Posted by Harry
Textiles | 05 Feb 08 | Comments (10) | Stumble
Florian Kräutli has sent us his newest projects, the Magnetic Curtain above and Animal Chairs. Says Florian, the Magnetic Curtain is "A curtain which you can shape to any form", magnets embedded in the curtain fabric allow the user to shape the curtain innumerable ways, both open and closed. His Animal Chairs have metal skeletons beneath its upholstery made of recuperated metal; "I found [the metal] in the dump based on anatomical rules. Like an archaeologist who finds a dinosaur skeleton.".
The Magnetic Curtain in context.
Animal Chairs.
I can't stop swearing. This is honestly one of the most innovative, interesting, and beautiful ideas I have ever seen.
The Chairs are interesting. The Curtains are fabulous!
I would sculpt them every time I was near them.
http://www.allijn.nl
Click on products, and there you have it... click on the picture.
Or: http://www.designspongeonline.com/2007/02/hannah-allijn.html
She graduated in 2005 with this design.
I remember Hannah Allijn's faceted curtain, we posted it here when we first saw it: http://mocoloco.com/archives/003851.php
Allijn's design uses a drawstring to pull up and hold the curtain, not magnets. They're both geometric. Are they sufficiently different to pass the rip-off test?
Your opinions please - leave a comment.
Don't know, I like Hannah's a lot, I love the sensitiveness in her design. What I like about Florian's version is the innovative magnets.
But see how I say "version" I do think they look alike to much. I wouldn't go as far as calling it a rip-off but he must have seen Hannah's design.
Another case of 'too close for comfort' with this curtain and the Allijn version. Both have their distinctive qualities, but not enough to really separate the 2. Though I really do like the concepts and would easily have either in my home.
Also have to say and with all due respect, the Animal Chair is awful. I understand and appreciate the thought process behind it, but in terms of aesthetics, it really struggles for me. Maybe I just need to see it in person to appreciate it more.
But again, with all due respect.
I thought of Hannah Allijns faceted curtain straightaway when I saw this...it really does look VERY like hers...I do think its a bit of a rip-off... I like actually like hers better.
Functions aside, I think Hannah's version looks better than Florian's magnetic one. The numerous magnet studs on the fabric seem to be kind of a 'restriction' in its usage for certain styles of design.
But both are innovative in their exploration of materials usage and window treatment conventions, so it's not really fair to compare both on an apple-to-apple basis.
Seems like a nice case of cross pollination:
Hannah creates a geometric curtain, Florian gives it magnets, isn't the world a more interesting place for having both?
i think there´s room for everybody and all that surrounds us has been copied from somewhere...but seriously if you copy in this way, just be kind enough with yourself to accept you are using someone else's creation (don't post it as yours)...i remember having seen hannah allijn's curtain and saved her address in my computer under "the best curtain ever"...and that one is still the best curtain i think, beautifully made...