[STAC] is the graduation project I developed for my master’s degree at Ensci-les Ateliers, in Paris.
Following my thesis, *slow*, I wanted to create a piece of furniture that would involve the users and let them build it himself, according to their taste and needs. I wanted to ignite creativity and engagement through easy, yet fun activities.
I took inspiration from a common children’s game – the building blocks. Do you remember the simple and endless fun of building a house, a bridge, a castle, just by stacking elementary volumes on top of each other!
Could we build a table, a desk, or a bookshelf that way? With this question at the beginning of my research, I created different elements from various materials and in different shapes, to experiment how they would stack, what function they could serve and what type of environment they could create in a room.
I then invited some friends to play with me, not only to get their feedbacks and ideas but also to observe them playing: how do they stack? What shapes attract them first? etc.
From there, I identified a few shapes that seemed to be the most usable. These actually happened to be the simplest ones. Then I created mock-ups of the pieces and the sets they belonged, keeping in mind that, as a piece of furniture, such set should be optimal for functions and combination possibilities.
Manipulating this first set led me to an other version, slightly different…
Once the small scale model proved to be working, I validated the concept at a real scale. The first prototype was built with free, reclaimed wood from a movie set near Paris that was about to be taken down.
Now I could build the prototype and finally play with it.
The possibilities for manipulating and configuring the set were really satisfying. I decided to test it in the real context next to my desk, as I was actually in the need of some extra storage!
I went back to the original mock-ups to refine the different shapes, the number of elements, and eventually designed a new prototype.
I was getting there. It was now time to draw the plan, go get some wood and call some friends. Let’s make it real!
The end of the project was a real marathon. The week leading to the presentation I spent all of my awake time in the studio. Without all the precious help of my precious friends, I could not have make it! With little time to spare, I even had time to do a quick photoshoot before my presentation…
Follow this link to see more pictures of [STAC].
