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Behold - the rice paper chair
By Xu Wenwen |
June 19, 2012, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
LIGHT Chinese rice paper is fashioned into a chair, ceramics are used to make a stool and bamboo strips are used to make a lamp shade.
Innovative ideas turn traditional materials into avant-garde designs that are appreciated by consumers as well as design experts and international design juries.
The Innovo Design Co in Yuhang, Hangzhou, has won almost 20 international design awards, including Salone Satellite Award at the 2012 Milan Furniture Fair, the Red Dot Design Award "Best of The Best" and the Elle Decor Award China.
"We want to show traditional materials in an untraditional way," says Zhang Lei, founder and design director of Innovo.
Established in 2005, the company has three chief designers, Zhang Lei, Christoph John from Germany and Jovana Bogdanovic from Serbia.
The firm is known for its "From Yuhang" series featuring around 20 items of furniture and interior design made from rice paper, bamboo, ceramics, wood and silk in natural colors and strong Chinese style.
The paper mache Paper Chair is the best known, appearing delicate but actually durable and comfortable, able to support the weight of an adult. The first version of the chair has a wooden base, but this year the company produced a woodless version that can support 500 kilograms.
'From Yuhang'
Other paper works include a cone-shaped paper mache lamp, made from bamboo paper pulp with a natural rough texture and uneven lines. There are also paper mache vases and plates.
Lamp shades are made of strips of bamboo bent into various shapes.
The line is called "From Yuhang" because designers were inspired in concepts and methods by old handicrafts in Hangzhou's Yuang suburb which retains some old traditions.
It all started with an umbrella - the traditional Chinese paper umbrella or parasol that used to be an everyday item. Yuhang used to produce paper umbrellas and some of the original techniques are employed to produce various decorative items. There are still some old craftsmen in the suburb.
Two years ago Zhang and his team visited Yuhang to examine old crafts and were enchanted by the techniques used to make umbrellas with paper and bamboo. More than 70 steps are required to produce one parasol.
The team remained in Yuhang, at first improving the technology to relaunch paper umbrellas for today's consumers, then decided to expand the technology to make various items.
"Some families in Yuhang still work as companies, which motivated us to explore further," designer John says.
For more than two months the trio visited various villages and spoke to old craftsmen about everything from paper umbrellas to bamboo tools.
An Innovo brochure sums up their experience: "From Yuhang to Milan - 438 days, 17 traditional materials, 12 ancient villages, 10 designers, 8 craftsmen, 1 design team - the revival of tradition."
It is not only a revival of skills and craftsmanship but also a revision of function and creation of a new world for old craftsmanship. Designers continuously find out how far they can go to extend the limits of traditional materials.
They discovered that several layers of delicate rice paper glued together made a stronger material. This led to design of the Paper Chair.
Traditional materials
They saw that thin bamboo strips could be twisted into lampshades and that China's famous ceramics could be used to make an easily cleaned surface for tables and chair seats.
Also in Yuhang the team found that traditional silk padding used to stuff quilts for warmth could be made into threads, fabrics and garments.
"It's very interesting for foreign designers to research Chinese traditional materials and items, which are complex, amazing and inspire us to discover and design more," says Bogdanovic, one of the three chief designers.
Innovo's design philosophy is derived from Chinese philosophy: follow nature and make the best use of everything.
"The aim of design is not to create something to be beautiful but to design something to work and be functional, and thus is beautiful," Zhang says.
Most of Innovo's designs are made with less than three materials, making it easier to manufacture and reducing waste.
Zhang says 20 pieces is just a start in Innovo's 10-year plan about Yuhang.
The next project is "Colorful Yuhang" involving lots of colorful furniture, in contrast with the natural color of the initial items produced. The design team plans to explore Liangzhu culture in Yuhang, a cradle of the Neolithic jade culture.
Yuhang's villages contain many old houses, some a couple of hundred years old. But locals want to tear them down because they cannot accommodate modern plumbing and air-conditioning.
Thus, the Innovo team plans to renovate a number of old buildings at little cost, demonstrating thathistoric structures and traditonal materials are valuable and should be preserved. They can become stylish, comfortable houses.
Innovative ideas turn traditional materials into avant-garde designs that are appreciated by consumers as well as design experts and international design juries.
The Innovo Design Co in Yuhang, Hangzhou, has won almost 20 international design awards, including Salone Satellite Award at the 2012 Milan Furniture Fair, the Red Dot Design Award "Best of The Best" and the Elle Decor Award China.
"We want to show traditional materials in an untraditional way," says Zhang Lei, founder and design director of Innovo.
Established in 2005, the company has three chief designers, Zhang Lei, Christoph John from Germany and Jovana Bogdanovic from Serbia.
The firm is known for its "From Yuhang" series featuring around 20 items of furniture and interior design made from rice paper, bamboo, ceramics, wood and silk in natural colors and strong Chinese style.
The paper mache Paper Chair is the best known, appearing delicate but actually durable and comfortable, able to support the weight of an adult. The first version of the chair has a wooden base, but this year the company produced a woodless version that can support 500 kilograms.
'From Yuhang'
Other paper works include a cone-shaped paper mache lamp, made from bamboo paper pulp with a natural rough texture and uneven lines. There are also paper mache vases and plates.
Lamp shades are made of strips of bamboo bent into various shapes.
The line is called "From Yuhang" because designers were inspired in concepts and methods by old handicrafts in Hangzhou's Yuang suburb which retains some old traditions.
It all started with an umbrella - the traditional Chinese paper umbrella or parasol that used to be an everyday item. Yuhang used to produce paper umbrellas and some of the original techniques are employed to produce various decorative items. There are still some old craftsmen in the suburb.
Two years ago Zhang and his team visited Yuhang to examine old crafts and were enchanted by the techniques used to make umbrellas with paper and bamboo. More than 70 steps are required to produce one parasol.
The team remained in Yuhang, at first improving the technology to relaunch paper umbrellas for today's consumers, then decided to expand the technology to make various items.
"Some families in Yuhang still work as companies, which motivated us to explore further," designer John says.
For more than two months the trio visited various villages and spoke to old craftsmen about everything from paper umbrellas to bamboo tools.
An Innovo brochure sums up their experience: "From Yuhang to Milan - 438 days, 17 traditional materials, 12 ancient villages, 10 designers, 8 craftsmen, 1 design team - the revival of tradition."
It is not only a revival of skills and craftsmanship but also a revision of function and creation of a new world for old craftsmanship. Designers continuously find out how far they can go to extend the limits of traditional materials.
They discovered that several layers of delicate rice paper glued together made a stronger material. This led to design of the Paper Chair.
Traditional materials
They saw that thin bamboo strips could be twisted into lampshades and that China's famous ceramics could be used to make an easily cleaned surface for tables and chair seats.
Also in Yuhang the team found that traditional silk padding used to stuff quilts for warmth could be made into threads, fabrics and garments.
"It's very interesting for foreign designers to research Chinese traditional materials and items, which are complex, amazing and inspire us to discover and design more," says Bogdanovic, one of the three chief designers.
Innovo's design philosophy is derived from Chinese philosophy: follow nature and make the best use of everything.
"The aim of design is not to create something to be beautiful but to design something to work and be functional, and thus is beautiful," Zhang says.
Most of Innovo's designs are made with less than three materials, making it easier to manufacture and reducing waste.
Zhang says 20 pieces is just a start in Innovo's 10-year plan about Yuhang.
The next project is "Colorful Yuhang" involving lots of colorful furniture, in contrast with the natural color of the initial items produced. The design team plans to explore Liangzhu culture in Yuhang, a cradle of the Neolithic jade culture.
Yuhang's villages contain many old houses, some a couple of hundred years old. But locals want to tear them down because they cannot accommodate modern plumbing and air-conditioning.
Thus, the Innovo team plans to renovate a number of old buildings at little cost, demonstrating thathistoric structures and traditonal materials are valuable and should be preserved. They can become stylish, comfortable houses.
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