Memoria

From the functional design to the living organism

[01]Abstraction. Will We need tables in the future? It’s the table really an object? Or is it the enviroment that allows and relates all the functions that take place around it? In the past, the main task was separating valuable objects from the ground and keeping them safe. Egyptians were the first civilization we have proof they used the table as well as we do nowadays. In their drawings, we can see how the table functions as a separation between the valuable (the things we wanted to show) and the neccesary (the things we wanted to hide). The table is a phisical line that dividies two worlds of meaning. Can we find more layers in between? We asked Leonardo’s “The last supper” and found a stratification of elements related to our previous division. Underneath are the feet of the apostles, the legs of the table, the foldings of the blanket… But maybe it could have been many more; some embers to heat the room, a purse hanging, somebody hiding, a child crawling and playing, the remains of the previous meal. As well, over the table is obviously the supper but also some hands, maybe a person leaning, the faces aligned, the windows, the ceiling… But we could imagine a whole world of objects to add over the table. All of the functions structured and well organized.

[02]Speculation. But what if then, once we have settled the structure of functions related to this horizontal plane, we eliminate the line that holds them together? Foster’s design does this in a material way, making the board transparent so you can se what is underneath. The structure, the neccesary, what gives the table its functionality is under the skin, the bones, the mechanism, the organism. From the top view, all the functions are overlayed, they relate in a three dimensional map. It’s an eviroment that can grow connections among all the objects that live in. The organized structure is corrupted. And then, the only thing that we need to do to collapse the system is remove the skin. The physical barrier is no longer there to hold the layers, so they merge into a cloud of functions and structure. The structure should leave its static form and embrace the movement, it has to evolve into a organism that can adapt and respond to every possibility in the future. The table then loses its objectual condition and becomes something more, something alive.

[03]Rethinking. But what if then, once we have settled the structure of functions related to this horizontal plane, we eliminate the line that holds them together? Foster’s design does this in a material way, making the board transparent so you can se what is underneath. The structure, the neccesary, what gives the table its functionality is under the skin, the bones, the mechanism, the organism. From the top view, all the functions are overlayed, they relate in a three dimensional map. It’s an eviroment that can grow connections among all the objects that live in. The organized structure is corrupted. And then, the only thing that we need to do to collapse the system is remove the skin. The physical barrier is no longer there to hold the layers, so they merge into a cloud of functions and structure. The structure should leave its static form and embrace the movement, it has to evolve into a organism that can adapt and respond to every possibility in the future. The table then loses its objectual condition and becomes something more, something alive.