Design First impressions of the new “MYTO” chair. 14 Chair, it had a large surface and a sculpted shape, without legs, without a frame. So why not use a modern plastic like Ultradur ® High Speed to build upon the great model <strong>from</strong> the past and take it into the future? Perhaps create something that Panton could not do because he didn’t have the right material? Grcic elaborates, “I was fascinated by the temptation to use this highly mechanical plastic to tackle the challenge of the free-swinging chair. That was the key to our project.” Creative “Big Bang” <strong>The</strong> right team for this endeavor was quickly assembled: the renowned furniture manufacturer Plank, <strong>from</strong> Bolzano, Italy, was now on board and he brought along a mold producer and an injection-molding machine manufacturer. After just a few weeks, the first Styropor models and CAD data were ready. <strong>BASF</strong> contributed its know-how about <strong>plastics</strong>. “We found the ideal mold design as well as optimal injection points and figured out the ribs, the curvatures and the profile thicknesses with an eye towards properly dissipating the forces that build up,” explains Bakker. After all, the chair had been conceived right <strong>from</strong> the start as a monoblock – as an integrated whole, without steel reinforcement. This does not mean that the object has to actually look bulky. Grcic states, “Ultradur High Speed is particularly free-flowing. We can create cross sections with very thick walls and, at the same time, make the transition <strong>from</strong> a frame construction into a network with very fine structures.” So, this new piece of design furniture – which has been given the name MYTO – does indeed transport Marcel Breuer’s idea into the future, evolving into a free-swinging chair made of plastic. However, it does not have a large surface like the Panton chair, but rather, it has legs like the Cesca. <strong>The</strong> filigree openings in the backrest make the link to historical predecessors since they are reminiscent of wickerwork and impart the chair with a timeless lightness. <strong>The</strong> technical data is likewise very convincing: the glass fibers provide the requisite stability without interfering with the elasticity of the chair; Ultradur High Speed’s low moisture absorption and high resistance to UV and weathering turn this chair into a piece of furniture for the whole world, which will surely stand the test of time, even in hot and humid climates. Thanks to the nanotechnology employed by <strong>BASF</strong> in the development of this material, this plastic not only flows very well into the complex mold but it also helps the chair to shine in bright colors with less dye than is needed for standard PBT. Dimensions for the design of the future But these are all things that are only of fleeting interest to artists. Much more exciting is “the idea that one can actually design material,” says Grcic. “When I design a wooden chair, I don’t go to the sawmill to talk to the manager about the wood that he is cutting for me there. But I do think that the design of the future needs precisely this new dimension.” And Bakker? For her, this work is actually nothing out of the ordinary. “For <strong>BASF</strong>, it has become a matter of course to lend a hand to <strong>customer</strong>s with our know-how, all the way <strong>from</strong> the seed of an idea to the final product. In the meantime, we have even expanded our interfaces to designers. Anyone who wants to know how to implement ideas with plastic is welcome to the designfabrik, our design factory created for this very purpose. And it was intentional that we put the design factory right in the middle of the <strong>BASF</strong> works in Ludwigshafen, Germany, in the building of a former paint factory, where designers now meet. Further information: www.ultradur.de www.basf-designfabrik.com
Design 15
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