Folding Plug by Min-Kyu Choi. I remember seeing this design at the Royal College of Art last year and immediately loving it. Its such a great move on from the bulky plugs we’re used to. Inspiration came from the anomaly of having a wafer thin laptop and an oversized plug, as he says here.  ”When people carry laptops with U.K plugs in a bag, it always causes problems such as tearing paper, scratching laptop surfaces and, sometimes, it breaks other stuff. The main problem is the UK standard 3-pin plug is not considered in the process of designing for mobility. My intention of the project was directed to make the plug as slim as possible and follow the British Standard regulation at the same time.”

I’m sure this design can be adapted for the varoious international  plugs and he has already developed a USB version. It will be interesting to see the product through into production and in its various guises across the world.  Its also astonishing that the design of the UK plug has hardly changed since 1946.  Little wonder that his radical redesign has won the Brit Insurance Design of the Year.

Desile Chair by Christian Desile for Vange  This is quite a beautiful graphic work, it looks wonderful folded down and hung on a wall. But the practicalities of the chair are also rather stunning. Its made from bamboo, a sustainable environmentally friendly material. And packed  down 100 chairs can be stored in a 2 metre stack. Its a chair that works in both in the home and for commercial use.

Robert Haslbeck’s Under-Koffer table Inspired by a rather more humble but functional trestle table table, Roberts version is less cumbersome. Easy to set up and pack down, once folded the table looks like a suitcase. The supporting frame slides up as the table is folded to create the handle. I rather like his choice of muted colours for the table top. 

Sanna Lindström and Sigrid Strömgren’s Grand Central Folding Coffee table. Inspiration for this came from the New York street map. Its an ingeniuos use of a traditional paper fold, and also a refreshing change to see a folding table that has a round top.

PEGA have created a range of vinyl decals or wall stickers that unfold to perform different functions. Influenced by origami; as its always useful to go back to the masters of folding when creating a folding piece, the work only reveals its function when opened. The light switches on and casts its shadow when the lampshade is pulled out.  The radio emits sound when the gramaphone trumpet is pulled out. The scent diffuser releases a puff of fragrance when the perfume bottle is pushed.  

Reworking traditional familiar shapes, or complex designs made possible by technology, the common thread in these designs are the little tricks they play with us. The optical illusions from their transparencey; and they appear to be so delicate but actually have immense strength. Most here use coated steel wire whereas the Nido stool above uses fibre glass. 

Nido by Eva Marguerre for Masson. Made from fibreglass and reinforced plastic this range of stools and side table look incredibly delicate, but they are much tougher than they look.  Over on the Nido website you can see Eva jumping on them, flinging them in the air letting them crash to the ground without damage. They’re also very light, she can be seen cycling around with an impressive number of the on the back of her bike.

Kilian Schindler Monoblock chair. The plastic Monoblock chair; an unloved design – I guess we’re imune to its charms, its just too familiar. Its also prone to collapse when you least expect it. Kilian has reworked the design in a more durable coated steel.  

 Tio by Chris Martin & Magnus Elebäck forMassproductions“The design for “Tio” was the end result of a few months of thinking, sketching and sculpting. My point of departure was to arrange a fan of wires into a comfortable seat and then connect them in a straightforward and logical frame, which minimized the amount of steel used. So really the appeal comes from pragmatic thinking, executed within the restraints of the materials characteristics and according to an industrial production process. Sounds clinical, but the result is something I find very pleasing. For those who find steel wires too hard, we have developed an upholstered cushion to give extra comfort during long dining sessions.” – says Chris Martin

Oooms Wire Frame Chair The Wire-frame collection came into existence because of a great fascination of the wire-frame structures in the 3D modelling phase of the design process. This chair is designed by computer using 3D software and after that its handmade in real steel wire.
 

Autoban’s Wire King. Turkish design duo, Seyhan Ozdemir and Sefer Caglar updated their own King lamp base in steel with either a  brass plate or painted  finish. The original wooden version was inspired by the Baroque curves of chess pieces - hence the “King” name.

Something from Nothing Wire Lamp. A simple functional lamp of 3 parts. The shade, frame and electrical cord.

I can’t help thinking that if you went a bit crazy with wire, your home may look a little like the set from Tron…but thats just me being a bit silly.