Designs inspired by nature
For thousands of years, bamboo has been forming an important livelihood in Asia. As a commodity, the grass is used as food or is the basis for the production of textiles. In addition, bamboo is utilised as a building material for furniture and house construction. The special features of bamboo - stability, lightweight and sustainability - has made the material interesting for numerous current product designs. Selected design achievements that were honoured in the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2015 show how diverse bamboo can be used as a material.
The eyeglass frame of Bamboo Eyewear is eleven grammes light and consists of 2.3 mm thin bamboo material. Therefore, a special environmentally friendly processing technology was developed, based on a traditional Chinese knitting technique. Each eyeglass frame also has a unique grain. The working space "Bitter Bamboo Room" exudes a special naturalness. The bamboo gives the room also an expression of modesty and strength. These two designs were awarded with the highest single distinction “Red Dot: Best of the Best”. For the Red Dot awarded bamboo-fiber tableware a natural bamboo extract was processed, whereby the dishes are particularly environmentally friendly. The crockery can be used for everyday cooking and is even suitable for the dishwasher.
In 2014, the tableware “8pandas Series 1” was honoured with the “Red Dot: Best of the Best”. The use of bamboo creates a velvety surface as well as warm and natural colours. The tableware convinces with its ecological approach, and with its distinct aesthetic appeal and velvet haptics. “The raw material, bamboo fibre, has here been used to innovative effect and gives this tableware series its distinct aesthetic appeal”, stated the Red Dot-jury.
The use of bamboo makes clear the basic interdependence between design and material: The trend towards sustainable product designs demands specific materials. Moreover, this use allows a new language of form as the examples have shown.
