Design Reaktor Berlin
Invisible design that brings the unseen to light
What does a wigmaker have in common with a leatherworking
studio? Both are located in Berlin, but if it weren't for an odd thing called ”von Skalp” (”from the
scalp”), location would be the only thing they share. However, this necklace made of real hair unites
wigmaking techniques with painted skate leather and blackened silver. The design by Miriam Lehnart and
Sabina Turek calls on know-how from both crafts and resulted from the experimental design project
Design
Reaktor Berlin - a research project of the University of the Arts, Berlin. The idea is to allow
experimental
design to function as a link between different - apparently opposite - fields. By working through a
wide range of product ideas, new relationships are formed between disciplines in both tangible and intangible
ways, ultimately fostering trend-setting design.
A
comb that functions as adornment, painted skate
leather with real hair and blackened
silver © Photo (left)
Andreas Velten © Photo (middle and right) Lehnart,
Turek
/ Design Reaktor BerlinThis means hybridizing different disciplines
and contexts. For example, the knitting machine ”Gelsomina” translates the frequencies of individual
voices into a knitted pattern that is then used to create the ”Trikoton” outfits that were seen on the
catwalks of the Berlin Fashion Week. The knitting machine and the individualized process that it performs
are being presented at Ars Electronica in Linz. On the one hand, this collaboration between a fashion
designer (Magdalena Kohler) and an interactive designer (Hanna Wiesner) creates a novel sense of creative
“homelessness” which, on the other hand, allows the final design to be at home in multiple contexts.
An
outfit with a personalized knitted pattern. The
knitted pattern is derived from the spectral
analysis
of individual voices © Photo (left) Joel Horwitz © Photo
(right)
Wiesner/Kohler / Design Reaktor BerlinOpposites attract, and they
can even benefit from one another. A design by Janja Maidl demonstrates the cross-pollination of digital
functionality and analogue material. The collision between the two respective concepts of “progressionality”
and “teabag” produces a very inspired yet simple product. Temae is an “intelligent” teabag which nonetheless
remains very analogue. With the help of absorbent chromatographic paper, the teabag indicates how long
the tea has been steeping. Which is essential — with green tea, for example — for the preparation
of the perfect cup of tea.
A teabag that shows when the tea is ready © Photo
Janja
Maidl / Design Reaktor Berlin
When product designers and communication
strategists work together in Design Reaktor Berlin, a product like the Fragment Store — a new product,
shopping and communications concept — is the outcome. The consumer actively participates by assembling
an individual — possibly even unique — lamp, from fragments. Each fragment can be added on through a
magnetic sexless connector to create a whole range of possible configurations. The idea of individualized
products is not, in itself, a new one in the era of mass customization. However, given that every component
is manufactured by a different local company, the Fragment Store opens up additional channels of communication
that support local production — here with post-industrial Berlin as an example.
Each
component of the lamp is produced by a different
workshop © Photo Fragment Store / Design
Reaktor Berlin
Variations
of a lamp © Photo Fragment Store / Design
Reaktor Berlin
Design
Reaktor Berlin is a research project of the University of the Arts, Berlin and is supported by the Efre
Fund as a creative business initiative.Links:
www.design-reaktor.dewww.fragment-store.com
