designlab exposition at Le Laboratoire – 2011
DesignLab presents the prospective prototypes of
researchers (EnsadLab) and fifth year students of
ENSAD (l’École nationale supérieure des Arts
Décoratifs) created in collaboration with the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab
High Low Tech Department.
Some of the objects presented here came from the
“Hybrid Materials” and “Intelligent/ElectronicPrint
making” workshops (2010-2011) in collaboration
with three MIT engineers: Leah Buechley, Dana
Gordon and Jean-Baptiste Labrune. The other
projects were developed within theframework of
two EnsadLab programs: DCIP (Design, Conception,
Innovation et Prospective)lead by Patrick Renaud
and Elisabeth de Senneville, and MEDTEV (Matériaux
à EffetsDynamique, Toucher et Effets Visuels) lead
by Vonnik Hertig and Christian Stenz.
The “Hybrid Materials” workshop explored different
ways to make inert materials “living” by imagining
a new definition of “material”. The “Intelligent
Electronic Printmaking” workshopreinvented silk-
screening techniques for paper and textiles with the
purpose of conceiving newinterfaces while
integrating electronic elements and captors to create
large dynamic surfaces.
exposition website http://designlab.ensad.fr
gallery website http://www.lelaboratoire.org
press release http://lelaboratoire.org/CPDesignLab%20V7.pdf
Please, lamp and drawer – j.c.karich & liberty adrien
Please, drawer – j.c.karich & liberty adrien
This exposition presents prospective projects conceived through new creative processes coupled with a dynamic of sharing. From the digitalworld, data sharing and open source are now extending into the realm of the physical. This revolution allows designers to give birth to newideas and new uses, with access to know-how and tools which were once inaccessible. Workshop prototypes, these Do-It-Yourself projects werere-dissected on a laboratory table, with sharing in mind, in order to give visitors the necessary elements to understand the creative process of each of these projects.
One of the main ideas at the heart of this exposition is the appropriation of the principles of physics and existing technologiesin order to integrate them, through hacking, into a creative process. They were adapted to meet the needs of innovation in the projects through a multitude of experiments which are described below. This approach led us to freely mix techniques, technologies and materials, both traditional and modern, creating a hybrid of sorts. You will see how designers re-invent their tools, develop “low-tech” technology appropriate to their projects and create intelligent materials, all to make the conception of interactive objects more accessible.
So-q – j.c.karich & bo pang
Time goes by (slowly) – light & clock – j.c.karich
Soundsitive – gesture controlled speaker – j.c.karich
Sandbox – j.c.karich, martin de bie & martin le tiec
Sandbox – j.c.karich, martin de bie & martin le tiec
1- « Prospection »: Prospection is the continuous observation of the evolution of society and the industrial world in order to propose pertinent and appropriate uses.
2- « Open source »: Initially, the word “open source” applied to programs which could be used and redistributed freely with access to the “source code”. Today, the concept still evokes the idea of sharing knowledge and enriching creativity through community. This is also seen in other fields (open medicine, open materials, etc.).
3- « New Uses »: The evolution of our environment, our way of life, our movement, our work, linked with new technologies leads to new uses.
4- « Prototype »: The term “prototype” means the first model of an object which will be reproduced in a series. It’s a functioning 1/1 scale model. Quick prototyping (or 3D printing) is made possible by digitally controlled machines, capable of quickly mass producing objects created in a 3D program.
5- « Do it yourself (DIY) »: Today, this expression has a much broader sense. With the multitude of tutorials online, DIY has become a promotion of open source and a reaction to consumerism.
6- « Hacking »: Hacking is the use of an object, a material or a technique for another purpose than was originally intended.
7- « Experimentations »: An experimental method validates a hypothesis or a fabrication process through repeating experiments to collect data.
8- « Hybridization »: Hybridization is combining many distinct entities in order to create a new, single entity, using different processes, different technologies and different materials.
9- « Low tech »: On the opposite end of the spectrum from “high tech”, this expression is given to cheap and apparently simple techniques, using common and recycled materials, for a technological purpose.
10- « Intelligent materials »: An “intelligent” material is capable of changing one or many of its properties responding to an external or internal stimuli. These materials both react and act on their own without the need for a separate control device.
