materiales D.I.

1/3/13

Una mesita.

Introducing Takka, the table and stool furniture piece by Agnieszka Mazur. For the natural minimalist, these are a perfect solution. The three piece set includes two stackable stools and a round table adjustable up to 75 cm (29.5″). No tools required, just make the table perfect for your needs with provided custom butterfly screw.
Apartment living has never been so simple. With smooth lines and an organic feel you can furnish small spaces with ease. Stack the stools under the table and slide it to the side for a personal yoga session. When you’re done, set the table for two and pull up a stool. Good company creates lifelong memories and good design, a beautiful living space.

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Fuentes.

http://the189.com/category/design/

http://blog.gessato.com

Canastos.

Basket Maker Stephen Zeh is today’s topic at hand, I’ve had his website bookmarked for a while and it was very kind of Stephen to personally send over some imagery. I love connecting with new creatives and makers, it’s very satisfactory to actually speak to the person and get an insight into their working ways. All I need to do now is actually visit some of these places and take photographs! Plus, Stephens work is said to rank as “the best of its kind ever made”, which is a very powerful thing to say. But I have to agree, his work is aesthetically beautiful, well crafted and very precise. In fact, I’ve never seen weaving like it.

The story behind Stephen is also an interesting one, he learned to make baskets during years spent in the woods, later Eddie Newell, a Penobscot Indian basketmaker, taught him many things about the art of basketmaking. Stephen lives and works in Temple, a small town in Maine, where he collects brown ash wood from the forest which has beautiful subtle tones to it. He then uses his basic woodworking tools to hand scrape the wood after splitting and cutting, once he has the strands he can begin weaving to create a basket that will last for generations and that will certainly get better with age.

Aside from working with wood Mr. Zeh has also been experimenting with precious metals and has had some amazing results, the jewellery type piece looks of high quality and finish. You’ll also see Stephen working on presentation boxes and furniture in a shaker type style, using hand cut dovetails and mortise joinery for one of a kind pieces. In fact this is one element I would like to see more of as I can imagine the exceptional details throughout, this could be very unique indeed.

Overall Stephen’s work is traditional but contemporary, it’s a mixture of all things I like and is quite appealing thanks to its extensive link to nature, considering the wood and the simple hand tools. Seeing Stephen work this way makes me want to go off into the woods and start a craft, it would be a pretty humble living and is no doubt education for the mind and soul. So here’s some imagery to keep you inspired, maybe you’ll be able to experiment with something like this yourself? I’d recommend checking out Stephen’s website for more ideas as his imagery is quite spectacular, both current and from past publications that he’s been featured in. Enjoy.

www.stephenzeh.com

america, american, ash tree, basketmaker, craft, handcrafted, handicraft, maine, native american, shakers,stephen zeh, weaver

Filtros de bambú para el té-

I’m pleased to showcase this set of photography thanks to J Crafts who run a brilliant website that documents Japanese arts and crafts, also selling a nice selection of handmade products on their website. One of my favourite sections on their site is where they document different artisans and craftsman, one in-particular that had my attention immediately was Yamato Takayama who crafts what’s known as a chasen. It’s a bamboo tea whisk that’s used to mix powdered tea with hot water, carved exquisitely from a single piece of bamboo. The bristles can be thinner than the thickness of paper, so as you can imagine it’s very delicate work that requires a steady hand and a lot of knowledge.

I’ve noticed that mingei has gained in popularity, I’m hoping this isn’t a trend and that it will stick around. Obviously for the historial benefit it’s a good thing, but more about appreciating crafts and the individuals that make them, also the appreciation for functional goods that we use in everyday life. For 500 years, the techniques were passed down from father to son, now Yamato Takayama carries the torch and looks to continue on. Chasen creation flourished with the popularity of the tea ceremony, as with all things functional they expanded the varieties to be used depending on the purpose, over one hundred varieties exist today. Remembering all the different styles is important, but to truly be called a craftsman one must be able to subtly alter the spring in the tine tips according to the qualities of the bamboo being used.

Firstly they have to collect the bamboo, the typical bamboo considered good for chasen is said to be that from the mountains of Hyogo, Nare, Kyoto and other areas on the Pacific Ocean side of the Kinki region. This is because this area is low in nutrients causing the bamboo to grow strong and sturdy. The craftsman then takes the piece of bamboo and divides it into sixteen pieces, they’re then cut into large and small segments to make the number of tines required. The ends of the tines are boiled in hot water and placed on a stand, then thinned from the base to the tip. After carving, the bristles are tapered to create a brush-shape, smoothing out all the rough edges and then finish it off by fixing the base securely with thread.

I’ve personally been looking for a set like this for a while and I’m proud to host some images on our website of Yamato making, hopefully you’ll enjoy it too and you’ll reference it in the future for inspiration. If you have some spare time I’d highly recommend visiting the J Crafts website on the link below, it’s extremely fascinating and they also feature other artists who’re very talented indeed.

www.jcrafts.com

Aceite de lo que quieras.

Browse Gallery 01/10

Dutch desginer Dave Hakkens created a wind powered oil press able to make home made oil. Once the nuts have been gathered and placed into the funnel of the press the wind rotates the metal fins, powering the gear mechanism to grind the nuts and extract the oil. This is just phenomenal, I so love it!

I like good food! Food which is made in the right way with good ingredients. Usually this is home made food. But his often takes a lot of time and energy.. So we start making food industrial to reduce this..which is smart but it also makes poor quality food. I wanted to make a machine which would get the best of both production methods and produce good products on a easy way..

I made an oil pressing machine which works only on wind energy. The machine is made to press nuts and seeds such as walnuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, linseeds, hazelnuts. The wind power is transformed with a worm drive to make the movement slow but very powerful.

First I gather some nuts and put them in the machine. When the machine starts pressing I just sit back and relax. The leftover pulp is full of protein, great for cooking or feed your animals and plants with.. The machine doesn’t use heat which means good pure cold pressed oil is produced. The oil is put into old (soy sauce and dressing) bottles, labeled and sealed with a cork.
That’s the only thing I need to pay for, the cork and the label, the rest is just for free…

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Self-Assembly Lab MIT:

Linda silla.

Browse Gallery 01/6

©Andrew Watts

“Its all about the approach” is an impressive name for a chair that appears reticent at first glance. However, the design of the chair elegantly places convention at an arm’s length, and begs the question if “approach” refers to Australian designer Andrew Watts’s craft or to the perspective with which to think about the traditional chair. The chair combines a cradle-like seat of thermo-molded plastic fitted with felt upholstery and a simple frame of European oak. Daring is evident in the legs of the chair, which actually extend through and past the seat to form armrests, fully integrating seat and frame. The angled facets of the seat form mirror the slight inward tilt of the chair’s legs – or arms, if you prefer – and create a cohesive look to the piece.