It was millenniums ago as a design student that I was in awe of French chronophotographer Etienne-Jules Marey, known for his graphic studies of humans, animals and objects in motion. I’m glad to have come across the works of Dutch designer Kirsten Enkelmann who was inspired by Etienne and recalled my interest with motion and its influence on design (read Wear Out).

Folded Fiction is a sports-inspired collection showcasing a dazzling feat of pleats. Working on a mix of low-tech and high-tech constructions, Kirsten utilized the traditional knife pleat on a variety of fabrics from cotton to pigskin, and lasercuts on neoprene to produce stretch pleats. Take a peek!

Check out this new collection by Neo Dia

The German magazine design Novum , has commissioned the creative agency Paperlux in producing a cover for their next issue comprising of 1,000 faceted and colored triangles that can be bent along lines. Designers Carolin and Max Kuehne Rauen were inspired by the ideas and structural designs of Richard Buckminster Fuller.

Click here to view the embedded video.

via experimenta_es

Iris van Herpen showcased her five new architectural looks alongside her previous pieces for the Haute Couture collection, combining 3D printing with hand-made processes. The result is a remarkable overview of Iris’s works that featured her profound craftsmanship and her skillful grasp of the materials in relation to the body. I look forward to more!

Photos courtesy of Iris van Herpen

Designed by Park Associati of Milan and sponsored by Electrolux, The Cube is a dining pavilion unveiled for the first time on April 1st placed atop the Parc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels, Belgium. The traveling pavilion will pop up on a series of landmark sites across Europe over the course of 2011 tailored for a unique dining experience and other events.

Two Electrolux Cube’s will travel across Europe offering a dining experience for 18 guests per setting in locations, namely on top of monuments, buildings and even water platforms in Belgium, Italy, Russia, Switzerland and Sweden but only for three months at each location.

The Cube has been conceived as a portable and lightweight module with ease of assembly, and designed to suit all climatic conditions. The pavilion’s lightness of form is emphasized by the faceted and white aluminum surface with varying perforations of laser-cut geometric motifs.

Pavilion in context

Elevation

Plan of the perforations on the faceted skin

Detail of the varying sizes of the geometric perforation

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Project team:

Client: Electrolux

Event planner: Absolute Blue, Brussels

Architect: Park Associati, Milano

Logo and texture design: Studio FM, Milano

Photo credits: Carol Kohen & Danica O. Kus

Based on the fictitious inhabitants of Ethiopia in year 2012, fashion designer Karin Wuthrich merged Inuit tribal clothing, African body art and European patterns to produce a monochromatic collection filled structurally (pleated) lapels.

Designer’s statement:
If one were to ask the philosopher Wittgenstein what is actually possible in history, he would answer: ‘What is thinkable is also possible.’ What if the course of history could be changed in order to allow something new to develop? In my fiction I joined Inuit with European and African tribes together in the Ethiopian capitol of Addis Abeba in the 17th century to create a new culture. I then tried to imagine what this Addis Abeba would have become if the city had developed into a modern metropolis. My women’s collection shows the clothing of the fictitious inhabitants in the year 2012. Angular forms and padding recall Inuit clothing. African body art determined new silhouettes; richly embroidered European clothing inspired my prints. Materials like flowing silk, technical fabrics, leather and wool support the differentiated effect. Each article of clothing has its own history of development and is part of the traditions of my fictitious world.

In a few short hours, I’ll be heading off to London for a visit! I’d love to hear from you of any recommendations on food, hot spots, and exhibitions in the great city! See you in a bit.

Still two more days left for a chance to win this awesome Paul Jackson book! More details on entering right here. Don’t miss out!

Named Growing Light, designer Jordy Rooijakkers created a lighting prototype using OLED Technology, and which folds and unfolds in response to human touch. Check out the videos:

One of his tests that explores the behavior of the lights

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thai artist/designer Saran Yen recently tipped me on her paper cut-out animation. Titled Early Morning Life, the film was inspired by her family, and was produced as a form of critique on the vast gap between the rich and the poor in modern Thai society. The miniature set designs were created from different materials such as paper, fabrics, acrylic or even organic component such as wheatgrass, leaves etc. The result is a folksy, dream-like quality of a typical Thai village scene filled with fantastical rainbow of hues and textures. Check out the animation after the break

Click here to view the embedded video.

Early Morning life is an animated film told through the eyes of a stuck up middle class son about his parents’ poor childhood, their hidden ambitions, and how they escaped from the harsh reality of life. Emphasizing the fact that “class strata” exist even in a family institution, the film’s visual style is taken from neon-paintings that are commonly seen in souvenir shops and usually considered “low” art. It is a critic on modern Thai society where the gap between the rich and the poor is extremely vast. This results in everything from politics, lifestyle, culture, or even in a family institution. Nevertheless, the focus of the film will be on the working class or the mundane Thais and how they create their mental space to escape from the harsh reality of life, also known as the term “escapism”. It is mental diversion by means of entertainment or recreation, as an “escape” from the perceived unpleasant or banal aspects of daily life. It can also be used as a term to define the actions people take to help relieve persisting feelings of depression or general sadness. Some might call it daydreams or ambitions but this escape place either way is a mental cure from the rigors of daily life.

The main message is simple. The appreciation of little things in life, hopes and dreams, can also be very rewarding and that true happiness is there somewhere in the backyard.

Pleat enthusiasts, hobbyists, architects, designers, design students and teachers, rejoice! If you’ve been searching for a great reference on the basics of folding, paper artist and professional folder Paul Jackson recently released his book titled Folding Techniques for Designer: From Sheet to Form. In conjunction with Laurence King Publishing, Pleat Farm will be giving away copies to two lucky winners. Sneak a peek at the book, and check out the giveaway instructions.

This is not your typical instructional book on origami models. Rather, it is a concept book on folding. Simply titled Folding Techniques for Designer: From Sheet to Form, the book is a culmination of Paul Jackson’s years of teaching folding concepts at his ‘Sheet to Form’ workshops to university-level students of fashion, textiles, ceramics, graphic design, architecture, packaging, and many more. Key techniques are presented starting with the basics of dividing the paper and the subsequent chapters describing the folding fundamentals of pleating, crumpling and box making.

As the book progresses, each chapter delves further into a folding topic in greater detail. In the case chapter on ‘Basic Pleats’, Paul dissected the topic and classified them into ‘Accordion’, ‘Knife’, ‘Box’ and ‘Incremental’ pleats, with each sub-category clearly illustrated through step-by-step drawing sequence, gridded crease pattern diagrams and photographs.

One of the chapters called ‘Spans and Parabolas’ is a take on folds which result in structural forms resembling architectural roof spans as shown below.

Another fascinating chapter challenges the origami technique by simply forming a piece of paper with no crease or just one crease by inducing a curvature on the sheet. The result is simplicity.

The book is accompanied by a CD containing all the crease pattern drawings.

Here are the instructional videos based on the book:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

About the author:
Paul Jackson has been a professional paper folder and paper artist since 1982 and is the author of 30 books on paper arts and crafts. He has taught the techniques of folding on more than 150 university-level design courses in the UK, Germany, Belgium, the US, Canada and Israel. These include courses in Architecture, Graphic Design, Fashion Design, Textile Design, Jewellery, Product Design, Packaging, Ceramics, Industrial Design, Fine Art, Basic Design and Interior Design. He has also taught many workshops in museums, arts centers and festivals and has worked as a folding consultant for companies such as Nike and Siemens.

A video clip from Between the Fold documentary:

Click here to view the embedded video.

2 Ways to Win: Enter Twice to Increase Your Odds

You can enter by joining the Pleat Farm Facebook Fan Page or by following Pleat Farm on Twitter. Please read the details below. Feel free to use both methods of entry, giving you 2 entries into the giveaway and increasing your odds of winning.
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Enter by “Liking” our Facebook Page:

First, leave a message in the Comments section of this post.

Next, “Like” the Pleat Farm Facebook Fan Page & leave the following message ”hey @pleatfarm count me in for the giveaway http://tinyurl.com/pleatgiveaway #pf01”
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Enter by Following P|F on Twitter

1. Follow P|F on twitter @pleatfarm

2. Tweet the following message “hey @pleatfarm count me in for the giveaway”
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Selecting the Winner

On Wednesday June 29th, 2011 TWO names will be randomly selected from all the entries to win the book prizes. The winners will be announced on the Pleat Farm Facebook Fan Page as well as through Twitter.
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If you don’t want to wait that long,

Folding Techniques for Designer is available for purchase here.

Textile and printmaking artist Anni Albers of the Bauhaus fame has been a source of inspiration since design school. Her later printmaking etchings and lithographs in the 70s comprised of geometrical prints with triangular articulations loosely reminiscent of creased origami patterns on paper.

Enjoy!

If you like the works of Anni Albers, check out this book: The Prints of Anni Albers: Catalogue Raisonne

via but does it float

Photos courtesy of National Gallery of Australia

Sarah Mok is a fourth-year fashion design graduate at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, and her collection, which placed her third at the iD International Emerging Designer Awards, is simply a feast for the eyes. Ephemeral Reverie is an illusory exploration in the fleeting quality of the garment through its form, color and movement. This is achieved through intricate biomorphic sculptural pieces that encompass the body, creating a powerful volumetric form along with a rich gradation of shades, tones and textures.

Thanks to Sarah for giving us peek at your works!

Designer’s statement:
My collection explores the sculptural and artistic approach to fashion.

The central focus is to create a sense of illusion through the form, colour and its movement to evoke an ephemeral quality to the garment, as if possessing its own life.

This is achieved through intricate organza pieces that encompass the body creating a powerful three-dimensional form. Moreover the subdued colours and tones created by hand dip-dying play an integral role in enlivening the garment and setting the mood to the collection.

These sculptural pieces are made from hundreds of organza square pieces and strips that are individually joined by transparent nylon thread and then draped on a simple organza base garment.

My passion for sculptural garments came from designers like Iris van Herpen, Sandra Backlund and Mary Katrantzou for her vibrant colours and unique textile prints that evoke a sense of illusion and dimension by creating a relationship between the interior inspired prints and the silhouette of the garment.

Five Hungarian design students from the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design collaborated on a collection made by re-using leather belts and shoes Alluding to creatures of ancient Greek mythology and science fiction themes, the recycled leather was given new life by the white paint yet still retains the quality of the worn leather beneath.

Thanks to Iidiko for the images.

Design team: Kata Horvath, Piroska Gyetvai, Monika Metal, Ildiko Mikula and Edit Urban.

Photos were made by Zsofia Levai
make-up by Anna Rozsnyay
models Reka Petho, Viktoria Bate, and Lilla Rozsahegyi.

What happens when your filing cabinet is bursting at the seams from years of storage? Take cues from artist Nava Lubelski who used tax returns, rejection letters, and other collected waste paper and  rolled them into these breathtaking sculptures.

Artist statement:
Shredded paper sculptures, such as the Tax Files, reconfigure a mass of paper that has been grouped and saved due to written content, into slabs reminiscent of tree cross-sections where the climate of a given year, and the tree’s overall age are visible in a single slice. Historical information is revealed in the colors of deposit slips, pay stubs, receipts and tax forms. The cellular coils spiral outward, mimicking biological growth, as they are glued together into flat rounds, which suggest lichen, doilies or disease. The re-use of paper, as well as the attempted “repair” of the long-lost original tree, is an examination of feelings of despair about waste and unsustainability while simultaneously responding to the shadow impulse to hoard and keep what is no longer needed.

Tax Files

Rejection Letters

Check out the Tron-inspired, polygonal textured new work from fashion designer, Alba Prat, whose last collection was featured here.

Digitalized

Tron, a cult film from 1982, takes place in two parallel universes: the real and the virtual. Through a laser that converts real people into pixels, the world of Tron appears like a strange foreign world without sun, where androids live surrounded by 3D landscapes.

The film has a strong retro character given by the era of production, which coexists with  a high-tech nature. Both aspects are the basis of my collection. It consists in androgyn, straight silhouettes out of wool, leather, cotton and lack. Through different techniques I have created cube patterns on the surface of some of the materials. Giving the designs a technical yet minimalist character.

Photography: Jonas Lindstroem
Model: Aleks (Izaio)
Hair & Makeup: Tatjana Kühr

Flotilla by French artist Etienne Cliquet features a series of paper origami measuring two to three centimeters in length which   folds in or out in response to the capillary (absorptive) action when in contact with water. Watch the video for the (un)folding magic.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Greetings, readers! Thanks for your patience after my long absence due to personal obligations which I won’t go into details. To mark the occasion, I want to showcase this  gorgeous group of wooden huts by Canada’s Patkau Architects, designed to provide shelter for ice skaters in Winnipeg.

Each plywood structure was cut from a pattern and bent to form a conical shape with a triangular base that tapers to the top. Spatial intimacy is created by clustering the shelters together from the harsh winds. More after the break.

images courtesy of Patkau Architects

What if a telephone handset is lightweight and materially efficient? This is when origami comes in. Equipped with the same minimal components of a typical handset, designer Chengyuan Wei conceived of a system in which a flat handset folds into a three-dimensional object that fits the hand. Perfect for those who love the simplicity of a handheld phone without the web and email distractions.

via Yanko Design