When this mannequin free falls, low-carbon-footprint chairs with “human” form are made.
Israeli designer Ezri Tarazi, the head of the Industrial Design Department at Israel’s Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, is no stranger to sustainable design. Some of his previous projects include eye glass frames made from wood, and home furnishings created from upcycled ammunition boxes. But he put an entirely new spin on sustainable design recently with his free-falling mannequin chair – which employs the drop of a female mannequin filled with 100 kilos of concrete in order to sculpt the metal chair instead of using energy-guzzling machines. The chair is almost entirely man (and mannequin) made.
As shown in the clip below, Tarazi begins with a trapezoidal box made of perforated metal sheets. He then (with the help of a friend) hoists the weighted female mannequin above the box and drops it. The mannequin, being shaped in the human form anyway, creates a hollow in the box that is suitable for people to sit in. Whether the chair is comfortable or not is another question entirely.
The chair raises questions about the relationship between human needs and design – do contemporary designers fashion their creations around the needs of human consumers, or do we adapt ourselves to the design of the objects that we use?
Watch video of free fall forming:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRVfjy29T5w[/youtube]
The free falling mannequin chair is currently on view at the Paradigma Gallery in Tel Aviv, alongside other chairs and home furnishings made by Tarazi.
::designboom via Designist Dream
Read more about other Ezri Tarazi projects:
Ezri Tarazi Manifests Israel’s Conflict Identity with Recycled Design
What’s More Sustainable Eye Glasses Material – Wood or Human Hair?
PET Bottles Upcycled Into Art Using Glass Blowing Techniques
Author: Karen Chernick
Much to the disappointment of her Moroccan grandmother, Karen became a vegetarian at the age of seven because of a heartfelt respect for other forms of life. She also began her journey to understand her surroundings and her impact on the environment. She even starting an elementary school Ecology Club and an environmental newsletter in the 3rd grade. (The proceeds of the newsletter went to non-profit environmental organizations, of course.) She now studies in New York. Karen can be reached at karen (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
What a fantastic use of a mannequin! I’m compiling a list of 101 things to do with a mannequin, definitely I will add yours! Thank you x
The chair looks supremely uncomfortable, Karen. I suppose it’s a prototype. Hopefully Tarazi will work on softening some of those metal edges with upholstery of some kind.