THE WORLD IN CONVEX AND CONCAVE

Text by Irene Translation by Leo

THE WORLD IN CONVEX AND CONCAVE

Text by Irene Translation by Leo

Concave and Convex (“凹凸” in Chinese or“Automax”) are two cultural symbols in the Yin-Yang Theory of ancien China that complement each other. Now they have new interpretations in the world of modern design.

凹凸場AUTOMAX-Space

At the 2015 Frankfurt International Furniture Fair (Tokyo) held last November, there was a unique exhibition stand, named “Automax Space”, with an array of ingenious design items constructed with pairs of concave and convex components, each being a stand-alone table (called Automax-table). These Automax components come in five colours - white, green, black, red and yellow (referring to the metal, wood, water, fire and earth, respectively, in the Five Elements) - and in different pairings, horizontally forming tables, stands or racks, or vertically-forming cabinets, shelves or columns. These fl exible and multi-functional structures are truly ingenious modern designs inspired by traditional Chinese culture and philosophy.

“Automax Space” is part of exhibition planner and designer Sunny Chen's bigger creative plan,“Automax”. Interestingly, Chen's original inspiration for the design ideas came from the changes in his wife's bellybutton during her pregnancy, which sank in and popped out alternately. “I wanted to design a pair of wedding rings with my own hands to mark our marriage and the arrival of a new life,”said Chen. The wedding rings, named “Automax-Rings”, are made of jade and gold and can be buckled up when not being worn. The pair makes up a whole that implies a good match.

In ancient Chinese philosophy, Concave and Convex are used to explain everything in heaven and on earth. They represent Yin and Yang respectively, two opposite but complementary principles that regulate the functioning of the cosmos.

“AUTOMAX-Tower”, Chen's latest creation, is made from the bamboo of Anji, a county famously known as the “hometown of bamboo trees” in East China's Zhejiang province. The designer tries to explore the internal space of bamboo tubes through their linear surface. To echo the idea of Automax, he used processed bamboo rather than raw bamboo material to construct the tower, which represents the complementary efforts of man and Nature. Concave/Convex embodies a philosophical interpretation of the relationship between opposites such as up/down, after/before, shallow/deep, high/low and inside/outside. So it is more than just an idea or design. It is also a work method and a philosophy of life. It reaches beyond architecture.

“Through Automax, I come to understand the birth, growth and change of life; the mortise and tenon joint teaches me how fast an intimate relationship can be; and the way that bamboo grows upward from one internode to another lets me see the power of repetition,” said the designer.

Though deeply rooted in profound philosophical concepts, the design idea of Automax does serve many purposes in life. For example, when Chen's studio took a step forward, a dozen cats that he'd adopted faced the prospect of being displaced or separated. “I hoped that I could design and make a home for them, a home that could move with them,” he said. This led to his partnership with paper artist Wu Mingche in designing a series of cat houses using Automax ideas. The cat houses, ranging from a single room to a seperate house, can suit any new home.

凹凸間天地見

“凹凸”這對源于中國陰陽互補的古老文化符號，如今演變成新潮的東方設計語言。

2015年11月，法蘭克福國際家具展東京站，有一方頗具哲學意味的凹凸場。凹凸場的基本模塊是一對“凹凸幾”，各有對應金木水火土五行的白綠黑紅黃中華五色，可以任意組合成一對，每對再任意組合成橫向的幾、臺、架和豎向的柜、架、柱，是一個靈活多變，兼具不同使用功能，并根植傳統文化的當代設計。

凹凸場是策展人、馬達思班創始合伙人陳展輝“凹凸無限”創作計劃的一部分。說來有趣，陳展輝對于凹凸的設計靈感，最初來自于太太懷孕時凹凸變化的肚臍。“我當時就想親自設計一對婚戒，以紀念兩人的結合以及新生命的到來。” 凹凸戒由金和玉組合而成，平時不用扣在一起就是一個整體，寓意中國傳統的“金玉良緣”。 陳展輝還專門邀請了畢業于巴黎的九零后珠寶設計師趙雨萱合作完成了婚戒的深化設計和監制。

在東方哲學中，凹凸詮釋了天與地，在自然的世界里它是陰陽的和而不同。無論宏觀的世界還是微觀的時空，無處不存在凹凸的和諧。

凹凸幾AUTOMAX-Table

凹凸窩AUTOMAX-Cat House

“凹凸無極塔”是陳展輝最新的創作，這次他選擇了安吉永裕竹材，回應了竹的里和外，從竹的線性外表剖析它的內在空間。在設計師心中，凹凸詮釋了上下、前后、深淺、高低、里外的哲學關系。凹凸不只是個想法，也不只是個設計，凹凸是從建筑到建筑之外的關系，也是一種工作方法和處世哲學。

“我從凹凸讀懂生命的孕育、生長、變化，從建筑榫卯的結構看到緊密的牢固，從山水的波瀾相依領略陰陽變化、周游六虛，從竹的節節攀升看到重復的力量。”設計師言。

深邃的哲學本源，并不妨礙設計為生活服務的宗旨。2015年，設計師與紙藝專家吳明澈合作，為貓咪設計出可爬可抓，環保可回收的凹凸窩組合，從單間到復式，從聯排到獨棟，適合任何新家的組合。真是生活無處不凹凸。凹凸就是人生。