By Editor Design.nl / 02-04-2008

The prestigious Salone del Mobile design and furniture fair takes place in Milan 16-21 April 2008. Over the coming weeks we'll take a look at some of the designers and their work showing at this year's exhibition.

Jonathan Ben-tovim: Safely Dangerous Kitchen

From toothbrushes to missile defence systems, the industry of safety has become a global obsession. A visit to any modern airport will reveal the desperate lengths we go to in creating the illusion of safety. However, there seems to be little scrutiny of the vast sums of money and time spent on the safety industry. Perhaps its time to ask; does safety really make us safer? This question was the basis of my investigation into the safety measures we take, and the human factors that drive these decisions. Much of my investigation was spent on understanding the psychological factors behind safety such as risk perception, and our basic attraction to danger. Ultimately I wanted to pose the question: Do we always need safety, or is a little bit of danger just as safe? The material response to this research comes in the form of the Safely Dangerous Kitchen; a series of kitchen appliances that confront the user with certain safety 'myths' that are associated with specific products. A whole kitchen environment was created with the aim of finding the border between danger and attraction.

(Ben-tovim graduated in 2007 from the Design Academy Eindhoven, Department: IM Masters, photo by José van Riele)

Els Woldhek: Accidental Life

Everything in our natural world is shaped by the environment it lives in. Characters develop and grow with every experience, everything evolves. Even when all circumstances are seemingly the same differences in character still appear. In nature no two things are ever identical. In a world where all industrial product come rolling of the belt looking identical to the millions of others rolling of the same belt there's a break with the natural growth and evolution. For our material world I am going back to the origin, the root of the product; the factory and process where it is born. To let the process itself influence and develop the product. By electro-plating a piece of plastic the plastic gets new characteristics. Which gives the plastic new possibilities in use, function and life. And by letting the process of the electro-plating itself run it's own course the outcome becomes unique and unpredictable. The process of electro-plating not only gives the plastic product a new function it makes it into a natural grown unique object.

(Woldhek graduated in 2008 from the Design Academy Eindhoven, Department: Man and Living, photo by Els Woldhek)

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