There is no trickery and no deception, design manages to transform flat items into three-dimensional ones. There is no magic involved, but good careful planning. There is no need to start off with bulky material or be forced to assemble numerous component parts to each other, losing your wits in the instruction booklet, to obtain a three-dimensional article.
Often, the most elementary and prompt procedures, a few cuts here, a little folding there can give amazing results. A good example of this, is the Danese Evolute lamp, designed by the French designer Matali Crasset. One very thin sheet of wood with a few cuts and appropriately folded, takes on a ball shape and becomes a abat-jour shade. Or another Danese project, for example that of Tuscan designer Paolo Ulian: Doily is a fruit basket made out of a laser cut steel disc. Sold as a flat disc but with a series of cuts that allow the edges to be folded three-dimensionally and at the same time actually personalize the item itself.
But, not only this kind of design article can take advantage of laser technology, infact it can be applied to furnishings too.
Let’s consider the Matrix International chairs : the KD04 is obtained from the modelled cutting of a completely flat steel sheet, that folded, naturally forms the characteristic body of the Knorr chair. The ergonomics of the product was reached, thanks to the studying of the possible shapes obtained from the simple folding of the sheet, thus a flat, rigid element transforms into a soft, welcoming body frame. The whole Sister range, chairs to stools, is obtained using this same working process. The cut and the double fold, in this case a clean fold, turns into the actual seat and back of the Sisters.
This working process, besides facilitating and semplifying the industrial stages, it also reduces waste material. A sustainable design must also think of expedients to optimise the materials used, simplifying the industrial stages and reducing assembly, this is true design magic.
