The Oporto Show – On stage
Event of  Design_Interiors_Architecture_Arts
4° edition
14–17 June 2012

EDIFÍCIO DA ALFÂNDEGA
Centro de Congressos e Exposições

Rua Nova da Alfândega
4050 – 430 Porto
Portugal
Getting there

Opening Time:
Everyday 12h – 23h

www.oportoshow.com

Design District
10th edition
7–8–9 June 2012

Taets (Hembrug site)
Hemkade 18
1506 PR Zaandam (near Amsterdam)
The Netherlands
Where we are

Opening time:
Thursday, June 7, 2012 11 am to 9pm  (Professionals only)
Friday, June 8, 2012 11am to 6pm (Professionals only)
Saturday, June 9, 2012 10am to 4pm (All public welcome)

www.designdistrict.nl

Premiering at the 2012 Salone de Mobile in Milan, Arper is pleased to introduce Brief No. 2. Titled “Living Systems” this Brief takes a more in-depth look at Arper and its furniture as a living system of bases, shells, materials, color and contexts.

The Brief pairs Arper furniture alongside diverse images of living systems in ecology, architecture, and urbanism as a form of inspiration, giving an associative and expansive eye into the nature of Arper’s design process.

Features include new photography by Scheltens and Abbenes, a photo essay by Mark Mahaney on Arper’s factory in Treviso, a piece about Arper’s approach of “Soft Technology” and interviews with Lievore Altherr Molina and James Irvine about their 2012 additions to the Arper family.

Download PDF to read more >

My design philosophy is ever-changing. Every project has different needs and demands and has a different context; my design approach necessarily bends to fit the requirements of each project.

A designer must be adaptable. I find it interesting when a designer pulls back a bit. Currently, we live in times where designers have enormous egos. I’m interested in the product as the unsung hero.

What was the idea behind the Juno collection?

From the beginning, the concept was to create a one-shot, gas-assisted injection-molded chair program. The challenge of this project was in designing a program which took into account very high technology throughout the design process.

From a design perspective, I was very interested in slimming down the chair to make it feel visually and physically light. Without realizing, I was searching for a more traditional language closer to solid wood or plywood. I wanted to create something essential and crisp. To achieve the slim, light silhouette, the outside edge of the leg is a narrow eight-millimeters while its section increases in width towards the center of the chair to stabilize the legs and create overall structural integrity. Conceptually, this idea is more reminiscent of solid wood construction than of plastic. When you look at it in profile, it is thin — it’s a visual trick to try to make the whole chair look lighter. This construction is only possible because of the technology; using a gas assisted one-shot process the plastic is very precise. It’s like taking what I would consider the best of everything — precision, technology and classic concepts — and putting them all together.

What are the considerations behind using plastic as a material?

Plastic gives you the freedom to do incredibly fluid forms. You can do anything you like. That freedom can be enticing. But, like many technologies, after the excitement of exploring the parameters of what is possible, one tends to look for something which is more familiar, more true to the principles of “good design.”

With the introduction of any new technology, there is the opportunity to create symbolic expression of the innovation. My design process was more about controlling plastic than letting the material dictate the form. The Juno chair is a practical, elegant chair that I think will be long-lasting.

How do you evaluate good design?

Most recently, I have become interested in observating how people interact with a finished product. How do they react to an object? When someone is at ease, you know the product is a success. You gain a world of knowledge from watching the dialogue between a person and a produced design.

It is a reciprocal relationship. For me, this is a great inspiration.

Photo: Marco Covi

Our starting point is always communication. Design for us is a dialogue, not self-fulfillment. Throughout the design process, we hope to instill the values we believe in: harmony and balance. Objects we design then become something more than a mere manifestation of a style; they are the synthesis of many layers of meaning into a single form.

What was your process of designing the Saya chair?

With Saya, we wanted to design a chair for Arper with the home as inspiration. Home for us evokes feelings of warmth and life. Wood seemed to us the material choice best suited to express this quality. We then looked to plywood for its constructive synthesis: it allows for a surface that is continuous, fluid and lightweight.
To articulate the form, we developed an expressive, graphic back. Its shape is inviting; it almost suggests a hug. In creating the form, we cut out small paper models in miniature and played with them, bending the paper in different ways to understand its possibilities. Its shape took on the character and form of a little animal: four legs and arching neck.
We felt que tiene alma (it had soul), a Spanish way to say it has something that is touching, emotive — like a graceful person or living creature. This was a quality we wanted to maintain. We thought it should feel lightweight and defined, but also sensual and soft — something someone would like to touch, like a pebble with the edges softened by the sea. With this in mind, we also chose to round the edges of the planes.
When the shell was complete, we began wondering which colors could combine to amplify the possibilities of wood without creating a contrast. We selected the finishing in wood (natural and teak colors), white, black, ochre and three different shades of red.
For us, red communicates both life and also a sign, connecting the color to the material.
We imagine that chairs in both veneers and colors can be used alone, or together.
One is a singular piece; several together create a rhythmic and lively pattern.

How does the Saya chair fit into the Arper family?

We see our chair as a kind of manifesto, an ode to wood. Made from organic and natural materials, it is evocative and feels alive. Like all Arper products, it is comfortable and useful in diverse environments, but we hope the Saya chair will always be reminiscent of the warmth of home.

How do you define good design?

For us, the essence of the design is a harmony between its parts. It is the relationship between form, material, color, functionality and their overall relationship to a space, a place, an environment, a culture. A design system should always be symbiotic — sympathetic to an environment or use it may be difficult or impossible to fully imagine. This is an essential idea for Arper: each collection is a system designed for constant growth and evolution.
Good design makes us fall in love, but often for different reasons. Is it perfect balance, icon status, strength, durability, synthesis, sensuality or ingeniousness? An object is well designed when its form seems inevitable. It could not have possibly been resolved in another way. Good design is timeless. Think of a simple, carved bowl from any part of the world: its form mirroring that of two hands held together to form a cup for drinking.
Is there anything more universal than that?

Photo credits: Marco Covi

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqfWYnaU3Ks

Design by Lievore Altherr Molina, 2012

Saya is a mark, a gesture, a graphic sign, rendered in wood to finish a space like a signature. Fluid in line, warm in material, its silhouette is bold, striking. The sum is more than the parts: Saya inspires inclusion in diverse environments from home to contract.

Made for both residential and contract use, Saya is fabricated in oak and finished in teak, and natural stain. Color stains include white, black, ochre and three shades of red to permit variable yet cohesive combination.

The 4-leg base is available in wood or chrome-finish steel. The 4-leg chrome-finish steel version is stackable to allow for large-scale use and storage.

Photo credits: Marco Covi

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Nb4mbnlW6U

Design by James Irvine, 2012

With Juno, plastic chair has come of age. Cast in a single form, it has fluid lines and a light profile, in silhouette and weight. It enjoys all the benefits of simplicity and uniformity but with a clever twist.

Juno brings efficiency and customization together in unique combination. This singular, simple shape available in five colors with closed or open back and arm rests can also be customized with sleek upholstered seat and back rests.

Made for both residential and contract use, indoors and out, Juno is a single-shot molded plastic chair available in 4 forms: solid back and open back, both with and without arm rests. All forms are available in 5 colors: white, sand, anthracite, orange, yellow. Seat and back rests can be finished in upholstered pads. All variations are stackable to allow for large-scale use and storage.

Photo credits: Marco Covi

Design by Ichiro Iwasaki, 2012

A soft spot to sit is just as commodious outside as it is inside.
Pix is now available to accommodate use in outdoor spaces. All outdoor furniture must combat moisture and mold. Most attempt to seal the interior and repel moisture. Pix Outdoor works on a fundamentally different idea called “hydro-draining,” based on the rapid flow and movement of water over and through the structure. An interior polyurethane structure covered with a new collection of durable, fast-drying fabrics in polyester work together to facilitate the quick evaporation of moisture and a comfortable outdoor seat.
Pix Outdoor is available in one-seat (two different diameters), and three-seat sizes. Five-seat is available on request.

Photo credits: Marco Covi

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Diywbb-7iAY

Design by Lievore Altherr Molina, 2012

The subtle curves and strong surfaces of table collections Dizzie and Eolo will be enhanced with new color laminate tops.
Available in three colors – white, dark gray and black – laminate is particularly resistant to wear and easy to maintain which renders these new options particularly well suited to contract applications. Additional colors are available on request.

Photo credits: Marco Covi

Saya Collection, design Lievore Altherr Molina

Saya, designed by Lievore Altherr Molina, is an iconic wooden chair, with a highly distinctive profile, available in three different wood colours and lacquered in various natural shades. It can be used in both public and private spaces, and will be available with wooden legs or chromed steel legs.

Juno Collection, design James Irvine

Juno is born from the collaboration with British designer James Irvine and it’s Arper first seat entirely made in polypropilene. It features an extremely wide range of possible configurations – with open back or full back, with or without armrests, with or without pads on seat and backrest – and will be produced in five colours: white, sand, anthracite, orange and yellow.

See you at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan from 17th to 22nd April at Pavilion 16, Stand A29 B22, to discover our new collections and all other news for 2012!