ArtCenter 'Lida Street Furniture'

'Lida Street Furniture' for a temporary space for 'ArtCenter Berlin' at BIKINI Berlin

ArtCenter Berlin is a permanent year-round studio for ArtCenter College of Design. The satellite studio hosts trans-disciplinary projects as well as department led initiatives, giving ArtCenter students a deeply immersive experience in a city known for creative re-invention. The program is designed to deliberately move students from a traditional school setting into the atmosphere of a pop-up design office, organized like a creative agency.
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ArtCenter Berlin also provides a critical link to the Berlin and European community through sponsored studios, industry partnerships and collaborations while providing the college an opportunity to host professional educational workshops for alumnae and the Berlin creative community.

Located at BIKINI Berlin, the satellite studio of the renowned 'ArtCenter College of Design' in Pasadena/CA bridges the creative communities of Los Angeles and Berlin. As a global hub for learning, research, and inspiration, this space hosts testlab Berlin projects using art and design to envision how we will live in the future.

A temporary studio space for Art Center Berlin was created in the historic BIKINI Building. In addition to dividing the space in a way that maintains a feeling of light and openness, a family of simple, functional wood ‘street’ furniture, echoing the nature of Art Center’s indefinite occupation of this otherwise public space, was designed.
Embracing the roughness and industrial quality of the shapes and materials, the do-it-yourself history that characterizes Berlin and its history as a dynamic environment is celebrated. This aesthetic was also suited to the time frame and to the material and human resources available: To create a space that could be used both by the students, as well as for other events.
Taking its name from the location (the actual street-name) of the school in Pasadena/LA, the 'Lida Street' Collection of furniture is MDF and solid wood, hand-painted with semi-gloss in mostly natural colors that blend with the zoo environment. The collection includes tables and stools, chairs and a variety of benches. Walls were erected from wood structures, then covered with cardboard and paper maché.

A video of the furniture family was shot on location at the BIKINI building, facing the window with a view on the ape‘s preserve of the Berlin zoo.

materials: wood, MDF, cardbord, papier-mache

design and execution © Michael Sans
photos © Laura Deschner

links:
www.artcenterberlin.net
www.artcenter.edu
www.lauradeschner.com