minale maeda: blueprint

‘blueprint’ detail photo credit: bas helbers

‘blueprint’ by rotterdam-based minale-maeda (mario minale and kuniko maeda) is a contemporary flat-pack chest of drawers. the furniture object is comprised of a wooden frame with a removable silken top cover that is decorated by embroidered sections of blueprints displaying the chest’s construction.

photo credit: bas helbers

minale-maeda wanted to make a furniture piece that fit into our contemporary nomadic lifestyles, while at the same time utilizing traditional craft techniques. in the case of ‘blueprint’, the ‘upholstery’ not typical of a ‘hard’ object, acts as the chest’s outer structure – the textile being a fitting choice as blueprints were initially drawn on thin fabric.

‘blueprint’ with cover on (left) and with the cover off (right)

detail of ‘blueprint’ which displays the chest’s construction in embroidery

making of the cover

photo credit: bas helbers

‘blueprint’ model

in a way, the textile covering is meant to be seen as a projection, an image of itself…