Fiore
An outdoor interactive furniture piece made for the Srishti Manipal Institute Campus
An outdoor furniture piece created to liven up an empty shared space of the new Srishti Manipal Institute campus. Inspired by the natural form of a flower, the design features three rotatable petal-like platforms that serve as both seats and tabletops.
More than just functional, it was designed to spark interaction and connection among the users(students), while blending into the natural surroundings of the campus. Its playful and thoughtful form makes it stand out as a piece of furniture while maintaining the functionality.
What was the problem?
The new campus needed public furniture to bring in warmth to the impersonal spaces that felt intimidating to the students. However, It had to be a piece that went beyond utility. The challenge was to design something durable as well as functional that encouraged social interaction and felt at home in the landscape.
How did I solve it?
Fiore - A Flower Shaped, Multi-Purpose Piece of Furniture
A piece of outdoor furniture designed with three rotatable petals at different heights. Each petal acts as a seat with the topmost one also acting as a table surface.
Fiore uses concrete, mahogany wood and metal to give it its durability.
This project was made during the college's transition from the old campus to the new one. It was a move from the familiar, friendly environment to a more institutional and structured space. This shift created a sense of loss since the old campus carried a certain soul and eclecticism that everyone worried would get diluted.
Fiore was designed to retain the uniqueness and creativity that Srishti held in its old campus.
The prototype
How did I make it?
Site Research
Interviewed the staff, students and faculty to understand the perceptions of the new campus and its spaces. Based on that, we assessed multiple sites before finalising one. We then measured and marked the chosen space.
Ideation + Sketching
Began with sketching of multiple concepts then narrowed down to the most feasible ones.
Orthographic drawings were also made before getting to prototyping.
Ergonomics Design
After the design was made the exact proportions were calculated and planned, a big challenge being planning the heights of the petals strategically so as to be comfortable and usable.
Scale drawings were made to understand exact heights.
Building the Prototype
The concrete base
A mould was made using bent ply and wood. It was filled with concrete after few layers of which the rod was placed and left to dry. After multiple rounds of pouring and watering, it was unmoulded to reveal the base.
Petal Seats
Made from wood which was joined into 3 big pieces, then cut, shaped, sanded and drilled to get the perfect shape.
Assembling
The channels were made by welding thick strips of metal. Then metal rings were made by hammering metal strips. Half of the rings were welded to the channels and the rest were welded to the rod to keep the petal structures stable at the particular heights. The petal were then assembled.
Finishing
