2018 DS Carrara Marble Tables - Business SA Design for Export Awards
Celebrating
South Australia's
Design-led
Exporters
Celebrating
South Australia's
Design-led
Exporters
Celebrating
South Australia's
Design-led
Exporters
Celebrating
South Australia's
Design-led
Exporters
Main menu:
AWARDS > 2018 Gallery
2018 SHORTLISTED
CARRARA MARBLE NESTING TABLES
JIM HANNON-TAN DESIGN
Category:
PRODUCT DESIGN
FURNITURE & LIGHTING
Design:
JIM HANNON-TAN
Design Challenge
The mentality of waste is a vestige of the 20th century. A former colleague of mine had a quarry in Carrara, it had been in the family for generations and he lamented about how they were running out of marble. I had never considered it a finite material, so I made this the point of departure for the project. Originally designed for an exhibition in Milan it was later picked up and sold through a Milanese design gallery.
Design Solution
The first thing I did on my next trip to Europe was to visit Carrara. From the workshops that have not changed in 500 years where they replicated statues using pantographs, to the high tech 5 axis CNC robots that can cut any digital for, to the quarries and hollowed out mountains. I chose to work with machines fit for the form I had in already defined in 3d CAD, a stone lathe and a type of diamond bandsaw. In a strange backward process, we picked a piece of Marble to match the digital rendering I had made.
Design Impact
As the product was made and sold overseas, the design itself was the export.Originally exhibited during the Salone del Mobile in Milan, this project gained wide exposure and was critically acclaimed. This led to representation and a production contract with the gallery L’eclettico. The product makes a strong environmental statement as it celebrates quality, longevity and optimal material use.
Other Key Features
This design result required intensive iterations of research, sketching and 3d validation. I chose to work with marble early one, but once I had decided that it was to be about material optimisation, the project quickly fell into place. Framing the scope of the project was half the battle. While this project was a commercial success, the doors it opened were of more value.
