Reclining chair Van de Velde

Ao ter ouvido um tal de Henry Van de Velde fui investigar que mais é que fazia este senhor... Parece que até um site tem só para ele, e cheio de coisas engraçadas! Creio que para a altura, o senhor pensava muito a frente. Encontrei como exemplo esta cadeira particular que ele até fazia questão de usá-la na própria casa pois era uma das suas obras preferidas..nada melhor para testar se realmente funciona! Em baixo vai a história da cadeira.

Designed in 1903/04 by Henry van de Velde for his own Weimar flat, this piece of furniture illustrates the principles of his New Style. The elegance and modern look of this model are linked with comfort, a quality totally lacking in all other seat furniture of this stylistically confused period. The back can be adjusted by means of a horizontal metal rod that fits into mortises, a beautifully simple solution. The design is modern in the best sense of the word, ‘American’, an ironical swipe at the reproaches made to the artist that, in transplanting the relaxing luxury of the sundeck of a transatlantic liner to the elegant European drawing-room, he had succumbed to the ‘yachting style’.

He had this piece made for himself in chic cream lacquer with loose upholstery in a plain colour to match the rest of the gleaming white sofas, tables and chairs in his drawing-room. It was also delivered to clients in hardwoods with lavishly patterned fabric and leather upholstery.

Dating from the period when his creative powers were at their height, this model was a personal favourite of Henry van de Velde’s. The two exemplars he owned himself went with him on at least seven times when he moved, accompanying all stages of his long voyage through life. Bought from the estate of his only son,Thyl, they are now highlights of the most important van de Velde collection in his native Belgium, in the Ghent Museum for the Applied Arts. Only three other exemplars are extant: in a private collection and in the Städtische Kunstsammlung Chemnitz.  

The Cardboard House - modern architecture flor plan

The Cardboard House represents the reduction of technology and the simplification of needs. By demonstrating that we are able to recycle 100% of the building components at extremely low cost, the Cardboard House is a direct challenge to the housing industry to reduce housing and environmental costs.

Stutchbury and Pape, working in association with the Ian Buchan Fell Housing Research Unit at University of Sydney, see this project as a genuine temporary housing option.

A cardboard house places the least demand on resources and encourages people to shift their preconceptions about the “typical Australian house”. Many Australians enjoy camping on their holidays, easily shifting their lifestyle from the rigidity of the urban home to the freedom of the campsite.

Being extremely low cost and transportable, the Cardboard House could be used in a wide variety of applications. You could live in one while your permanent house is being built or renovated, for emergency housing, or for short-term accommodation.

"Play becomes joy, joy becomes work, work becomes play" - Johannes Itten

Itten foi também um dos grandes professores da Bauhaus. O seu método de ensino enquadrava-se com aquele da escola, e tendia o seu ensino para a área das cores e como estas se comportavam.

"First "Spiritus movens" of the Bauhaus

Johannes Itten was a Froebel trained elementary school teacher. After training in Geneva and Stuttgart, Johannes Itten settled in Vienna in 1916 where he taught at his own art school. He met Walter Gropius who, in 1919, invited him to join the Bauhaus which he had recently established in Weimar, the German capital. The Bauhaus was founded by the combining of the Weimar Art Academy, and the Weimar Arts and Crafts School. Students at this new school were trained by both an artist and a master craftsman.

Mein Vorkurs am Bauhaus

Itten started the Bauhaus Vorkurs, the preliminary or foundational course with its emphasis on unusual uses of common materials. Students were presented with discarded materials (wire mesh, cardboard, newspapers, matchboxes, phonograph needles and razor blades) and instructed to basteln; to improvise something. Other assignments involved the study of materials. Wood, feathers, mosses, hides had to be looked at, touched and drawn until they were known by heart and could be from memory. The idea was to transcend realistic reproduction to achieve an interpretative design instead of a mere imitation.

It is said that this method was influenced by Friedrich Froebel's pedagogy of "education through play". Itten represented the central person of the early Bauhaus years. He influenced the first era of it. The foundational course established by him came out to be decisive for the teaching program of the school.

"At the Bauhaus, artistic and technical media was taught systematically and thoroughly for the first time. The aim of my instruction in the Vorkurs (basic design course) was education to form the creative individual. This new method became famous throughout the world." Johannes Itten

"Play becomes joy, joy becomes work, work becomes play". Johannes Itten

Itten developed a general theory of contrast, the main theme of which was the "clair / obscure contrast", as the basis for this course. This was treated in various assignments: first in the form of checker-board patterns, then in abstract and finally in realistic works. Classical pictures were also analysed with the same aim in mind. By dividing it up into squares, the student was induced to work through the entire area of the picture with awareness, and to make a new decision each time regarding the respective grey value.

Itten initiated mandatory form and color education for Bauhaus students. He taught there until 1923, essentially on the concept of creation, focussing on form and color and in the process developing his theories on color and the color circle. In March 1923, Itten left the Bauhaus because Gropius no longer approved of his teaching methods - in particular of the preparatory meditation exercises and the Far-Eastern mysticism which this presupposed. Itten's departure was the first symptom of a general re-orientation of the school. The "romantic" or as others have called it, the universalistic era, came to an end.

Johannes Itten wrote several books regarding theories of color. The most influencial was The Art of colour. The book deals with contrast, saturation and hue. Itten bases his theory on science and techniques of the masters. He created color wheels, stars, triangles and spheres to support his points. The color wheel was later incorporated into many systems including computer operating systems, in which it orgainizes color.

Itten established a structural approach to the study and use of color based primarily on the light-dark opposition. The cold-warm contrast is probably the most important. The red-yellow color range is warm and the blue-green range is cool. Itten also cites complementary and simultaneous contrasts.

His artistic endeavours sought to achieve an all-encompassing artistic production. He was later to teach in Berlin, Krefeld and Zurich where, after his retirement, he produced a considerable part of his work. Johannes Itten died in Zurich in 1967."

Chegámos no outro dia à aula e tinhamos um monte de jornais no meio da sala com uma mensagem que dizia simplesmente "Façam Design". Ficámos a olhar para aquilo e sem saber muito bem o que iriamos fazer pusemo-nos a recortar e colar. Passados 20 minutos parei e comecei a pensar...Design...O que é que eu vou fazer com meia dúzia de jornais canetas e cola? Já havia pessoas a fazerem composições e outras a planear candeeiros e até sofás! Peguei numa cartolina e fiz a primeira coisa que me veio à cabeça: um "quantos-queres". Quando era pequena achava que o meu destino dependia numa coisa destas. O numero que eu iria decidir "quantos-queria" ia ser o que iria definir o meu futuro! Eventualmente diria "Vais-te casar com um príncipe" ou então "Hoje vais ficar de castigo" e conscientemente ou não, acabaria por planear as coisas de modo a que de uma maneira ou outra isso poderia até acontecer!

O meu "quantos-queres" contemporâneo iriam ser vários, e cada um com características diferentes. Só cheguei a concretizar um: era cor de rosa e simbolizava o positivismo. A relação que eu faria com o design seria que nós somos aquilo que temos, somos as decisões que tomamos e com quem estamos. Ao ter escolhido o "quantos-queres" rosa, isso já encaixaria a pessoa num certo segmento, com certas pessoas e um certo estilo de vida. No dia-a-dia não tomamos perfeita consciência destas escolhas nem nas suas consequências, o que torna tudo bem mais interessante e de certo modo fácil para encontrar onde pertencemos o design serve também de ferramenta para clarificar o caminho.

Português premiado nos EUA por sistema que poupa energia nos aparelhos em "standby"

"Um professor do Instituto Politécnico de Bragança (IPB) foi premiado nos Estados Unidos da América por ter desenvolvido um protótipo para poupar energia nos aparelhos em modo standby, divulgou hoje a instituição de ensino superior.

De acordo com o gabinete de imagem do IPB, o docente Pedro João Rodrigues criou um sistema que detecta o modo "standby" dos equipamentos electrónicos e corta a corrente eléctrica quando esta não for necessária. Os televisores são alguns dos equipamentos onde este sistema pode ter utilidade já que quando desligados apenas no comando continuam a consumir energia.

O protótipo desenvolvido pelo docente português foi baptizado com o nome de "Intelligent Standby Energy Saver" e estima-se que possa reduzir em dez por cento o consumo doméstico de energia eléctrica. Segundo o gabinete de imagem do IPB, esta estimativa equivaleria a uma redução mundial das emissões de CO2 correspondente a um terço das emissões dos Estados Unidos da América.

O trabalho foi premiado pela edição de 2008 do "Live Edge - Electronic Design for the Global Environment Challenge", que distingue projectos originais e inovadores de todo o mundo, que façam uso de componentes eléctricos e/ou electrónicos e que tenham um impacto positivo no meio ambiente.

O prémio corresponde a 25 mil dólares em dinheiro e contempla também apoio prestado por especialistas para a produção industrial e a comercialização do produto criado pelo vencedor. O galardão é promovido pela Premier Farnell e suas aliadas Farnell Newark, Premier Electronics, Farnell-Newark CPC e MCM, líderes mundiais na distribuição de componentes electrónicos.

Segundo o gabinete de imagem do IPB, o sistema desenvolvido pelo docente português analisa os consumos eléctricos dos equipamentos, através de um algoritmo de inteligência artificial implementado num microcontrolador, conseguindo distinguir o modo "standby" do modo de funcionamento normal, mesmo quando na presença de padrões de consumo complexos. O sistema inclui ainda sensores para detectar alterações no ambiente envolvente, de forma a garantir o fornecimento de corrente aos equipamentos sempre que necessário."

Porque o design não é só inventar coisas novas e "meter" mais no mercado; é também inovar aquilo que já existe e tornar mais fácil a vida, reciclando, renovando ou reutilizando.