Dornob | Design Ideas Daily

Disordered Design: The Chaos Theory Embodied in Furniture

Posted: 14 Dec 2012 10:00 AM PST

The connection between designer and object is usually quite intimate, with the designer pouring him- or herself into every last piece from start to finish. Such is not the case with Itay Ohaly‘s experiment in product design. The designer embraced chaos to challenge this conventional view of creation in his Design & Chaos project.

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The project involved Itay Ohaly and several friends collaborating to create a series of desks and a series of jugs. For each object created, each participant went into the collaboration more or less blindly. They were not told what the finished project would be – or even what the next step in the design process would be after theirs.

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Each person performed one simple action, such as creating three two-dimensional objects or adding cylinders to the evolving structure. Only Ohaly knew what the finished product would be. The experiments in which he performed more of the steps in the process himself reflect this, as they wound up looking vaguely more recognizable in the end.

According to Ohaly, the project is an example of just how chaotic the entire world around us is. The lesson here, he says, is that we should stop fighting against the chaos and learn to embrace it in some type of positive way.

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City Walls: Extended Headboard Creates Room in a Room

Posted: 13 Dec 2012 04:00 PM PST

Although not a hard and fast rule, common design practices dictate that the bed most often is placed against a wall. This not only hides the unsightly back of the headboard, but also provides a bit of physical stability for this important piece of furniture. Designer Alain Gilles, working with Belgian bed makers Magnitude, has turned the bed into much more than a heavy object to be shoved into the corner.

The Area Bed is a combination bed headboard and room divider. Its modular pieces come together to create a sort of low wall, behind which can exist any number of hidden items – inventing a kind of a room within a room.

The wall can also conceal a dressing area, low bookshelves, or even a decadent freestanding bathtub. Its dual purposes mean that it functions as part of the room’s overall architecture rather than simply a piece of furniture.

For shared living spaces, the wall can serve to block out the rest of the room, hiding the bed as well as a desk to create an entirely private area. The project, according to Gilles, is a study of the multi-functionality of the bedroom.

The wall is made of wood covered in a layer of foam and then upholstered in fabric. The Area Bed collection also includes a bench, a lamp, and two little bedside tables.