THE REORDERED LADDER

RELAX IN LEVITATION

CHELSEA COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN 2011

FDA INTERIOR DESIGN 1ST YEAR

10 WEEKS GROUP PROJECT REALISED BY

ERIN STORKEYCONRAD HARSHAW

JEREMY RICHARD

CONTENTS

PART ONE : RE-APPROPRIATION DESIGN

1 BRIEF2 ABANDONED OBJECT

3 CONCEPT4 MAKING PROCESS5 FINAL PRODUCT

PART TWO : EXHIBITION DESIGN

1 BRIEF2 SURVEY OF THE SPACE

3 3D MODEL4 EXHIBITION PROPOSAL

PART THREE : PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAYS

PART ONE

DESIGN STUDIES : DOMESTICITY & FURNITURE

- RE-APPROPRIATION OF AN EXISTING OBJECT.

- THE DUAL QUALITY OF A CONCEPTUAL PIECE OF FURNITURE.

- EXPLORE AND DELIVER AN INTERESTING SOLUTION FOR A DOMESTIC ENVIRIONMENT.

- THE PROPOSAL SHOULD HAVE AN ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA EITHER THROUGH ITS MATERIAL OR APPROACH.

THE REORDERED LADDER is first of all a questioning on the future of our consumption products. How can we face the proliferation of products made for commercial purposes, without care for sustainability.

The lack of natural resources, and the pollution generated by these productions, are as many painful reports, which gave birth to the desire for proposing a future to these “con-demned objects”.

Furniture use to be considered as patrimonial goods, passed on from generation to generation, maintained and protected to navigate in time. Today, its status changes and becomes an object of consumption.

The industry of furniture passed from a market of equipment to a market of renewal, and this notable change is to be reconsidered in the design process. How can we give a second life to an object by reintroducing it in a commercial system?

Rethinking was the main purpose of our brief and we have decided to apply the method of re-appropriation design to an abandoned ladder found in the street. By morphing its wood to other materials such as pine, metal and acrylic plastic, we gave the ladder a new life as it has become a lounge chair.

We first have taken the ladder apart, sanded the wood down, and made the base and front part of the chair out of pine. The structure of the ladder is composed by a base sym-metrically assembled with the front and the back of the chair using the same angle, which moreover allows the steps of the ladder to remain horizontal to the ground.

A problem of balance occurred because of the important weight of the ladder back of the chair. To solve this problem keeping the symmetrical profile of the structure, we used five heavy metal bars cut out and inserted evenly on the wooden base to support the back.

Finally, for a slicker look, and to add purity and simplicity to the form and aesthetic of the structure, we chose to melt and curve a clear sheet of acrylic plastic to create the seat.

“OUR OPPORTU-NITY, AS DESIGN-ERS, IS TO LEARN HOW TO HANDLE THE COMPLEX-ITY, RATHER THAN SHY AWAY FROM IT, AND TO REALIZE THAT THE BIG ART OF DESIGN IS TO MAKE COMPLICAT-ED THINGS SIMPLE.” - TIM PARSEY

“Technology over technique produces emotionless design.” - Daniel Mall

“Designing a product is designing a relationship.” - Steve Rogers

PART TWO

DESIGN STUDIES : DESIGNING, BUILDING, CURATING AN EXHIBITION

- EXPLORE SPATIAL CONDITIONS IN AN EXHIBITION ENVIRONMENT.

- DELIVER AN INTERESTING DESIGN SOLUTION THAT RESPONDS TO BRIEF, BUDGET AND THE PHYSICAL SPACE.

- ANALYSE AN EXISTING SITE FOR DEVELOPMENT, INITIATE A DESIGN PROPOSAL AND FORMULATE A PROGRAMME OF USE.

- INTRODUCTION TO METHODS OF PITCHING WORK TO A COMMERCIAL CLIENT, TO FURTHER DEVELOP RESEARCH SKILLS IN RELATION TO SITE ANALYSIS, CONTEXT AND FUNCTION.

- REFINE AND DEVELOP FURNITURE PROPOSAL TO EXHIBITION STANDARD AND CRE-ATE SUPPORTING MATERIAL (RESEARCH BOOK, SIGNAGE, PHOTO ESSAY, DIGITAL AND PERSONAL DRAWINGS) IN ORDER TO ENGAGE A WIDER AUDIENCE WITH THE PROJECT AND PROCESS.

SURVEY

PART THREE