MAN MACHINE / EDITION / GALERIE KREO /
2014
MAN MACHINE is a collection of furniture pieces developed for Galerie kreo in Paris. Like the CHAMPIONS tables, my previous project for kreo, I based the entire collection on one material (and technique): glass. Glass is surely not the most obvious material for making furniture. Apart from being cold and heavy, there is a prevalent stigma about its fragility. However, if you think about it, glass is one of the most commonly used building materials in contemporary architecture. The idea of MAN MACHINE (named after Kraftwerk´s 1978 album) started to formulate when we began introducing moving elements to the glass furniture. The movement is achieved by using industrial gas pistons, a kind of magic muscle. The performance and leverage of each gas piston is customized according to the exact movement required. On the CHAISE (chair), the piston is used to alter the position of the backrest, on the round TABLE_M the piston makes the table top fold away. The large TABLE_XL has four synchronized telescopic pistons which allow the table top to be cranked up or down. The big boxes (CRATE) have pistons lifting the glass lid, the book SHELF incorporates pistons pushing wooden blocks like sprung bookends. All pieces are made out of tempered glass jointed together with silicone glue. The MAN MACHINE collection is produced in a limited edition of 8 pieces each.

Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)
Manufacturer: Glasbau Hahn
Producer: Galerie kreo, Paris