Geometrical shapes are endowed with two very special qualities, what I would define as a magnetic and a semantic power.
Whenever architects set down to create a new building, the geometric shapes they move from inspire them further images and ideas, attracting them like magnets, transfiguring the original project they had in mind and linking it to a wider universe.
Once the project is completed, their works create new spaces, sparking dialogues with what surrounds them and eventually establishing an almost semantic relationship with the other buildings and with the people who look at them, communicating them ideas and positive or negative emotions.
One of the most interesting geometrical forms is undoubtedly the triangle, this shape seems to be conceived by many artists and architects as a limitless source of inspiration.
Think about three-dimensional triangles, look at them from another point of view, recreate them in different materials, join one triangle with other triangles and you will obtain beautiful shapes.
Indeed, mixing triangles with other geometrical forms can generate tetrahedrons, octahedrons, icosahedrons, pentagonal pyramids and truss-like structures.
The geodesic domes designed by Richard Buckminster-Fuller are perfect examples of structures based on simple solids such as tetrahedrons and octahedrons (remember the geodesic dome of the US pavilion on my Expo 67 scarf?)
Swiss Herzog & de Meuron should be definitely included among the architecture firms who managed to create some exciting buildings using triangular shapes.
Among their recent projects based on triangles there is for example the extension to the Tate Modern art gallery in London or the sustainable “Le Projet Triangle” in the Porte de Versailles area of Paris, a pyramid-shaped building capable of generating solar and wind power.
Working with three-dimensional triangular shapes, the architecture firm ADD + Architectura redesigned instead a few years ago the back façade of the city hall of the Spanish town Manresa, adding a futuristic staircase extension that created at the same time tensions and contrasts, but also a special continuity with the landscape.
Transfiguring geometrical forms in fashion has led to very interesting experiments for what regards clothes, but also accessories, from jewellery to shoes.
Last year Russian-born but Belgium-based (she studied at the Royal Academy of Fine
Arts in Antwerp) designer Irina Shaposhnikova based her graduate collection on the geological formations of crystals and minerals.
The mineral world can indeed offer some wonderful inspirations not only for what regards colours, but also for its amazing geometric forms.
Shaposhnikova used triangles and diamond shapes to develop new silhouettes for the female body, creating angular and at times robotic silhouettes around the shoulders, the breast areas, the hips and even around the legs.
The tensions created by the triangular shapes on the female body were also highlighted further by the contrasts between soft materials and rigid plastic and the dichotomy between proper fabrics and transparent synthetic materials.
Triangles also inspired interesting structures for jewellery pieces.
Danish-born, London-based jewellery designer Henriette Lofstrom (you can check out her pieces from Kabiri) has based the pieces out of her "Jurassic" collection on the power of triangles and repetition.
Adding one triangle to the other Lofstrom came up with pyramids, truss-like structures and futuristic body armours evoking Buckminster-Fuller’s architectures.
Inspired by stars, minerals and diamond-shaped structures, Italian jewellery house Banci Gioielli included in its latest collection, entitled "Firmamento" (Firmament) a silver necklace-cum-shoulder piece that could be considered as a cross-over between a mineral formation and a section of a geodesic dome à la Buckminster-Fuller.
New experiments in fashion design will definitely produce innovative and exciting pieces based on triangular shapes.
In a previous post I mentioned United Nude's "Lo Res" stiletto pumps.
"Lo Res" actually stands for "Low Resolution", an innovative three-dimensional design method employing computer software that the footwear company is developing.
The "Lo Res Project" focuses on experimenting with projecting on different objects a series of 3D points and connecting them allowing triangular shapes to appear.
Further distortions in the designs can be created through a lower or higher resolution. In its experiments, the shoe brand developed new Lo Res products including a Lamborghini Countach, a Verner Panton chair and vodka glasses with a matching bottle.
For the future United Nude hopes to develop the Lo Res method with INUS technology, the makers of the Rapidform design software.
I think this application will be particularly interesting in the fashion and interior design fields since it will allow us to explore the possibilities different objects can give us when their shapes and dimensions are altered.
I guess it will also be amazing to see if this application will help us creating a wardrobe full of clothes and accessories that could push the fashion boundaries forwards with their evocatively architectural shapes and silhouettes.
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
Add to Technorati Favorites
Lijit Search
Comments