Skafaldo is the result of a collaboration between design
studio Unfold and additive manufacturing specialist
Materialise in which
automatically generated support structures -a feature normally
discarded in the process- becomes the focal point of two new
pieces.
Support structures are the black sheep of 3D Printing. While
necessary to support complex objects with overhangs and shallow
angles, they are hardly meant to look beautiful, let alone become a
work of art in their own right. Unfold was intrigued by their
almost gothic appearance, reminiscent of a cathedral or the hyper
functionality of industrial architecture apparent in the work
of
Hilla
and Bernd Becher.
Fascinated by the seeming randomness and unpredictability of
the support structure generated by
Materialise
e-Stage, Unfold ended up making almost 100 different designs to
trigger the different structures generated by the program.
“It was interesting for us to ‘design’
with the e-Stage software, which tunes into our fascination for
processes where you ride on the edge of control.”
Once they had settled on a support structure they liked,
Unfold had the resin prints cast in bronze by
Factum Arte, and used traditional
manufacturing to create the wooden tabletop and glass bowl.
Skafaldo is the result of a collaboration between design
studio Unfold and additive manufacturing specialist
Materialise in which
automatically generated support structures -a feature normally
discarded in the process- becomes the focal point of two new
pieces.
Support structures are the black sheep of 3D Printing. While
necessary to support complex objects with overhangs and shallow
angles, they are hardly meant to look beautiful, let alone become a
work of art in their own right. Unfold was intrigued by their
almost gothic appearance, reminiscent of a cathedral or the hyper
functionality of industrial architecture apparent in the work
of
Hilla
and Bernd Becher.
Fascinated by the seeming randomness and unpredictability of
the support structure generated by
Materialise
e-Stage, Unfold ended up making almost 100 different designs to
trigger the different structures generated by the program.
“It was interesting for us to ‘design’
with the e-Stage software, which tunes into our fascination for
processes where you ride on the edge of control.”
Once they had settled on a support structure they liked,
Unfold had the resin prints cast in bronze by
Factum Arte, and used traditional
manufacturing to create the wooden tabletop and glass bowl.
This project was commissioned for Belgian Matters, an
exhibition during the Milan Design Week 2016 curated
by
DAMN°
Magazine art director and co-editor Siegrid Demyttenaere
and organised by
Belgium is Design, a consortium
of institutions that support and promote Belgian design. The
exhibition featured the results of pairings between 13 designers
and companies from Belgium.
Skafaldo has been acquired by the following institutes for
their permanent collection: Skafaldo Side Table #1/3
by
Centre
Pompidou, Paris (FR) & Skafaldo Bowl #1/3 by
Design Museum
Gent (BE) and have been exhibited in, amongst
others:
Imprimer le monde at Centre Pompidou, Paris (FR), Belgian
Matters, Milan (IT), Ross Lovegrove Lasvit Liquidkristal Pavilion
at
Kanal Centre
Pompidou, Brussels (BE),
Valerie Traan at
Collectible, Brussels (BE) & Unfold: Designer of the Year at
Design Museum Gent (BE).
Skafaldo Side Table Wood, edition of 3 + 2AP
D 400mm, W 430mm, H 360mm
CNC-milled maple wood, investment cast bronze
Skafaldo Bowl Glass, edition of 3 + 2AP
ø 250mm, H 200mm
mouth blown glass, investment cast bronze
fig. 01-03, 06-16, 18: photography by Unfold
fig. 04-05: photography by Kristof Vrancken
fig. 11-16: photography by Materialise
fig. 17: photography by Factum Arte
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