a gadda(mattresses) in her house on which she sleeps.

- She also sells cheap rubber chapals which she displays on the footpath in front of her house.

Name: Pratap Bhai Hariram Sitara Location: Madhavpura Profession: Mojiri makers

Observations: - Showroom and workshop on ground floor and house on the first floor. - Work divided among family members. - Six people staying in one room+veranda : Pratap bhai, his wife, two daughters, father and mother.

Name: Sangeeta Ben Location: Madhavpura Profession: Sells footwear : mojiris

- The men makes the mojiris downstairs at the workshop. The women do the embroidery on the footwear upstairs inside the house while doing the household work simultaneously. - Prefer sitting on the floor. - Anything placed on the floor disrupts their working space.

- Work with materials like glue, wood, leather. - Sometimes they would fold two or three fabrics to sit on. - Every door has a foot mat and everyone uses it to clean their feet before entering any room.

Observations: - Big family. mother-in-law owner of this business. - The job of selling footwear are conducted by the women of the household, on their porch Men have other jobs to attend. - Two room house and a veranda where they sell their footwear.

- The daughter-in-law likes to sit on a chair or an elevated clean furniture, she is conscious about sari getting dirty. - The mother-in-law is more comfortable sitting on the ground.

Name: NID Location: NID Mess Profession: Cooking

Name: Naresh Bhai Location: Gulbai Tekra Profession: Murti maker - sculptor

Observations: - 4 to 5 men stay back after the night mess, which ends at 2a.m in the morning.

Observations: - He makes murti out of plaster of Paris

- They sleep on the terrace room at night or in the mess according to the climate and convenience. - They sleep on separate gaddas(matteress) - Exploited labour, lack of facilities, ambience, basic hygiene and dignity

- His workshop is next to his house. - This art has been in his family for generations. - They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t use any floor covering because of the material and also a lot of time is spend standing while sculpting

Name: Pratap Bhai Location: Gulbai Tekra Profession: Street food vender

Observations: - Family of 7-8 people - All of them share one room - He has set up his food selling business on a wooden table in front of his house.

Name: Sheela Ben Location: Gulbai Tekra Profession: Sells cold drinks

- He has 3 charpayis, where his parents rests. - He sits on a broken chair while waiting for his customers.

Observations: - She sells cold drinks in front of her house. - She is unmarried helping her father to earn some extra money and wants to educate her younger sister.

- He uses the big tree very cleverly to set up a shade for himself.

Name: Nimesh Bhai Location: Gulbai Tekra Profession: Makes murtis

Observations: - Has his workshop next to his house. - They first make the design on p.o.p, cover it with melted rubber which becomes a cast. This cast is used several times. They pour mixture of p.o.p and certain metals in this cast to make their murtis. - The ladies work on making of the murtis and the men does the painting job.

Veshti weavers in Tamil Nadu Ammapet, Salem (during craft documentation)

- They have set up a separate space for making murtis and a separate shed for painting. - All of them sit on the floor while working. But they keep their murtis on newspapers while painting to keep the floor clean.

Observations: - All of them have looms inside their houses. - Reedmaking and piecing : done while sitting on the floor. - Weaving is done on raised pit looms. They sit on cemented platform while weaving. - Weaving is an integral part of their life. - All the activities are shared within the family members.

Name: Krishan Bhai, Kumti Ben Location: Naroda Profession: Krishan bhai works in Trendy Room Export Pvt. Ltd. as a stock manager and his wife Kumti does tailoring at home.

Name: Jyoti Ben Location: Naroda Profession: Embroidery work

Observations: - They live in a one rented room.

Observations: - Takes up small contracts to work on.

- Kumti ben bought a stitching machine to work at home. - She also had to purchase a stool to sit and work on the machine which was quite costly. - They have a mattress on which they sleep. She keeps it folded during the day as they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t require anything to sit on and it takes a lot of space.

- They also have a charpai. It is stored outside the room to free the floor off furniture. - The floor is used for having meals and sleeping, hence is kept very clean. - They have a floor mat on which they wipe their feet before entering the house. - A paint can is reused as a fan stool

- She does embroidery on saris, glass painting and also teaches girls all activities performed in a parlour.

choose a darker color dhurrie because she keeps loosing her needle and works with small sitara or sequences to put on saris.

- She lives in one room with her family. She bought a special dhurrie to spread and work on the floor as she requires a uniform surface to sit comfortably for long hours. She

Name: Sushila Ben and her relatives Location: Naroda Profession: Papad makers - papad is One of the dry goods which is deep fried or roasted over a flame and eaten along with meals Observations: - They were scared and concerned before letting me inside and taking their pictures. - There were ten rooms, five on each side within a long lane with gates on both sides. Families of four-five relatives are staying here. - The ladies make papad after they are through with their house-hold work. - The papad vendor gives them the dough and pays them monthly wages. - They sit on small stools or patla to make papads. Pressing the dough with belan requires a certain pressure which is difficult to do while sitting on the floor.

- Few use only patla, some put a pillow on it and work while others whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s patla have broken use only pillows. - All of them complained about back aches and neck aches, but said what can they do they have no other option but to work sitting on the floor. - Procedure of making papad: - first make the dough - then take the dough and stretch it nicely into a cylindrical mass - they have a long thread with a cylindrical piece of wood attached to it. They take one end of the tread under their toe finger and with the help of the

wooden piece they cut the dough into small circular pieces - keeping these circular pieces on their steel plates they make the papad - they dry their papads on their charpais which are covered with jute boris

segment

young professionals work from home

Name: Dinesh Sharma Location: Sanjay apartments, C.N circle Profession: Architect and graphic designer

Observations: - Proper demarcation of his work space and resting space. - Likes to play guitar. - Wants two surfaces to work on : one vertically displayed, for him to look at his work and one horizontally so as to create enough space to spread his work.

- Doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any separate area to have food. - Doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like anything on the floor as it makes the room look smaller. - Light and ventilation is a concern.

- Is health conscious, needs stretching after long hours of work.

- Storing, stacking is a major issue and also likes to have spaces where he can store and hide it somewhere : under bed, multifunctional rack.

- Cleaning is a major concern. He gets his room cleaned once a week.

- Bed is also used as a seat for the table which is placed beside the double bed.

Name: Shyaam Location: Sanjay apartments, C.N circle Profession: Artist

Name: Mansi Location: Sanjay apartments, C.N circle Profession: Architect and journalist

Observations: - Paints in his room cum studio.

Observations: - Has set up a small work space for herself in her room.

- Plays musical instruments. - Has set up his painting area where he gets enough daylight. - Storing his artwork is one of his major concern.

- His work demands for him to sit and work for several hours. - According to the size of his painting he needs to keep adjusting the height of his chair which sometimes becomes impossible and very uncomfortable

- A slanting table for writing and a floor mat for seating. - During night she doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get enough light to work. - Likes clean and open space in her room.

Name: Dilshaad Location: Sanjay apartments, C.N circle Profession: Artist

Name: Sushmita Dey Location: Pushkar II Profession: Textile designer

Observations: - She is staying in the living room of the two room apartment shared by three people.

Observations: - Stays in a two room rented apartment.

- She paints and works on her laptop. - She uses her mattress for sleeping, relaxing, while working on her laptop and also for entertaining her friends.

- She prefers to paint while standing. - They have a kitchen and a common space where they usually dine and also entertain their clients. - She also enjoys playing guitar.

- She has employed two tailor masters and few women who do embroidery. - One of the room is converted into stitching room and the ladies who come for handwork occupy the living room during the day

- Her tailor masters stitched a special cushions for themselves to accommodate their height to the juki machines. - She has arranged all her sitting and sleeping activities on few mattresses.

clean and spacious look to the room. - One of the major problem she faces is of storage

- The look of a mattress, cushions and a rug gives a very

Name: Rusha Location: Jodhpur gam crossing Profession: Runs Lucy Chinese Beauty Parlor

Name: Unnati Location: Pushkar II Profession: Runs Riddhi Beauty Parlour

Observations: - Rusha is from Bihar. She stays and runs her beauty parlour in one room apartment.

Observations: - Working mother.

- She has a bed on which she sleeps and does her beauty parlour activities, a beauty parlour chair and a wooden cabinet also used for sitting.

- In order to take care of her little child she opened her beauty parlour at home.

- Now as her son has grown up she has opened her beauty parlour at Vishvakunj char rasta.

- Converted her sonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s room for work during the day.

Name: Avishek Location: Ruby apartments, Paldi Profession: Studying film and vedio at NID

Name: Mamta Location: Narayan Nagar Road Profession: Owner of Dirty Hnads

Observations: - They have converted one room apartment into their office. - They are using office chairs, wooden chairs, cushions to sit and work on their desktops. - Four to five people live upstairs which is the terrace area.

- They have one room upstairs and have covered certain areas of the terrace with tarpaulin for work. - They make silicon mannequins, hence they need a lot of space which gets dirty.

Observations: - One room apartment shared by two people. - He works long hours on his desktop and because he has not been using the appropriate chair he now has a severe back problem.

- They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have an almira as it takes a lot of space and they keep shifting. They hang their cloths on hanger they created from bamboo rod.

space. The major activities conducted throughout the day are on these furnishings.

- The work table and the computer occupies an important

segment

entrepreneurs own studios

Name: Himanshu Location: Pushkar I Profession: Owner of MediaShala

Observations: - They have an apartment converted into office. They live in separate places. - One person had been staying in their office as he didn’t have a place of his own. And also a most of the time they end up staying back due to long hours of work. - They have a separate space for relaxing with bean bags where most of the time people take naps but they usually get up with terrible back aches. - He points out storage is a big problem. - Likes to play guitar but has no place to store it.

- One of the major problem he faced was a place to hide his mattresses. Right now he has just kept them under his table, but when a client comes over and looks at them it gives a wrong impression. - He got few square cushions stitched which has multipurpose : when three of them are kept together one sleeps on them, use them as chair cushions and he has a low table kept in one of his rooms where they sit on the cushions and work. - Himanshu says he doesn’t want a very comfortable chair while he is working as one tends to get

lazy and fall asleep. He pointed out the ball chair which Google made for their employees is a good example. - He believes taking regular breaks is necessary for the body. One of the reasons why none of them eat in the office or have tea. - He had planned to have a full floor covering in his office but due to delay couldn’t get it done, which he says turned out to be a good thing as the weather of Ahmedabad spoils the floor coverings with dust.

Name: Nalini Khan Location: Near Circuit House, Shahibaug Profession: Textile designer, Owner of Delta Impex

Observations: - Owner of Delta Impex - they export men’s shirting - apparel wear. - Teaches in as visiting faculty in NIFT and Ruffles School. - Works from home. - Con’s - one keeps getting disturbed, Pro’s - was able to do both work and take care of her family.

- Has created a small space for herself to work in her room. - Can not bend and sit down because of her knee injury. - Uses dinning table often to spread her work. - Floor rug is only used in the living room

Name: Anuj Sharma Location: Monalisa apartments, Paldi Profession: Fashion designer

Name: Aratrik Devvarman Location: Samay apartments, Paldi Profession: Textile designer

Observations: - Workshop in one apartment and stays in the adjoining apartment.

Observations: - Studio is work space not used for living.

- Has a dark color rug for the master to sit and work on. He spread his needles and tiny buttons and embellishments on the even dark color surface. - Has utilised one space for storing his things

- Proper space utilisation. - Storage a major concern. - Clean floor. - Foldable chairs. - Appropriate lighting

Name: Studio Verve Location: Paldi Profession: Artists

Name: Studio Verve - Arpit and Ba Location: Paldi Profession: Artists

Observations: - Small space, too many people.

Observations: - Like to work on floor - hence have a wooden floor made.

- They have a lot of people over for discussions. - Sometimes few people who have come from outside tend to stay here.

- Have a space where they relax or sleep over due to late night work. - Use walls for putting up their ongoing work.

Spending a day with Dilshaad, a self made artist and meeting people at Studio Verve

Name: Dilshaad from Bhopal Location: Sanjay apartments, C.N circle Profession: Artist Number of people: four people sharing a three room apartment - Dilshaad is doing her freeship of six months with Kanoria Center for Arts. - She does not follow any particular schedule. Everyday is different. Now days she works late at night and wakes up late in the afternoon. - She says she even take long breaks from work for weeks and then work furiously for months. Her lifestyle depends on the project she is working on. - I visited her on a Sunday from 12:00p.m till 5:00p.m and on a Tuesday from 4:00pm till 9:00pm.

Time

Activity

Ambience

Insight

Quite - two of her flat mates were still sleeping and one was working in his room. Light - once she opens the curtains the room was illuminated with sunlight, there was no need for artificial light throughout the day. Props - 1)mattress for sleeping/sitting/ reclining kept in one corner of the room next to a wall, 2)one low table next to her mattress to keep her laptop and stationery, the top of this table is not attached to the stand hence is also used as a board sometimes, 3)one big ceramic pot with itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top broken in which she has kept few sticks of bamboo, 4)a stand on which she has hung a printout of the project brief on which she is currently working, 5)canvas stand, 6)her portfolios takes one section of the room, 7)one glass table to work, a chair and one big wooden rack to keep her belongings and also has two portable lamps, 8)own paintings on the wall Space - from one corner to the other one can see the transition of her living space to her work space : mattress with her personal things - low table with her laptop and project work - her canvases and paintings - her glass table on which she paints

- She has converted the living room as her work/bed room. - Placed a mattress on one corner of the room next to which she keeps her suitcase with her cloths in it, a horizontal rack with her books, music system and other stationers and her guitar. - Her bedsheet is black and white matched with black satin cushions. This with the big pot which is half white and half black paint splash with bamboo sticks looks really chic. - She cleans her place once is twothree days. Her area gets quite dirty as it is right next to the main door. She has troubling sweeping as all her work is spread around and has to fold her mattress to sweep under it. - She mostly stands and paints. She is working with acrylic paints and need a free movement of her hands. She has one old chair on which she sits to take few minutes break and look at her work. - She currently has a flat glass table on which she is working, it was given to her by one of her flatmates. She wants a good canvas stand to work on but right now going through a financial crunch hence cant afford one.

sunday: 12:00 p.m

Wakes up

Time

Activity

Insight

12:30 p.m

Cooks brunch for herself

Busy - now the house is busy, she is cooking and one of the flatmateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s client has come over for a meeting. Space - they have a big living room. The bigger section is occupied by her and the other section is a common sitting/ dinning space. The kitchen is next to the common space. She cooks here with the necessary equipment. Dinning - she goes in one of the rooms to eat quickly. The dinning space was occupied to entertain the client

- The common space is furnished with two old bulky sofa. One because they dint have money to buy new furniture, second to give it a little formal look and third they had old sofa set and dint want to discard them. - The table kept here is not ideal for eating but good to keep utensils while eating or stationery while having a meeting. The table top is not attached to the stand hence is also used as a board if one wants to work on it similar to the low table Shaad is using in her space.

1:00 p.m

Starts work

Quite again - other people have got busy with their work and she also starts her work. Space - she cleans her table and the clutter around it to move freely while painting.

- The sunlight coming from the open window is perfect for working.

1:00 p.m - 4:30 Continues working p.m

Ambience

- The glass table is kept adjoining a wall. This allows her to keep her work relined on the wall and work, while moving across the three sides of the table. - She has two mugs of water, paints, her canvas and her other paintings on the table.

Time

Activity

4:30 p.m

Tea break

5:00 p.m

Went out to display her work with ‘ek anek’ at Law Garden

Ambience Change of place - she makes her tea and goes to a veranda attached to one of the room. As they stay on the 8th floor the sight from the veranda is quite pleasant.

Insight - She relaxes having tea looking at the sun go down. - She takes regular breaks when she is working. She says its good to take a break and get back to her painting as she can then make out the mistakes. Outing/work - she goes out to display her work in Law Garden with the group called ‘Ek Se Anek’

Tuesday: 4:00 p.m

Met her at Kanoria Centre for Arts.

5:00 p.m

Went to her place. Made tea and relaxed.

6:00 - 8:00 p.m She worked on her laptop. Made some phone calls. Took a nap.

8:30 p.m

A friend came over for some work.

Space - she has a space to herself at Kanoria Centre for Arts. She mostly likes to display her work here and get feedback from her colleagues.

- Apart from working on her project she participates in several exhibitions, organises a few and help her colleagues with their work.

Light - they don’t have sufficient artificial light. One reason is because the electricity bill comes to high and other she does not like to work under tube lights. She has two-three portable lamps which she keeps moving but is quite inconvenient. Props - she adds little things to her room which reminds her of home for example: her mothers necklace. It gives a very nostalgic feel to the room.

- She uses her bamboo sticks to hang several things. For example on that day she hung her mother’s neck piece because she was feeling homesick. - She places several red color toy pieces on her table to give some color to her space.

- She either entertain her friends on the common room or allow them to sit comfortably on her bed.

Name: Studio Verve - Arpit, Ba and Akkireddy Location: Paldi Profession: Artists Number of people: maximum 15 people seating can be accommodated in one room - They have five rooms in this apartment turned work space. The apartment is in the basement. - One room can accommodate approximately 15 people at one time. - No one is living in this apartment at the moment. But earlier it was occupied by two people and also when artists come here for interaction they tend to stay here.

Activity Discussions and Presentations

Ambience

Insight

Space - Discussions and presentations mainly happen in one room which is specifically been furnished for these activities. Low seating is arranged on three corners of the room and the fourth corner is occupied by open racks. A rug is kept in the centre with seating cushions around it. Props - Paintings on wall. Everything is kept for low seating so as to accommodate as many people in this small space. They have constructed racks from discarded wood to fit perfectly in their required space. They have kept a small television and d.v.d player on which they run their presentations. They also have round stools to sit on for people who are not comfortable sitting on the floor. Light - As the apartment is in the basement it does not get sufficient light. So they have a lot of artificial lighting. And in order to add to the ambience they have added a hanging lamp. Ventilation - Specifically for ventilation purpose they made an exhaust area which also allows some daylight.

- Most of the people engaged with studio verve fall in the younger age group. Hence they could opt for low seating arrangement in their studio. - The wall allows them to have a back rest and also they have kept cushions for comfort. - They have used bright color paintings on the wall and also the furnishings they have kept are in bright colors. - They did not cover the entire floor as the room would look much smaller. They have kept a rectangular maroon color rug which is small enough to keep space from the floor cushions and big enough to cover the centre area of the room. - On this rug they kept a glass cover small portable table. They dint use any bulky furnisher. - They have hung their paintings in a very balanced way. In order to break this balance in their room they have constructed wooden racks which are kept in lop-sided position. - They have also kept a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;hukkaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in this room as they think it gives a little relaxed feel and also because they use this room for entertainment purposes. - This room is also used for relaxing/ sleeping purposes.

Activity

Ambience

Insight

Exhibition

They convert the other four rooms for displaying their art work when they keep an exhibition. But the main room which is used for discussions and presentations remains the same. These rooms also have appropriate artificial lighting and exhaust area. The furniture they keep adding or reducing according to the requirements.

- No floor covering in these rooms - Multi- purpose rooms - One problem they face is storing the furniture. They keep taking out or adding the furniture according to their requirements. But these furniture they have to store in some other space or apartment.

Studio

The other four rooms when they are not exhibiting any work are mostly used as work space where they spread their paints and canvases.

- Cleaning is one of the major concern when it comes to a work space being converted into a place they also exhibit their work

Relaxation / Home

- The main room is the multifunctional room. Apart from work they also used it for relaxing. If someone is staying in this apartment they usually occupy this room. The low seating cushions allows one to sit/recline/sleep on them

Workshops

- They also take workshops for kids. They encourage kids to involve in creative and interactive activities. Sometimes they keep competitions in the schools and sometimes they teach in their studio. The main room is again occupied for this activity.

scope for floor covering Young professionals in their early stages of setting up independent studios often work from home. They live and work in the same space, usually occupying one room in a large apartment. They are unable to invest on hard furniture due to their economic conditions.

need - Functional product : one product which can be used for relaxing/ reclining/sitting/sleeping - Enhance aesthetic appeal of space : the product should be able to change or add to the look of the room according to the mood of the person - Mobile : it should be easy to carry or move - Low maintenance : washable/ easy to clean - Cost effective : should not be very expensive but should be of good quality so that it is long lasting - Easy to store : if and when the product is not in use, it needs to be stowed away conveniently - Ergonomically suitable : it enables the user to sit in the right posture while he/she is working and also allow them to relax when required - Observations : 1) all of them liked either listening to music or playing an instrument, 2) need stretching exercise after long hours of work.

living and work

= space

To develop a product which allows a person to utilise a limited space for several activities such as: sitting / reclining / relaxing and working.

developing ideas for floor coverings

cushion

c) b)

a) bed

Relaxing low seating

Low seating Low table -Detachable - can have different color and printed covers in a cushion

Try out different shapes:

f) Closed table (can store things inside)

g) Low seating foot rest / low level table

low seating

can be hung and used as a screen / room divider

turns into a bed when opened Lamp (can be rolled)

chair

bed

table + cushion = bed table

seating

table

mattress (one side)

wooden rack (other side)

joinery

rack with mattress on face + table = bed

rack when opened

exploring unconventional materials -

elastic bands rubber bands straws ropes made of plastic waste paper foam velvet rolls

exploring braiding technique

braiding with elastic

- braid is a complex intertwining of soft flexible materials. - braiding flat elastic bands made for an exciting three dimensional rectangular seating. - the elastic bands allows flexibility, which when stretched provides curved structures. - when the two edges of this rectangular form are joined, it converts into a circular form.

attempt to weave elastic

prototype

options of using the seating

A rectangular long seating - providing seating for several people.

Love seat - allowing two people to seat

Circular seating combining one small and one big circular seatings.

One seating by shaping the elastic band into a spiral.

By keeping one circular braided elastic seating on top of the other, height of the seat can be increased.

cushioning for comfort Each node of the braided structure, based on the interlacing of the two elastic bands encloses a square space within.

This space had been utilised to insert cushions, creating volume, allowing the structure to open up.

options of using the cushioned seating

Costing: Elastic:

Detailing - magnets attached on the sides of the seating

Options for inserting cushions

- one meter of 2 inch elastic : Rs.50 - one meter of 3.5 inch elastic : Rs.60 Elastic used: - two small white seating : - 2 inch elastic band - 25 meters each - Rs 1250 each Total - Rs.2500 - one bif black seating: - 3.5 inch elastic band - 50 meters of elastic band Total - Rs 3000 Square cushions: - total fabric cost : Rs.1000 - total coat of polyfill foam : Rs.550 Total cost : Rs.7050

user testing