THE WORLD IN CONVEX AND CONCAVE

Text by Irene Translation by Leo

THE WORLD IN CONVEX AND CONCAVE

Text by Irene Translation by Leo

Concave and Convex (“凹凸” in Chinese or“Automax”) are two cultural symbols in the Yin-Yang Theory of ancien China that complement each other. Now they have new interpretations in the world of modern design.

凹凸場(chǎng)AUTOMAX-Space

At the 2015 Frankfurt International Furniture Fair (Tokyo) held last November, there was a unique exhibition stand, named “Automax Space”, with an array of ingenious design items constructed with pairs of concave and convex components, each being a stand-alone table (called Automax-table). These Automax components come in five colours - white, green, black, red and yellow (referring to the metal, wood, water, fire and earth, respectively, in the Five Elements) - and in different pairings, horizontally forming tables, stands or racks, or vertically-forming cabinets, shelves or columns. These fl exible and multi-functional structures are truly ingenious modern designs inspired by traditional Chinese culture and philosophy.

“Automax Space” is part of exhibition planner and designer Sunny Chen's bigger creative plan,“Automax”. Interestingly, Chen's original inspiration for the design ideas came from the changes in his wife's bellybutton during her pregnancy, which sank in and popped out alternately. “I wanted to design a pair of wedding rings with my own hands to mark our marriage and the arrival of a new life,”said Chen. The wedding rings, named “Automax-Rings”, are made of jade and gold and can be buckled up when not being worn. The pair makes up a whole that implies a good match.

In ancient Chinese philosophy, Concave and Convex are used to explain everything in heaven and on earth. They represent Yin and Yang respectively, two opposite but complementary principles that regulate the functioning of the cosmos.

“AUTOMAX-Tower”, Chen's latest creation, is made from the bamboo of Anji, a county famously known as the “hometown of bamboo trees” in East China's Zhejiang province. The designer tries to explore the internal space of bamboo tubes through their linear surface. To echo the idea of Automax, he used processed bamboo rather than raw bamboo material to construct the tower, which represents the complementary efforts of man and Nature. Concave/Convex embodies a philosophical interpretation of the relationship between opposites such as up/down, after/before, shallow/deep, high/low and inside/outside. So it is more than just an idea or design. It is also a work method and a philosophy of life. It reaches beyond architecture.

“Through Automax, I come to understand the birth, growth and change of life; the mortise and tenon joint teaches me how fast an intimate relationship can be; and the way that bamboo grows upward from one internode to another lets me see the power of repetition,” said the designer.

Though deeply rooted in profound philosophical concepts, the design idea of Automax does serve many purposes in life. For example, when Chen's studio took a step forward, a dozen cats that he'd adopted faced the prospect of being displaced or separated. “I hoped that I could design and make a home for them, a home that could move with them,” he said. This led to his partnership with paper artist Wu Mingche in designing a series of cat houses using Automax ideas. The cat houses, ranging from a single room to a seperate house, can suit any new home.

凹凸間天地見(jiàn)

“凹凸”這對(duì)源于中國(guó)陰陽(yáng)互補(bǔ)的古老文化符號(hào)，如今演變成新潮的東方設(shè)計(jì)語(yǔ)言。

2015年11月，法蘭克福國(guó)際家具展東京站，有一方頗具哲學(xué)意味的凹凸場(chǎng)。凹凸場(chǎng)的基本模塊是一對(duì)“凹凸幾”，各有對(duì)應(yīng)金木水火土五行的白綠黑紅黃中華五色，可以任意組合成一對(duì)，每對(duì)再任意組合成橫向的幾、臺(tái)、架和豎向的柜、架、柱，是一個(gè)靈活多變，兼具不同使用功能，并根植傳統(tǒng)文化的當(dāng)代設(shè)計(jì)。

凹凸場(chǎng)是策展人、馬達(dá)思班創(chuàng)始合伙人陳展輝“凹凸無(wú)限”創(chuàng)作計(jì)劃的一部分。說(shuō)來(lái)有趣，陳展輝對(duì)于凹凸的設(shè)計(jì)靈感，最初來(lái)自于太太懷孕時(shí)凹凸變化的肚臍。“我當(dāng)時(shí)就想親自設(shè)計(jì)一對(duì)婚戒，以紀(jì)念兩人的結(jié)合以及新生命的到來(lái)。” 凹凸戒由金和玉組合而成，平時(shí)不用扣在一起就是一個(gè)整體，寓意中國(guó)傳統(tǒng)的“金玉良緣”。 陳展輝還專門(mén)邀請(qǐng)了畢業(yè)于巴黎的九零后珠寶設(shè)計(jì)師趙雨萱合作完成了婚戒的深化設(shè)計(jì)和監(jiān)制。

在東方哲學(xué)中，凹凸詮釋了天與地，在自然的世界里它是陰陽(yáng)的和而不同。無(wú)論宏觀的世界還是微觀的時(shí)空，無(wú)處不存在凹凸的和諧。

凹凸幾AUTOMAX-Table

凹凸窩AUTOMAX-Cat House

“凹凸無(wú)極塔”是陳展輝最新的創(chuàng)作，這次他選擇了安吉永裕竹材，回應(yīng)了竹的里和外，從竹的線性外表剖析它的內(nèi)在空間。在設(shè)計(jì)師心中，凹凸詮釋了上下、前后、深淺、高低、里外的哲學(xué)關(guān)系。凹凸不只是個(gè)想法，也不只是個(gè)設(shè)計(jì)，凹凸是從建筑到建筑之外的關(guān)系，也是一種工作方法和處世哲學(xué)。

“我從凹凸讀懂生命的孕育、生長(zhǎng)、變化，從建筑榫卯的結(jié)構(gòu)看到緊密的牢固，從山水的波瀾相依領(lǐng)略陰陽(yáng)變化、周游六虛，從竹的節(jié)節(jié)攀升看到重復(fù)的力量。”設(shè)計(jì)師言。

深邃的哲學(xué)本源，并不妨礙設(shè)計(jì)為生活服務(wù)的宗旨。2015年，設(shè)計(jì)師與紙藝專家吳明澈合作，為貓咪設(shè)計(jì)出可爬可抓，環(huán)保可回收的凹凸窩組合，從單間到復(fù)式，從聯(lián)排到獨(dú)棟，適合任何新家的組合。真是生活無(wú)處不凹凸。凹凸就是人生。