Shigeru Ban + ARTEK

Moi Moi!!

I have just remembered about a project that Artek developed a couple of years ago in collaboration with Shigeru Ban, in which they were dealing with frame structures. 

The project was a pavilion for exhibiting the vintage pieces of the company as a way to introduce the new path that Artek was going to take in the market. The proposal was developed by Shigeru Ban, the architectural design, and Ville Kokkonen, materiality research. 

The interesting point of the pavilion is not so much that it is a frame structure, but the material in which the frames are made. 

Artek studio developed a research on new recycle and sustainable materials coming up with the idea of UPM composite materials. 

These kind of material is made out of the back part of the stickers that due to some recycling processes, it becomes a quite resistant and waterproof material. The idea was using this new element to develop not only the frames of the structure, but also the envelope of the pavilion. 

The way in which the pavilion is designed and assemble made it possible to be transported from one place to another, being exhibited first time in Helsinki, then Milan and finally Miami. 

Artek introduced the pavilion designed by architect Shigeru Ban in Milan 2007. The pavilion was made in co-operation with UPM and built out of UPM-developed wood-plastic composite. The pavilion started a materials-oriented product development that has since led to new discoveries.

Along with the pavilion, Artek in Milan 2007 also showcased some exeptional 2nd Cycle items with embedded RFID tags containing their stories and history. Classic Artek pieces were also given a new, fresh look through the introduction of the Artek White collection.