oskar zieta: bazair installation with aluminium plopp stools

on the occasion of milan design week 2011, oskar zieta presents a site-specific installation ‘zieta bazair’ at the cardi black box gallery, milan — curated by maria cristina didero and art at work. the young polish designer oskar zieta, born in 1975, exhibits an installation suspended between sky and earth with his renowned plopp stools, produced in a limited edition of 100 pieces for the gallery and, for the first time, in aluminium (!!) with an exclusive pearl finishing.

oskar zieta(above) image © designboom(main) image courtesy oskar zieta- a designboom exclusive 

zieta’s research has always been oriented towards experimentation and innovation; this time he has decided to demonstrate how his FIDU technology  – free inner pressure deformation – can be applied to aluminum, in order to further lighten his pieces, making them easy to transport. to make his seats float in space, zieta used helium-filled white balloons in which visitors could grab and reach the stools to verify their lightness. a special packaging has been conceived and produced for the zieta bazair project: a manufactured object, hand made and in pure linen, to underline the distinctive features of zieta’s work: the combination of seriality and exclusivity.

the aluminium plopp stool image courtesy oskar zieta  – a designboom exclusive

zieta firmly believes in the different possibilities that the FIDU technology can provide, not solely applied to design but also to architecture – objects produced with FIDU can sustain a weight up to ten times more than its original mass (an element weighing 100 kg can support approximately 1 tonne). this allows the simplification of the productive process and the optimization of transports just as it would happen in a futuristic bazaar. in zieta’s view the success of his work does not depend only on the use of the FIDU technology but is determined by the combination of three elements: scientific research, innovative design and a production process capable of modeling shapes permanently. the process is a perfect equilibrium between mass production and limited editions; even if some objects, as the chippensteel 5.0, requirehandmade finishing touches.

images © designboom

on the first floor of the gallery, empty silhouettes (flat, airless) of oskar zieta’s renowned production were presented so that the public could autonomously inflate them with zieta’s powerful air compressors.

a view of the installation image courtesy oskar zieta  – a designboom exclusive

the use of aluminium makes his work even more precious — whilst facilitating its transport image courtesy oskar zieta  – a designboom exclusive

floating stool image © designboom

installation view image © designboom

view from the top level of the gallery image © designboom

packaging image © designboom

the 100 limited edition series is on show until april 22 image © designboom

oskar zieta in the installation image © designboom

designboom interviews oskar zieta

various finishing touches and material researches image © designboom

oskar zieta shows the various objects images © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

entrance to the gallery image © designboom

about the designer

oskar zieta moved to switzerland in 2003 where he now works as a researcher and professor at the ETH, federal institute of technology, in zurich, with a master in computer aided architectural design (CAAD). during his phd he perfected the FIDU technology – (free inner pressure deformation) which manages to transform flat, moulded surfaces, constituted by two steel plates, previously welded together, in three-dimensional objects, thanks to the injections of a super powerful jet of compressed air. zieta has optimized this technique in 2007, starting off his production and setting up his own company, the zieta prozessdesign, based in breslav, poland. the plopp stool is part of the museum collection of the centre george pompidou in paris, the museum fur gestaltung in zurich, and the pinakothek der moderne in munich. plopp has been awarded with many international prizes.