Very Little Form

Very Little Form

After exploration with ISO Shelving, I made two observations. The first, was that the influence of gravity and stability of the shelf are dependent on surface area contact and stiffness of material. The surface area is directly related to friction between planes and therefore I started considering a variety of materials and physical differences as well as aesthetic language: acrylic, sheet metal, felt, wool, double and triple walled corrugated cardboard, plaster, solid wood, plywood. I then miniaturized the idea of the ISO Shelves and the concept of standard pieces that have an inherent flexibility designed into them. By playing with the configuration of three pieces - a large plane, a small plane, and a dowel - this final design concept for this directed study was developed. K.422 — K for khetha, Zulu for select or choose — is a set of four large planes, two small planes and two dowels. In a puzzle-like way, the user can arrange these pieces into three main configurations: paper display, item tray and modelling tray (note, birdhouse may be possible but uses slightly different geometry). When arranged correctly, by following the numbered order diagrams connecting mind and hand, the three configurations are strong and interchangeable. Each piece can be replaced and overtime the pieces will be a completely new set, similar to the 20 year renewal of the Ise Shrine in Mie Prefecture, Japan. While the design ended up selecting wood as its material, for portability, lightweightness, strength and ease of fabrication, a strong paper pulp product could be created in the future, using recycled materials, similar to egg cartons. A variety of matching, or mismatching colours are possible and theoretically a combination of materials as well. Finally and most importantly, this design can be flatpacked, assembled and disassembled and also scaled up for larger items.

Directed Study
University of British Columbia
Instructor—Greg Johnson
S2018