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XP& | EXPAND DESIGN LTD

Design Research Technology

Founded by Ifeanyi Oganwu, Expand Design Ltd is a London-based studio engaging in architecture and furniture design by investigating the correlation between history, base materials and opportunities presented by state-of-the-art fabrication techniques. Through our projects, we unearth unidentified typologies that are inspired by the past, grounded in the present, and on a journey to a new aesthetic domain.

Contoured Crater Desk

Contoured Crater, 2013 Posted by AdminPosted on Apr 16, 2013 17:47:19

A methodically engineered construction in which structure creates surface, Contoured Crater Desk appears to float in weightlessness with its fifty birch ply plates stretched between two pools of stainless steel. At the top, a broad patch of brushed stainless steel defines a writing surface. While at the base, a mirror polished steel slab anchors the birch ply plates and reflects their ascent to a cantilever.

Embedded within the desk are lead ballast counterweights which further stabilize the construct. Material is extracted from the desk’s core to form a side table assembly and offset the buildup of mass, leaving behind a Fontana-esque crater which serves as vertical storage.

Desk
Birch Ply, Stainless Steel, Lead Ballast
2224 x 1004 x 756 mm / 87.5 x 39.5 x 29.8 in

Expand Design for Armel Soyer Editions
Limited to 10 + 2P
2013



Look Mum, No Hands / First Solo Show / Galerie Armel Soyer

Exhibitions Posted by AdminPosted on Apr 16, 2013 14:28:17

Ifeanyi’s first solo show opens next week at the Paris gallery of Armel Soyer.

Entitled Look Mum, No Hands – the exhibition is an amazing opportunity to observe how the ideas and concepts central to Expand Design are evolving. The selected works, including architecture projects from Ifeanyi’s studies at Columbia University, explore the relationship between materiality and topology; craft and engineering; architecture and design.

The show will mark the launch of Contoured Crater, a desk and side table collection exclusive to Galerie Armel Soyer. The desk, methodically engineered, appears to float in weightlessness with its fifty birch ply plates stretched between two pools of stainless steel, while the offcuts from its Fontana-esque crater are assembled to form a side table.

An illustrated catalogue will be available at the gallery next week and an online version shortly afterwards.

Please see below for details:
Opening reception is at 6pm on Tuesday, April 23rd
Galerie Armel Soyer
21st Century Design and Decorative Arts
19-21 Rue Chapon
Marais
75003 Paris

Exhibition runs till July 12th and will constitute the gallery’s presentation for Designer’s Days Paris taking place June 4th – 9th.

Photo by Gilles Pernet