MOLECULE

Molecular Module

Molecular Module

Una scelta decisa alla complessità multidisciplinare quella del gruppo Molecular Module, un legame molecolare, di interazione e rispetto delle reciproche identità, che supera i confini dei limiti nazionali e tradizionali per raccogliere le nuove istanze del vivere. Luci, arredi, spazi si trasformano per il nuovo corpo dell'uomo, lo accolgono, lo proteggono, lo seguono senza dividerlo dall'altro "corpo"; il paesaggio urbano, la city. Virus li incontra in due diverse occasioni, a Londra, in una conversazione di Franko B e a Milano, dove Viviana di Blasi li intervista all'interno del Salone del mobile.

Molecular Module has presented their collection Molecule in Milan as part of the "Salone del Mobile" in April 1998. In the show Molecule different components of lifestyle have been brought together to create a "total design" that brakes down the borders between different field in art and design. The collection of furniture and lighting by: Lorna Lee Leslie -GB- contains spherical metal wall lights, orb sinks, and steel with leather seating. She combines technological expertise with comfort. The collection takes it's inspiration from the molecule by using the purified form of the sphere.
Jozefien Gronheid -NL- pioneers in latex rubber for low energise lighting, furniture and a modular wall system. Centre point in this collection is the tension of the rubber that can be created and that makes sculptural forms possible.
Roo Humpherson -GB- a semi portable building that can inhabit rooftops by. This building has been presented in computer images realised by Electric Graphics, creates images that are close to reality and are set high up on a roof in the cityscape.
The furniture by Lorna and Jozefien has been arranged in this architectural environment.
Umran Ali -BG- and Andrea Terrano -IT- created "The Sound Gallerie" which gave an ambiance through the whole show. The music is inspired by colours, shapes and materials and resonate with the environment. This sound architecture is meant to expand consciousness and take the listener on a journey withing the living space.
The brothers Silvestri -NL- have been responsible for the graphic design andthe exhibition concept where all the modules interact.
Piers Atkinson -GB- made the illustrations of modular women "The Modulettes". The modulettes make their own story with the sphere and the orb furniture.

LONDRA- Franko B: How do you come about to doing what you are doing now?

Lorna: Molecular Module is a small group of people designers and architect and furniture designers. Our whole idea is to create a whole concept about living. So basically it is not just about furniture, but also about an enviroment, about a molecular architectural enviroment, a molecular furniture enviroment, so that when you are going to a living space you can find an ideal space of what we molecule would like to see.

Jozefien: I am working with rubber in a factory, where I go every day and where we are doing the moles for the chairs and the table; hopefully today the frame of the chair is arrived so that we can test it.

What is your philosophy, beyond the type of design that you do?

Lorna: For me my philosophy has to be elementary, to be simple, to come from a molecule: basically the philosophy in the work that I do is not really very complex, in the thought.

Jozefien: That is also in the way we started because we both like to go back to the elements, where every design comes from: every design comes from very simple forms and then it is taken further. When we wanted to work together it was quite simple to find out a name that suits as well, because "molecule" stands for all the elements that are actually visible. All the elements that are part of our furniture are visible from the beginning to the end; we aim also to make everything modular, that means the modules like the molecules are separate pieces that can be connected. That is why Lorna's modules and mine go well together and also they can go well together with other skills of other designers and artists. Because of this Molecular Module stands for all the group of people, of designers who can connect all the particles of the elements together, therefore they create a total design: a total design of modern living.
So our philosophy is based on our way of seeing a modern life style, expressed as well in our furniture as in the space, in the sorroundings.

Do you think that your design, like art, can change people life?

Lorna: Well, in one sense I suppose we would hope to make an impact on people, in the sense of not saying that what they see is a Molecule design, but to give them the idea that they can do their own thing, they can create their own thing, because we do not want everyone to have the same thing. The impact we would hope for is that people say - Yes, I can do this myself!- so that they go away and they are able to create their own molecule.

How did you come into design? Is there a school of thought that comes into what you are doing?

Lorna: My background was in fashion and I trained as a fashion designer in Darby but my work wasalways very sculptural, so that when I started with this work I understood it was not enough and I broke into furniture design, which has more space to create sculptures. That is to say that I do not want to create necessarely furniture that you can use, that is practical: they have to say something. I do not want it to be an art object, I want it to be what it is: a chair, a table but when people look at it I want them to understand it is not just an ordinary table or an ordinary chair but at the same time it is not an art object.

Jozefien: We both have been talking a lot about art and design in the last ten years but we were connected also about this. My background was textiles, sculpture, jewellery, design in general; I have done different studies and different things in between, but I was always characterised by a great versatility as welll as Lorna was. We always agreed that an idea can be taken from being something to wear to become a piece of furniture: the idea stays the same; in fact when I was starting my work with rubber in design I was working on jewellery and I am still working with some of the ideas I had for bracelets, which are now translated into the chairs. An idea is personal but we both are able to be very versatile, that is saying we are able to translate an idea to a next step and now it is furniture because it can be sort of sculpture: it stands on its own and when you sit on it, it is a piece of furniture but when you sit in the room it is a sculpture, and that is what we are looking for.

But for me everything could be an art object, not in terms of a gallery piece although it could be in a gallery...

Jozefien: I agree with you but we have chosen to make furniture, I think that is the only difference; we could also have chosen to make art objects but we both have chosen to translate our ideas into pieces of furniture.

How did you meet? Josephine comes from Holland, does not she?

Lorna: Yes, she is. We met in Amsterdam and when we meet we immediately understand that we both have similar interests.

Jozefien: Lorna was in Amsterdam on holiday and as soon as we meet we knew that we had a lot to share, but only in the last year we have decided that we want Molecular Module to be about us together, because we feel that our work goes well together and it will make our inputs stronger. For many years, in fact, we have gone in different direction, Lorna has been in furniture much longer.

Lorna I know you have been doing projects like for cafés, bars, and now you are working for a company that does window display for big department stores. Do you think you bring something of molecule into that or...

Lorna: Not in the window display, I mean I could bring something and we are working on a project that is going to be a Molecular Module's work, but it is a bit different.

You are two women and you have to work in factories; how do you find this experience, especially being Lorna a black woman and you Jozefien a stranger? What kind of response do you get?

Jozefien: I get a mixed response because in England there is a very male dominated industry, so some companies could be very mistrustful, they can take you not seriously because you are working on a prototype, but when the product is done they are enthusiastic.

Lorna: My respoonse has been very good and the factories I have worked with has been really nice and open to new experiences.

That is nice, I thought you have to be patronised.

Lorna: No, not at all; I find it quite astonishing even though I do not expect to be patronised because when I have something to show for I expect a good answer. Sometimes you do not know how they react also because you make prototypes in which they cannot see the direct financial benefits. That is what I find sometimes frustrating, I mean I do not notice that I am a woman when I am there: the only way I notice it is because of the pin-up calendars, but they are part of their culture and they are the only colourful thing in those quite gray places. The best place to go and work are small manifacturals because they actually have the time and they also like changes: we work with ten factories and all of them like to do something different, they are very curious about what you are going to do and ask more and more questions so that you feel they are really interested.

Tell me about your rubber lamps.

Jozefien: My rubber work is not just lamps; there are lamps, room dividers, chairs, tables: it is a whole collection and the lamps where the beginning. What I am aiming for is to create a sculpture in the furniture and, after having spent years with technical engineers to find out a manifactural willing to go with me and to develop this, they developed a blend of rubber that is heat resistent. But it is not mean for any kind of lighting: you should use low energy lighting because I believe in saving energy and if you can safe energy, and do it in a beautiful way, well this is great! In all the work that I do I aim for working with the tension of rubber, because rubber can stretch beautifully and therefore it becomes fairy thrydimensional and sculptoral. I do that by using metal structures inside the rubber and also by the lamp itself, because the lamp is the element and has to be as visible as possible: the whole shape of the lamp is visible thanks to the tension of the rubber.

Tell me about your sink and chair, which have the same shape.

Lorna: The sink and the chair are made of stainless steal, but what I am trying to do is using elemental, putting them in a continous shape, there is nothing to stop it like a square.

How do you finance your project?

Lorna: Working is the only way to get it!

Jozefien: And especialy Lorna's work is quite expensive, because every item costs quite a lot. I have been very lucky because the factory, where I do all my rubbish work does not want me to pay yet because they believe in my project.

Are you inspired by a particular designer?

Jozefien: No, not at all, so many people had asked me this question, but there are so many good artists and designers that there is not one who comes as number one for me.

Tell me about your door, your sliding doors.

Jozefien: Sliding doors are very useful because you can cover a whole wall with a sliding door and put all your rubbish behind it in a very organised way, but that is your private part and you can close the door and nobody sees it. Normally doors are very flat and because I work with the rubber I can actually create a reliefby a structure and stretching the rubber over it and that is to create a tension and a shadow effect.

Lorna: What will attract people with the sliding door is the touch, you touch this tactile membrane and you get surprised because this rubber seems to be not flexible at all, it looks very sculptoral so that when you get closer you feel confused and you have to touch it to feel that it is soft. Also the colorful effect will create some curiosity, and I am sure lots of people will ask us if they can use it or not, because they cannot imagine this strange things can be useful.

MILANO- Viviana Di Blasi: How do you define your way to think design?

Jozefien: For me design is a piece of my mind and piece of my body that come together in a 3-dimensional shape. And once it is alive it becomes an independence to transform from a functional object to anornament or a sculpture without loosing its power of expression.

What is the base of your idea about modular, what is a module for you?

Jozefien: For me module stands for flexibility to connect in many ways. The people that partecipate in molecular module are modules, the elements in one work are modules all very different but they connect very well. In my products and Lorna's you can see modular design where there one choices in the way the product are used. Lorna's table can be two different tables. My wall pannels are actually unis of standarired sire but flexible and variable in use. It is a way to open up possibilities so that consumerus have a say too abuot the use of products.

Which materials do you use and why?

Jozefien: Latex is the material I choose to work with when I was looking for an equivalent for the skin. Latex is like the skin, smooth, flexible thin and versatile. I combine it with hard structures inside to optimise the effect of tension and create a very sculptural form.

What kind of relation exists between your objects and the new way to think human body?

Jozefien: The human body is central in all my work. When I design I incorporate how the body relates to its size, form, structure and texture. Touch is important, the moment of touch between the body and the objects excites me. Body ornaments and body sculptures that I made for many years were my inspiration for the collection Molecular Module. The round and oval lamps and the chair came from studies for bracelets. One of the bracelets was therefore also part of this show. When I first sat in my chair I felt the sensation of my skin touching that soft skin with my back. Now for me it is as if the chair talks with the body. It is a very intimate experience when the chair nourishes the body.

From small objects to big structure, a project for a nomad house?

Roo: I hadn't originally considered the project specifically as a nomad house but it is a description that I agree with. This was a term mentioned by several people that viewed the exhibition and it seems particulary appropriate in an urban context. I don't just mean that the building can move which is a simple and very old idea. What I agree with is the idea of nomad or wanderer and that within the context of the cuty ideas are not fixed. Those of us that deliberately choose the metropolis as a concept for living, rather than simply being obliged to live in the city, can do so because of the opportunities for change that the city can offer. In this sense this project provides living space that enables that process of change to continue. To move the structure may be for pratical reason but I prefer the idea of moving simply to explore another space. This is why of the images produced for the exhibition it was the view of the building in the city that I most enjoyed working with.

The border between the inside and the outside in the architecture on the roof is a soft continuity like the rubber, what's for you the border? Does it exist?

Roo: The border does exist but it is far more tenuous that with traditional building. It is not a physical barrier to the city in the way that solid construction would be. The membrane is not impervious to light and the elements but would allow someone inside to be aware of the environment around them. It may filter the city but it does not shut it out.

The use of the roof is a proposal for advantage and use of space normaly abandoned and seemingly useless?

Roo: Yes. To build and live up high has always been desirable. New residential buildings traditionally sell this space at a premium and yet we continue to resist the idea of building higher. Whilst the current debate on new housing in Britain is centred around the environmental need to avoid building in the countryside our urban residential developments are built to some of the lowest densities in Europe. What I do not therefore understand is why current explorative proposal for new housing so often revert to the suburban model for living. This project deliberately challenges this. Existing rooftops are not necessarily either abandoned or useless, perhaps ignored would be a better term. Traditional buildin methods for these spaces are often not practical, either for technical reasons or because of the problems of short leases. The form of this architecture is a result of addressing these problems.

Special thanks to Claudia Barazzutti and the W.E.A.

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