VENA
Outdoor Furniture Design
Designed for Mapletree Business City: Design in the City Outdoor Furniture Competition
Location: Eco-Pond
Awarded the Special Mention Prize
Inspired by cabbage and its natural fractal pattern, VENA is an outdoor furniture with the design concept based on biomimicry, which is the examination and emulation of nature in order to solve human problems. With the form of the furniture cued by that of the pattern as seen from a dissected cabbage, the VENA is an interpretation of the cohesive balance between nature and urbanity; a harmonious co-existence between the element of nature and man.
VENA being a furniture of natural element, is not only designed to complement the greenery and organic environment of the Eco- Pond, but also as a piece of art that allow users to shift them in the attempts to create their idea space, which in turn evolve the original form into another through this unconscious communal effort.
Minimal, organic and intriguing in its design, the VENA has a function beyond that of a sitting furniture. The narrow but manageable leg space in between the irregular shaped seats forms multitude pathways for users to move around and within the relatively wide furniture in order to find a seating arrangement suitable for themselves. This, in the process, enhance communal interaction between users as they attempt to move through the leg ways to find an ideal spot within the furniture.
Without the protection of shelter from wet climatic elements at the Eco-Pond, VENA is proposed to be cast in an eco-friendly substitute fiberglass, allowing easy maintenance, while the the bottom supports are build in lightweight concrete system, where foamed concrete is a greener alternative to concrete and is cost-efficient through rapid construction speed, ease of handling and virtually zero maintenance. The furniture exudes a organic and raw expression that communicate the values of sustainability without having to rely on natural materials. This is where sustainably designed furnitures become iconic without exhibiting the “sustainability look”.
Judges’ review
“Vena is visually very pleasing and a most beautiful design. The curved three-dimensional effect makes the piece look like a sculpture.”
“Vena is visually very pleasing and a most beautiful design. The curved three-dimensional effect makes the piece look like a sculpture.”
1:12 Scaled model
3D Rapid-prototyped ABS
Laser-etched acrylic sheet base
1:1 scale section of furniture
Foam
