Great Crockery and Transparent Toilets
Good morning!
In today's edition, we will be looking at a detailed story of a crockery brand that became a design icon, transparent toilets, and a chair you have to peel open.
Let's dive in!
Crockery design that lasts for generations (literally)
Back in 1925, Two Belgian industrialists - casting specialist Armand Desaegher and enameller Octave Aubecq, set up the Le Creuset company in Fresnoy-le-Grand, France. Anyone who has seen a Le Creuset piece of cookware rarely forgets it. Simple, colourful, and looks gorgeous in any setting. It checks almost every box one might look for in a cookware (except affordability). Chefs and cooking enthusiasts across the world adore this brand and treat their products like heirlooms.
The word French creuset means crucible and refers to a very sturdy cooking cauldron. An apt name and you'll shortly find out why.
Origins:
When Le Creuset started, cookware was generally made of cast iron. Cast iron had many problems associated with it. For starters, it was hard to upkeep, and stained easily. But, a problem people never realised they had with cast iron cookware, was its dull and boring look.
Enter, Le Creuset screaming 'Let's make Cast Iron great again'. Their first product was the Dutch Oven. Technically it was the French version and also known as Cocotte. This iconic product used a groundbreaking manufacturing technique that would make them world-famous in years to come.
Manufacturing:
Every Le Creuset oven, back then, was cast out of a sand mould. After casting, two layers of enamel were applied. The final product was called Enamelled Cast Iron cookware, or in French, Fonte cookware. It was a huge design innovation at the time.
Important point to note: the company hasn't changed the way they manufacture their cookware for nearly a hundred years now. However, this only applies to their iconic Enamelled Cast Iron range and not to the other ranges they have.
You can have a look at the Enamelled Cast Iron Manufacturing Process Chart below.
Source: Le Creuset Website
In addition, I found a bunch of great pictures from Chef David Lebovitz.
In this you can see the metal being melted, casted in the crucible , and then rolled out.
After World War 2, most brands and companies moved to aluminium and stainless steel to make cheaper cookware for the masses. But, Le Creuset stuck to their roots and experimented with different colors, better manufacturing techniques, and newer materials. The high quality and cost of manufacturing (and materials) made Le Creuset quite expensive to the average consumer.
Design:
While the manufacturing method of their cast-iron cookware was unique, their legendary status also stems from their approaches in solving various design problems. Let's break them down:
- Material: - Enamel coating made cleaning easy because it prevents sticking - A combination of the coating and cast iron ensured that the heat distribution was slow and retention was high - Cast iron cookware can work on multiple heat sources, therefore, the consumer needn't buy new cookware if they change stoves or setups - A common problem is food getting a metallic taste when cooked on aluminium/steel utensils; since the cast iron is coated with a very non-reactive material like enamel, the food never meets the metal surface;
- Unlike other luxury cookware brands, these materials work great for everyday use
- Colours: The enamel allowed for adding beautiful colour gradients - giving them a very distinct look compared to their competition
- User Experience: Le Creuset's cast iron walls are thinner; making their products lighter and easier to handle
- Quality: Their high quality of iron ensure that the cookware is durable and can last generations
- Product Lifecycle: Their choice of materials makes the design and colors timeless. They age very gracefully, if they do age at all
Their most iconic colour in their wide spectrum of options is the 'Volcanic'.
An important note, almost all of the above discussion was based on their iconic Enamelled Cast Iron cookware range. Not really sure if all this applies to their many other product lines as well.
Transparent place to do your business
Back in the 1970s, they might have thought that in 50 years, there would be flying cars. But here we are, with transparent toilets. Stuff of nightmares.
The mission statement is as below:
"The Nippon Foundation has decided to renovate 17 public toilets located in Shibuya, Tokyo, in cooperation with the Shibuya City government. These public toilets are being designed by 16 leading creators, and will use advanced design to make them accessible for everyone regardless of gender, age, or disability, to demonstrate the possibilities of an inclusive society."
As a part of this project, Pritzker Prize-winning architect Shigeru Ban designed two public toilets for the Tokyo Toilet project with transparent glass walls that become opaque when they are occupied.
According to Ban, the public toilets of now have two main design problems: - Cleanliness - the inability to judge a toilet without entering it or touching something - Occupancy Check - the inability to see if the toilet is occupied and if you should wait
Both of the above problems are currently solved with some kind of interaction. This idea by Ban really removes both of them from the picture. A transparent-to-opaque converting toilet will also ensure that citizens treat it rightly and maintain it. Bonus!
Beyond these, one other design problem he wanted to solve was, Discovery. People were struggling to find the Public Toilets. This is what led to the bright colour scheme.
All this sounds good, but I do hope the tech never fails!
If you are interested, you can read the Nippon Foundation's full statement here.
PIY (Peel-It-Yourself) Chair
What happens when two great design minds, Issey Miyake and Oki Sato, meet? Well, on one of those occasions, a chair was born.
Source: Nendo Website
Oki Sato's studio, Nendo designed this chair for XXIst Century Man exhibition curated by Issey Miyake to commemorate the first anniversary of 21_21 Design Sight in Roppongi, Tokyo.
The chair was made by Miyake's request to create some furniture out of the pleated paper that is mass produced during the process of making pleated fabric. This pleated paper is usually discarded as a useless byproduct.
And, Miyake sent Sato a roll of this pleated paper and in an attempt to just see the structure within, Sato peeled it off layer by layer. After a point, it struck him that it actually looks inviting enough to sit. And thus, the 'Cabbage Chair' was born.
Source: Nendo Website
A few points on design: - Since the basic structure is backed with paper, it has great elasticity and won't deform quickly - The singly bulky paper structure also ensures great weight distribution - There's no assembling required - no nuts and bolts - just a cutter - Sustainable and environment friendly
I only wish it was commercially available.
That's a wrap for today. Have a great weekend!