Research: Estonian Academy of arts
I stumbled across a collection of products that was created by the Estonian academy of arts which really resembled the stone era. They created this furniture out of limestone blocks.
Limestone:
It is a sedimentary rock as it contains remains of dead organisms. It is rarely seen as a white pure nature form as it tends to have impurities. It can be found in many colours and sizes.
I can complete further research on limestone to see if it can possibly be one of the materials I can use in my design.
These are the products they created out of limestone:
This is the whole collection of items produced. Looking at it, a common theme is obviously that all these are made strictly out of limestone. They are raw without the additional touch of a paint as they have an intricate and detailed natural pattern. Now, lets break it down into some individual products.
What stands out to me the most in this design is the variation of the two materials and the intense colour scheme created. The student uses both limestone and wood to create a more modern twist to the stone furniture. He uses an inlet to add the seating and created a triangular shape for the angular backrest. I think that this fits perfectly with the stone era theme as the cavemen were not particularly picky with the colours or shapes. They would combine several materials to create their outcome.
This example, being a prime example, shows that two materials and colours that would not be combined usually, can work well together. In fact, because of the unique colour scheme, this stood out to me the most and made it very memorable.
The student, unlike some of the other students in this project, decided to create smooth surfaces with sharp edges. Even though this makes the design very modern, it is evident that they added their own twist to it.
Regardless of how modern it is, the student still took the concept of basic shapes and created a sitting area out of two blocks of materials.
I can also look into such a colour scheme and play around with my options.
This is another seating example made by another student. Unlike the previous one, this student has created legs for their stool.
However, the legs of this stool are very unique. As seen from the picture, two of the legs have an oval edge whereas the other one is a circular end. This makes the stool more abstract and resembles the stone age as it shows that the materials may be unprocessed. It is a common theme in cavemen objects to find this asymmetry as they gathered raw materials and assembled them together.
I really like the texture on these elements as they make them very modern and minimalistic. I like that there is no further addition of any colour.
I could also potentially consider the use of combining variations of shapes to produce one final outcome as this looks very visually pleasing.
Additionally, the oval legs, to me at least, resemble the tools that cavemen use to fight or hunt. There can be further research into these shapes and how they can be used in my designs.
Lastly, looking closely at the legs, they are slightly sloped without being perfectly symmetrical. I really like this addition as it helps make the design look more natural.
It is evident that all the chair designs I looked at were drastically different. However, this one also implements two different materials. As seen from the title, the polished one refers to the other smooth stool. Whereas this one is more rough and unprocessed. However, even though it looks unprocessed, the top seating part is smooth which makes it a safety precaution and more comfortable for people to sit in.
I really like how the bottom part of the seating area looks worn down and raw. There is a lot of asymmetry going on on the top of the chair which balances out with the symmetry on the bottom.
The base of the stool is made out of rusted steel to maintain the archaic theme. It is evident that the steel is old to make it fit in with the theme of the chair.
This is probably the most detailed piece of the collection as the student ensured that everything matched together.
The dark steel has similar undertones to the limestone which makes it match together and look good. Additionally, there is a lot of contrast which makes the piece stand out.
I think that raw stone is a beautiful material to work with and I definitely want to consider it with my own designs. Lastly, the two different materials combined is visually pleasing and interesting to consider.
This is a table design by one of the students. There are multiple layers of stone stacked together which creates many levels for items to be stored. As seen in the image, there is an ash tray placed on the second stacked stone. They are stacked in a way that some layers stick out. This is an innovative way to create more area for users to place their items.
This is my second favourite design of the collection as the student also does not sand down the surface and allows the natural texture and colour of the stone to shine through.
Stacking elements is a very unique way to create bulky and innovative pieces of furniture. Although simple, very effective. This may be considered a safety hazard as there are layers sticking out, however, the student carefully designed this to ensure that the bottom layer covers a lot of the surface area which the other stones cover by sticking out. Therefore, I consider this a very carefully detailed design, even though it may seem simple at first.
Additionally, this reminds me of the trend that I would see going around where many people would try to balance rocks one on top of the other in order to find the centre of gravity.
I really like this design and I believe that it truly resembles the stone age. It is a very simple design and could realistically be the only one that could be produced in the stone age.
This was very confusing to look at as I could not comprehend the product I was looking at. The illusion created took me a while to figure out.
The cylindrical limestone base peaks through the mirror which makes it very interesting to look at. I like that they implemented circular objects to make it look more cohesive.
I like the abstract theme that is ongoing in all these designs and it was definitely very beneficial looking at them.
References:
Frearson, A. (2020) Estonian Academy of Arts students create furniture from raw limestone. Available athttps://www.dezeen.com/2020/02/22/limestone-furniture-estonian-academy-of-arts-students/ [Accessed: 21/04/21]
These are great examples - I think this could be a really positive use of materials and shapes to employ in your designs - would like to see some sketches based on this research and how you are thinking visually. One thing that occurred to me - the weight of these stools, is that a factor in your plan if you continue to consider stone as part of your project? And the cost to you and the consumer!
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