Dezeen Magazine

Mass IIII by Janwillem Van Maele

Mass IIII by Janwillem Van Maele

De Hogeschool West-Vaanderen graduate Janwillem Van Maele cast this concrete side table inside a suspended fabric mould.

Mass IIII by Janwillem Van Maele

Called Mas IIII, the table was created by stitching the fabric into a net and stapling it to a circular board.

Mass IIII by Janwillem Van Maele

This was hung upside-down and filled with cement and gravel, then weighted with sand.

Mass IIII by Janwillem Van Maele

Van Maele then drenched the assemblage in water and left the concrete to harden.

Mass IIII by Janwillem Van Maele

The resulting shape was sanded back before cork feet were added.

Mass IIII by Janwillem Van Maele

Here are some more details from Van Maele:


My product is called “MASS llll”, my final product in school. The project was supervised by instructor Alain Monnens from Idam.

Mass IIII by Janwillem Van Maele

The MASS |||| is a concrete sidetable with the following production process:

I started with a DWG file for the right shape of the legs. That file can be entered in an industrial embroidery machine. This is automatically sewn.

Mass IIII by Janwillem Van Maele

The reinforcement is pushed into the mold.

Mass IIII by Janwillem Van Maele

Then I staple the fabric on a wooden plate. This plate maintains over the whole production, so every table would have the same diameter. The plate is the mould for the table top. You can see the stitches are seamless.

Mass IIII by Janwillem Van Maele

I hung the fabric upside down, a kind of Gaudi’s method. I filled the mould with a dry mix of cement and gravel.

Mass IIII by Janwillem Van Maele

The sand I poured on ensures that the print of the fabric is also on the bottom of the table.

Mass IIII by Janwillem Van Maele

I drench the mould with water to activate the chemical reaction.

Mass IIII by Janwillem Van Maele

After the concrete has solidified in the mold, I took the fabric of it and sawn the legs . For finishing I putted three cork-naps on it, And sanded the edges.

Mass IIII by Janwillem Van Maele

Materials:

Color Pigment, Staple, Iron Reinforcement, Mixer, Staples, Yarn, Tape, Water
Industrial embroidery machine, 15-layer crosswise glued birch veneer, shuttering plate
Portland cement, Computer, Textile, White sand, Cork


See also:

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Grompies FattyShell (v.01) Concrete Chair by Tejo Remy
& René Veenhuizen