Parametric Design furniture
August 20, 2023
Michaela Crie Stone lives and works in Rockport, Maine, where she creates pieces that push the parameters of function by blurring the lines between art, craft, and design.
Nature may seem at first glance random and free-flowing, but if you look on a microscopic level, you can find symmetry and geometry in almost all cell structures. The salient observation about the natural world’s smallest lifeforms provides designer Lilian van Daal the framework for exploring the functional forms of unicellular micro-organisms and turning it into, Radiolaria #1, a most unique 3D printed chair made with 100% recycled polymer powder pieces without a drop of glue.
Designer van Daal’s careful observation of the intricacies of flowers and the mycelium networks of fungi, alongside the symmetrical of skeletal structures of Radiolaria and Bryozoa zooplankton all provided inspiration for a 3D printed seating solution assembled into a lattice – sans any requirement of glue.
Each polymer piece is made of recycled polyamide/PA 12 developed by 3D printing company, Oceanz, providing not only flexible strength, but also requiring less material for manufacturing.
The resulting form shares a great semblance to the intricate 3D-printed lattice midsole of the Adidas Futurecraft 4D sneaker, another example of the strength and flexibility of printed polymer arrangements inspired by the complex structures of the natural world.
Lilian van Daals’ Radiolaria #1 – Fragments of Nature chair has been exhibited at two locations during Dutch Design Week 2018, including the Strijp-S at VEEM.
