The Industrial Design Triennial Show opened Thursday night to quite a crowd of show-goers, including faculty, staff, alumni, and students from ID as well as several other departments (I even met a few from Brown!).
The main room in the gallery was overflowing with talk of all things Industrial Design. I, at one point in the night, found myself talking with my classmate, Mateo Ward (BFA ID ’13), about some of the work. He brought me over to look at a piece by Olivia Rodger and Pequi Chang (MID ’12) and titled “Co-Design Toolkit” that involved working with a group of children to develop a system to encourage responsible waste disposal. Ward expressed excitement that the show included pieces such as this one, stating that he cherished the “psychology” that went into the piece and its connection to its audience, which he feels is sometimes overlooked in the world of design.
A number of pieces in the show are born of the “Chair Studio.” Each one of these chairs is unique and interesting solutions to the set of problems presented by devising and constructing a seating implement. I was fortunate enough to be allowed to fully experience one chair by a student named Alex Savard (BFA ID ’12). He let me sit in his chair and it was, I must say, very comfortable. Savard constructed his chair out of wood and metal, using maple to fabricate the backrest and seat, and steel bar bent into shape to form the legs and frame of the char. His chair is designed in such a way that the backrest and seat sections are disconnected, which allows them a certain amount of give. The steel is somewhat springy, so when I put my weight on the chair, the seat and back seemed to contour and shape to my body and to my movements as I sat. Savard achieved a very comfortable shape and form in the maple by utilizing the CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machine here at RISD. He spent what he estimates to be approximately 15 hours sanding with sandpaper and steel wool which resulted in a satisfying shine and smooth finish to the maple, further complimenting the ergonomic qualities within the chair.
The Woods-Gerry Gallery is now full to the brim with displays of impeccable craftsmanship, clever problem solving, and intriguing form. The work stays up until December 12th, which means there is no excuse for missing out on this amazing show!
Awesome article! I like the photos-
[...] two chairs. The first round of chairs were completed early in November, many in time for the RISD ID Triennial Show. For the first chair, students enrolled in the course were simply asked by Stem to create a chair, [...]