lanzavecchia + wai: spaziale series

italian-singaporean design duo lanzavecchia + wai (francesca lanzavecchia and hunn wai), presented their ‘spaziale series’ as part of the transparency exhibition at ventura-lambrate during milan design week 2010.

the series of domestic pieces, break out of the rigid mechanical boxes which store our everyday objects and inhabit our spaces. through a stretchy fabric skin which is wrapped around the furniture pieces frames, the ‘spaziale series’ is able react to what and how much you put in them, displaying openings that behave like mouths and which even allow you to hide within them.

scaffold lamps image © designboom

‘scaffold lamps’ are an extension of the concept on structure and skin. the structure consists of geometric forms constructed from a metal, whose brightly colored lamp shades are stretched over their framework, diffusing their light. the colors of the lamps can be changed through the exchange of different skins.

scaffold lamps image © designboom

the series of lamps consist of nine different lighting objects that can be hung in a cage-holder, to be used as a standing-light, placed on surfaces like tables and consoles, and can also be hung in a variety of arrangements, like jewelry charms.

scaffold lamps image © designboom

‘lamp #6’

detail of ‘lamp #9’

display of lamps #1-9 – unlit and lit

shelves / room divider image © designboom

‘shelves’ skin covering secures books and small objects into place. its thinness makes it ideal as a room divider, when placed next to one another. because of its narrow widths, you can easily access books on one side. the resulting visual effect is an extra-flexible texture which is caused by the relationship between its skin and the contents within.

shelves / room divider – double & single units

detail

shelves / room divider

‘our’ chair‘our’ chair is meant to behave as a kind of sanctuary for one or two individuals. there is a slit-opening on its face, which provides hints of a space within that can be transformed from a private to public space achieved through the pulling and wrapping of the stretchy textiles around its tiny hands and arm-rests.

side / back view

detail

‘commode’

swallowing all of your positions, ‘commode’ is accessible either by pulling or stretching its ‘mouths open, or by untying its butterfly-knot to unravel a flowing bundle of fabric. users can also cut into the skin of the piece to decide whether they want to access the storage space.

‘commode’ – butterfly knot detail