Industrial Archeology Furniture by Mieke Meijer
Since 1959, German artists Bernd and Hilla Becher dedicated themselves to registering the remnants of the industrial age in Western Europe and the United States through photography. In the 20th century, many of these buildings were pulled down because they had served their purpose and were no longer a tenable economic proposition. In many cases the photographs taken by the Bechers remain the only visual record of these ‘anonymous’ structures.
Inspired by the photographs of these industrial buildings, Dutch designer Mieke Meijer created the Industrial Archeology series of furniture. She has restored the disused industrial shapes and placed them in a new context. By reducing the scale and playing with volume, Mieke Meijer creates autonomous interior objects with an architectural feel.
During Salone del Mobile 2010 she presented ‘Gravel Plant 01‘ and the collection was continued with ‘Gravel Plant 02‘, first presented during London Design Festival 2010.
The third piece in the series, ‘PowerPlant 01‘, wasn’t based on a Becher photograph but on a marquant Eindhoven building, heritage from the Philips company. Mieke Meijer translated it into a low table with two conical shaped lamps.
‘Cooling Tower 01’, the shape of which is obviously derived from a cooling tower, was transformed into a lamp constructed from over 300 parts.
So what do you think? We love the idea behind this!
