5x5 Tool by Barbara Princic is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2014 Hõbeauhind A' Design Award in Mööblidisain Competition Category.
HõbeMööbel· 2014
5x5 Tool
Client: Sijaj Hrastnik
Hõbeauhind A' Design Award Winner in Mööbel Category
- 34,305
- Verified Award Winner
- Verify Award Status for #31513
The Design
About 5x5 Tool
5x5 tool on tüüpiline disainiprojekt, mille piirangut peetakse väljakutseks. Tooli iste ja seljatugi on valmistatud xilithist, mida on väga raske vormida. Xilith on tooraine, mida võib leida 300 meetri kõrguselt maapinnast ja mis koosneb kivisöest. Praegu visatakse suurem osa toorainest ära. Keskkonna seisukohast tekitab see materjal jäätmeid maapinnale. Seetõttu tundus tooli kujunduse idee olevat väga provokatiivne ja väljakutsuv.
The Recognition
About the Hõbeauhind A' Design Award
5x5 Tool on Hõbeauhinna A' Design Award võitja, ülimalt prestiižikas tunnustus, mis antakse tipptasemel, suurepärastele ja muljetavaldavatele disainidele. Hõbevõitjad on ülimalt säravad ja erakordselt loovad tööd, mis illustreerivad oma disainerite silmapaistvat kogemust, annet ja teravmeelsust. 5x5 Tool peaks olema imeline, eeskujulik töö, mis on märkimisväärselt professionaalne ja sügavalt uuenduslik. See Hõbeauhinna A' Design Award võidudisain on väga tähelepanuväärne, imetletud leiutis, mis toob kasu ning nihutab kunsti, teaduse, disaini ja tehnoloogia piire. 5x5 Tool on laialdaselt kadestatud looming, mis äratab soove, tekitab positiivseid tundeid ning süütab hämmastust ja imestust.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- The 5x5 chair is a typical design project where the limitation is recognized as a challenge. The chair's seat and the back are made of xilith which is very difficult to be shaped. Xilith is the raw material that can be found 300 meters under the ground surface and is comined with a coal. But it is nither the coal nor the wood. Currently the majority of the raw material is thrown away. From environmental point of view this material generates waste on the earth surface. Therefore the idea about chair design seemed to be very provocative and challenging. The scientific methods of the material's final surface treatment have been explored so if applied properly the final look can be close to that of ebony.
Each chair is unique as neither two tiles look the same. Therefore the chair can have more brown or more black look depending on the tiles collected together. - Dimensions & Packaging
- Width 470 mm x Depth 540 mm x Hight 840 mm
- Tags
- xilith, tiles, metal, elegant, thin, material innovation, experiment
- Production Technology
- Chair's structure:
- metal tub legs, surface nickel treated
- seat and back support made of laser cutted metal sheet, surface nickel treated
- Xilith tiles, cut, surface treated with linseed oil;
tiles glued on metal sheet surface - Design Challenge
- Material's unique visual properties, physical characteristics and manufacturing limitations were challenging.
The design challenge was simply how to make a chair from little tiles? how to connect them? How to make the underneath seat's metal sheet stiff but yet almost invisible, thin. - Research
- It was all about experimental work with this unique material. The scientific methods of surface treatment were examined years before within Biotechnological Faculty, University of Ljubljana. If the surface is treated properly, the outcome look is similar to ebony.
- Inspiration
- As explained in the project explanation; material's unique visual properties, physical characteristics and manufacturing limitations were challenging.
Xilith is the raw material that is very hard and fragile. Therefore the tile's dimension 5x5 cm is the maximum still acceptable dimension for manufacturing since the material itself is very difficult to be manufactured and shaped. - Project Duration
- The project started in May 2008 and finished in October 2008 in Slovenia. It was exhibited at several exhibitions like
- Month of Design, October 2008, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Reader-friendly Design, January 2010, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- The Design Assembly, May 2010, Graz, Austria
- IDEA Award Winners and Finalists exhibition, August 2010, Henry Ford Museum, Michigan USA
- Charm of wood, spring 2011, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Ambient, furniture fair, October 2013, Ljubljana, Slovenia - Operation Flow
- It enables very comfortable and ergonomic sitting.
- Team Members
- Barbara Princic, designer
Mr. Miran Drac, technologist - Image Credits
- Images No.1-5, photographer Miha Benedicic, 5x5 chair, 2009.
Sponsored
Explore Beyond Designers.org
Discover products, services and opportunities from our advertising partners.
More to Explore
Related Designs
Explore more award-winning designs from the same category, selected by merit.