zp and yf

Daisypath - Personal pictureDaisypath Anniversary tickers

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Eames, the designer

I have been working at this company for almost 2 months. Everyday, I’m happy to see all the Eames & Nelson classic furniture just right in front of me. I believe not everyone know who are them, especially for those people who is not design/ art related. Anyway, Charles (1907–1978) and Ray (1912–1988) Eames they were American designer, for Herman Miller. Herman Miller produced furniture, chairs and office furniture. 
What I impressed by them are, they have stories for every single piece of their design, and the creative usage of materials, eg. Plastic, wire and plywood.

Charles & Ray Eames


Below pieces are masterpiece that featured in our showroom, and I would like to just share with you guys briefly about the design and product story J

Eames Molded Plastic Armchair

This chair come in 4 different base, I personally love this one in wire base, because the craftmanship is just so awesome!

Design Story:

In the 1940s, Charles and Ray Eames were looking forward while other American designers were content to stay put. New materials, new techniques, new shapes—these were what interested the Eameses. 



The designers were focused on the new plastics because this exciting material held the promise of being able to do more with less. They realized that plastic could be molded into organic shapes that would conform to the shape of the body.

The Eameses adapted molding techniques developed during World War II to produce the shells. They also perfected another technique with which they had been experimenting—creating a bent, welded wire base. 



The result was the process that allowed the manufacture of the first mass-produced one-piece plastic chairs. No upholstery, no covering. Charles and Ray Eames, true to their design philosophy, wanted the actual materials of the chair to take center stage. And they still do, in keeping with the designers' original intent.


Eames Molded Plywood Chairs

They are really design be follow contour of human body, they are really comfortable to sit-on!

Design Story:

In the early 1940s, when Charles Eames was working on MGM set designs, he and his wife, Ray, were experimenting with wood-molding techniques that would have profound effects on the design world. Their discoveries led to a commission from the US Navy to develop plywood splints, stretchers, and glider shells, molded under heat and pressure, that were used successfully in World War II.
When the war was over, Charles and Ray applied the technology they had created to making affordable, high-quality chairs that could be mass-produced using dimensionally shaped surfaces instead of cushioned upholstery. When they found that plywood did not withstand the stresses that occurred where the chair seat and back met, they abandoned their original single-shell idea in favor of a chair that had separate molded-plywood panels for the back and seat. 
The process eliminated the extraneous wood needed to connect the seat with the back, which reduced the weight and visual profile of the chair and established a basis for modern furniture design. Sculpting a seat and back to fit the contours of the human body, they designed a truly comfortable chair that's suitable for businesses and homes.

Eames Wire Chairs




What a brave and innovative material to use!

Design Story:
In the Eames design studio, new materials were the name of the game.
That same molded plywood, and then molded plastic, ended up as materials in innovative chairs produced in the 1940s. Never content to repeat themselves, in the early 1950s, the Eameses and their design staff turned to bent and welded wire. Inspired by trays, dress forms, and baskets, the designers developed a variety of pieces, including Eames wire chairs.
To achieve the desired shape and strength, while keeping costs low (because affordability was a major criterion of Eames designs), they made the rim of the chair a lighter-gauge wire and doubled it. This advance won them the first American mechanical patent for design. They didn't use cross-weaving on the outer edges, which made the chair lighter in weight and less expensive to produce.
The original chair padding was fabric, not leather, and the first attempts at making it hit a snag: The padding slid around too much on the wire network. To solve the problem, the Eameses took a quintessentially Eames approach; working with a design school, they developed equipment and methods to make the padding they wanted, moved the equipment into their studio, and produced the padding on the spot.

(More interesting furniture is coming... to be continued...)




Sunday, September 19, 2010

Tokyo!

June, 26th, 2010. Welcome to Tokyo!! 

My first day at Tokyo - Reached Haneda airport around 12 noon, and by taking train, I reached hostel safety, and I met up with Lee Ming - my secondary school mate who study at Hiroshima - she took 14 hours of bus all the way from Hiroshima to Tokyo! :)

At this half day at Tokyo, we went Shibuya - Jyugaoka - Shibuya and back to Asakusa.

Tawaraguchi - the nearest JR train from my hostel

Shibuya - many many many people.. all of them are so pretty and good looking!

Jyugaoka - one of the place that i like the most at Tokyo, because over there is lesser people

Very delicious dessert.. cakes.... !

Yummy but very expensive strawberry cake - 850 yen

Shibuya at night - still crowded..

Can this mask make my face smaller? ;p



Uniform.. :D
Lee Ming brought me to Izakaya, you pay for an amount, with free flow of alcohol for 2 hours, and 9 courses meal.. i love the various flavours of Umeshu.
Here it goes.. Lee Ming was asking for bill
Ranking Queen - you can find the best selling stuff from this shop.. anything from mineral water to electronic items.

Friday, September 10, 2010

美瑛山丘 Biei

 June 25, 2010 金 (晴)

Biei 美瑛

今日烈热高空,但不挡我搏命踩单车上山的欲望,沿途,望住蓝天碧云;
当时的我,耗尽精力,但始终对天空与美景惊叹不已。
不尽会心一笑。
想象着,为何可以有那么美的地方?

大自然之所以美丽,是因为它够原始。


this is a little shop selling handicraft. the owner chat with me and he gave me a beaufitul postcard as a souvenir


Biei town - "the most beautiful village in Japan."
Yes, I agree!

check out the sky!!!!

And, check out the cloud!

IF i stay at this little house :)

Tonkatsu Soba - Like the soba & soup, but Tonkatsu is abit oily & fatty for me ;p

Sobaten - exterior of restaurant

At Biei town.. love all the houses and shot lot there

they are having election soon on July 11th.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

At Sounkyo Youth Hostel

June 25 - 26, 2010

Before I left my host family to Tokyo...
We took photos.. and Otousan brought me and Yatsu san to Kogen Onsen..

This is our guest, his transport to travel around Hokkaido is: BICYCLE! I always impressed by all this backpackers who can be very brave, and adventurous! I wish I can be one them one day! :)
(Photo taken in front of reception counter of Sounkyo Youth Hostel)

Yakiniku session for our lunch, I tried lamb, but that is not my favourite :P

This is Kogen Onsen, which located on a hill, about 1200m from floor. From here, you can see peak of mountain clearly. And, I guess this will be very amazing experience if you have the onsen during winter!

Sounkyo Youth Hostel - the place where I stay & work for 3 weeks. Very nice environment, I love my host, and all the guest..

Hokkaido has lots of deer and bear. You can see deer easily, and my host always told me there are plenty of deer outside our hostel. However, I never have the chance to see any of them in that 3 weeks, until the last day I stay there! Both of them were eating plants outside our hostel.

I love all the meals that prepared by Okaasan... which suit my taste very much!

And, she is my okaasan. very expert in cooking and she spend almost 3/4 of her day in kitchen!
My host. Photo taken on my last day.. early morning...