Victoria designer to feature in furniture show
victoria-university-of-wellington
Thu Apr 05 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Victoria designer to feature in furniture show
Thursday, 5 April 2007, 11:24 am
Press Release: Victoria University of Wellington
5 April 2007
Victoria designer to feature in Milan furniture show
Revolutionary new chairs designed and created by a Victoria University researcher will feature in one of the world’s most prestigious furniture shows in Milan later this month.
Senior Lecturer, Tim Miller, from the School of Design, is travelling to Italy to showcase his designs in a joint exhibition with David Trubridge at the Zona Tortona show during the Milan Furniture Week from April 18—23. The 2006 Zona Tortona show hosted about 60,000 visitors with 194 companies exhibiting their latest collections over six days.
Mr Miller’s CUTform designs, which have been supported and patented by the University’s commercialisation company, Victoria Link Limited, use state-of-the-art laser technology to make a unique series of perforated cuts that ingeniously transform flat sheets of material into fluid three-dimensional forms.
The products are the result of a four-year research project at the University that has explored and extended the limits between material, digital technologies and manufacturing processes.
Mr Miller says he’s very excited about the opportunity to exhibit his designs at Milan.
“The Milan Furniture Fair is the most important international show and it has been for a several decades. It is the place where the top companies and the top designers exhibit their work. Designers we’ve shown the prototypes to in New Zealand have been gob-smacked by the unbelievable way a flat sheet can be technologically transformed into a fluid form, and we’re hoping for a similar response when we go to Europe.”
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Mr Miller says the ability to transform two-dimensional sheets into beautiful three-dimensional forms pushes the boundaries of existing technology and design.
“I believe that designers need to research and adopt new technologies and use of lasers made me wonder whether it would be possible to create new shapes out of single sheets of material without having to join pieces together. The designs could be used in homes and office foyers while the stackable version would be ideal in conference venues.”
Mr Miller says the trip to Milan, which is being backed by Victoria Link, aims to bring the designs to the attention of a company that would be willing to take out a licence and manufacture them internationally.
Three CUTform products will be exhibited at Milan: STRETCHout a lounge seat created from a simple rectangular semi-rigid polypropylene sheet of plastic perforated and expanded into a fluid form that ergonomically conforms to the body; DRAWin, a chair version of the lounge seat that made either in stackable or non-stackable versions; and a stool called PULLup.
ENDS
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