144hrs of Design

Bombay Saphire Design Discovery 2011

The top 10 design finalists from Australia's richest and most prestigious design prize, the BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Design Discovery Award will be on display as an exhibition at Supa Centa Moore Park from November 3 - 25.

 Of the ten finalists, the winner receives AU$30,000.00 to build their business, along with a trip to an international design fair. While four runners up each receive AU$2500.00 and the five finalists AU$1000.00 each.




I would like to use this post to congratulate Dale Hardiman for coming runners up in the Bombay Saphire design awards!



Kids Straw Stool



Dale with his Stool




Peace out

144hrs of design

What:                    144 hours of design, Furniture design graduate exhibition

When:                  8/11/11-12/11/11 Gallery hours : 12pm-5pm

Where:                                Pigment gallery, level two Nicholas Building, corner Flinders Lane & Swanston Street

Why:                     Showcasing ourselves as up and coming Melbourne based designer makers

Cost:                      Free

144hrs of design exhibits the furniture of students that are graduating from RMIT doing Furniture Design and Technology. Each student whether part time or full time has studied the wide expanse of furniture design. The designers bring their mix of backgrounds to the studio; Engineers, Architects, diesel mechanics, graphic designers and school leavers all contributing their own skills and knowledge to the group. From material studies to construction and design, each student has progressed and developed their own individual style.

Future aspirations vary, with some students going on with further studies and others will be seeking work in the field.

The furniture produced is of a very high standard showcasing the ability for ones attention to detail and creativity through many challenging design briefs, some pieces receiving accolades in the Fringe Furniture Festival and the Clarence Prize. The running theme for both design briefs is the notion of meeting head on with the problems of today, sustainability and innovation. The beautifully designed and well-crafted pieces are only a glimpse of what is to come from this collection of furniture makers. 

Fringe Furniture Festival

This years Fringe Furniture has a theme



Dancing in the Dark is a song about frustration. It’s a song about wanting something, but not knowing what that something is. It’s about wanting something so much that it consumes you; it fills you up with so much energy and anxiety that you feel like you’re going to explode. And what do you do with all that potency and potential? What do you do while you’re working out what you want?

Bruce suggests that you dance. In the dark. It’s a small solution to a big problem.
In 2011 Melbourne Fringe Furniture designers will show us their solutions, swing outs, breakaways and inside turns: tiny dance steps that lead us towards a smarter, greener, healthier, more sustainable and beautiful future.





When and Where

Thursday, 22 Sept - Saturday, 8th Oct 2011.

11am - 5pm (Wednesday - Sunday)

Industrial School, The Abbotsford Convent
1 St Heliers Street, Abbotsford
Melbourne, Victoria.







Here are some photos from the Exhibition








The work looks well in place at the Industrial School!



Desko, one of the bigger pieces at Fringe 2011

WEFT 056      by James Hargraves

This light designed and made by James Hargraves is my favourite piece at the exhibition. The combination of individual shapes and compound waves sends me into a spiral. Just love it!

Check out his website at - http://www.jameshargraves.com/

Top notch lighting & storage items!

Chris Shaws Maeva is a storage unit made from Sydney Blue Gum/ Bamboo matt. It is a neat and functional piece that has front doors that swivel on a 180degree pivot hinge imbedded in the cube construction.

Cracked up     by Ashley Allen

Ashley Allens lighting is a real unique play on old wine bottles which are also made from cork powder/LED globes. There are some interesting processes that make this product so unique.

Amalgamation    by Gordon Tait



Reclaimed MCG Light globes




Great use of the many globes that are cycled through the big light towers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Cactus      by Russell Davidson

Layered up and shaped Victorian Ash expels a lot of different grain angles. The form is organically wavy, this one is a keeper. Its almost like it just wants to keep wiggling its way up to the ceiling.

Atlantic Sofa     by Greg Lawson

This sofa is downright radical! Made from bamboo board, natural latex & eco wool fabric. It is a sofa based on 2 main intricate shapes that all rely on one another to keep the sofa upright using the barely minimal contact to the floor. 

Tri    by Elizabeth Bowtell

This angular chair has the golden balance between sculptural and functional movement. Each shape can be individually moved either retreating back into its bigger triangle or serving as a visual aspect in the chair.

The Table    by Adam Lynch

Sleek and elegantly turned legs support the table top high above.

Kids Straw Stool    by Dale Hardiman

Made from wheat starch/glycerol/water/pea straw & grass seeds. I like the idea of using straw and glue to form shapes, its a material I've never seen used in furniture. This stool is a great replacement for those plastic stools you have.

Air    by Andre Hnatojko & Dale Hardiman

This lighting piece could almost float away. The PVC tubes create a transparent barrier around the light making it a very intriguing piece.

YY Stool

 

Design Brief 


This sheet cannot be broken down first on the panel saw, bandsaw etc. The construction method will avoid the use of fasteners and assembly mechanisms. Minimise waste but do not let this dominate the design. Due to the tooling of the CNC machine centre the cutting plan of the sheet should allow for at least 10mm between components.


Materials




16mm Hoop Pine Plywood


Renderings




Heres a rendering of the of the stool. Its design has changed quite alot since this rendering.

CNC - cut out of 16mm Hoop Pine Ply

All component use pinch pegs to connect

All the pieces turn out to be perfect!

Finished product at 144hrs of Design Exhibition 2011

This design was a production from myself Rowan Turnham, 2011.

Threaded Out

Collaboration between Rowan Turnham & Dean Haeusler

Aluminium pipes connect each timber component

Here's the final prototype.

Design Brief

The chair will be made out of timber. There will be no glue used in the construction of the chair. The chair will be a flat pack product and be easily assembled by the customer. The joints that connect each component will be exposed and will be easy to access. It will have main legs which then connect to the back component.  Allan key assembly is the type of fixing that will hold all the components together. 




Original Idea

(Copic/hand sketch)

- This sketch shows the origins of the concept
- Too many joints
- Complicated construction methods
- Stripped down to the core essentials
- Went back to basics
- Came up with concept following after this






Final Concept renderings

(Metal pipe joints connect to timber components)

(Simple 3 way metal pipe joint holds all timber components)

Scale model



(1:6 scale model)



- Scale model is a fully knock down version of the final concept.
- The idea was to make the model so it could be disassembled easily.


- This would help with further design issues and give me an insight into possible hurdles that I would pass later on in making the real deal.




Materials


- Rock Maple
- Aluminium round tube
- Aluminium round bar
- Steel cable
- Stainless steel
- Cork






This design was a production from myself, Rowan Turnham, 2011. Also would like to thank Dean Heausler for help in the initial design conceptualization work. And Chris from Carr engineering for the metal work.

Maple Light

 Sculptural lighting








Inspiration                                                                                                 

(This was my inspiration, Japanese Maple seed)

( errr... these 3 seeds are rare)

At my home we have a Japanese Maple tree right out the back. When the tree produces these wonderful seeds I can't help myself and pull some off and play with them. You might also know them as "Helicopter Seeds" as they fall from the tree they spin towards the ground.


So as I was stuck for inspiration for my next project I decided why not use these!




They then formed the basis for the main shape of each panel in the light I designed.

(Luminous Film in the dark, is quite strong)

(Luminous film is inlayed into Blackwood)

(Maple Light - 2010)

Materials                                                                                                 




- Luminous Film
- Concrete
- Interlock Arm - Chrome
- Blackwood
- Inverter
- Transformer





Luminous Film

(Images courtesy of luminous film)

The Luminous Film I used was from http://www.luminiousfilm.com/


It basically has 3 layers - Conducter layer, Phosphor layer & Electrode layer. When the film is connected to electricity via the required inverter and transformer. The current helps the layers create Photons which in return create light.




Best lighting tech I have used ever!




- Doesn't get hot
- Thin and flexible
- Custom shapes can be cut up, but have to be sealed!

                            This design was a production from myself Rowan Turnham, 2011.

Shout outs

- Michael Cooper for helping with the electricals!
- Luminous film

Short Black Connection

Short Black Connection Coffee Table


Inspired by the flowing lines of cars. I chose to replicate the fluidality and sweeping lines of automotive design into a coffee table. Short black is made from reclaimed Australian Blackwood to display qualities on two levels & through flowing angles.



Sydney International Furniture Fair 2010





(Made from reclaimed Australian Blackwood)



(Sydney International Furniture Fair - Edge 2010)




Studio Photography

 

This design was a production from myself Rowan Turnham, 2010.

Desko

Inspired by Scandinavian culture, specifically the fjords of

Norway. The desk is made from European Beech and finished with a light soap

layer. The high curves represent the high peaks of the fjords while falling down

into the deep valleys created by the monumental glaciers that carve their way

through the mountains.

(Norwegian Fjords)

Fjords are deep valleys carved into the earth by glaciers. 

Since the last Ice age glaciers have grinded and washed away rock.

The water ways can be as deep as the mountains are high.

The main shape of the desk (top curve) and its other attributes

represent the deep valleys and the high peaks created by these

natural wonders. I chose to use Beech as my main material as it

is generally a timber used by norwegians to brighten up their homes

in an environment that is cold & dark.

Here is the final concept presentation I submitted. Used this for class presentation. Having feedback is the best thing, allows your design to be seen from the other side of the fence. Therefore has potential for generation of solutions that maybe I hadn't thought of.

Concept Investigation

Veneers                                                                                                                     

Veneers will come from Briggs veneers in NSW. Briggs started veneer milling in 1933 in Briggsvale. They supply Paper back, Skateboard, Eco-cert, FSC, AFS, Truegrain reconstituted veneers & also edge band veneers.

European Beech 


                                

• eco-cert Certified Veneer
• Origin: Europe
• Value: Average
• Colour: Pinkish       

Solid European Beech                                                                                             

               

Solid Beech will be sourced from Matthews Timber in Vermont. They have over 45years experience in importing and local timbers. Stock will most likely be 150x25 @ whatever lengths are needed to construct the table top and the foot rest.

Leather                                                                                              

 

Leather was sourced from Lefflers leather in Kensington. After extensive research I found that vegetable tanned leather is the best type of leather to mould. Leather moulding entails submersing the leather into hot water until air bubbles stop appearing. Then the leather is clamped around a form and left to dry completely. After this process the dyeing of the leather can be carried out.          

Hardware                                                                                                                                                              

Hardware needed for the desk is minimal. Small 180 degree hinges are needed for the flip lid on top of the metal basket which is located underneath the table top. These hinges will be sourced from Hafele. They come in different sizes that suit various thicknesses of wood, for this application I chose “Zysa Hinge Brass Matt 180deg 14mm”.

Stainless steel 304 bolts are needed to connect main arm to table top. Hex bolts are the only bolt that’s long enough that I could find. 8gauge x 110mm is best suited to the desk. Although since the thread will be connecting to a threaded insert the hex head of the bolt has to be fabricated to a dome and a slit cut into it.

Joinery Methods                                                                                                                   

(Lap joint - But machined 45degree angles at all ends which holds each lap into each other, therefor making the overall joint stronger)

(Used dominos with Festool, efficient & quick!)

Finishes                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Lux flakes are all natural soap flakes (100% degradable & No added phosphorus). Soap finishes are suited to light timbers as it is a light white coating. Using soap as a finish is common with European timbers such as European beech and birch. The soap penetrates the timber while serving as a protective layer between it and the environment.  The end product is a finish that is soft to the hands and the environment.



Scale model                                                                                                                           

(1:6 scale model)

Used white cardboard and glue stick to produce a lamination shape. Made moulds out of plywood for main arms and back support legs. Simply cut cardboard to width and length then layered up around mould with glue and sticky taped it tight around mould.

Final Rendering                                                                                                                             

(Autocad/Solidworks/Photoview 360)

 Furnitex 2011


 Melbourne Exhibition Centre - 21st July - 24 July












                           This design was a production from myself Rowan Turnham, 2011.