[You need to know in order to notice - I love the contrasting combination of classic furniture materials like wood and upholstered seats with concrete sprayed in flexible molds. Design by Christian Flindt. Photo via]
[Fabric former and he is handsome too - the Danish designer Christian Flindt. Photo via]
It is about time I introduce you to some fabric formed concrete designs by Danish designer Christian Flindt. He may be one of the first designers to combine flexible formwork and sprayed high-performance concrete for design products. That is designs intended to actually be reproduced in greater numbers. I first came across his use of sprayed concrete on fabric molds when my mother (sweetheart, yes) sent me a cutout from her newspaper interview from when Flindt was invited to participate in the competition to make new designs to refurbish Iconic UN assembly Finn Juhl. Since the interview was from during the competition I have not seen any images – and they are not se clearly seen on Flindt’s web site – you really need to know it when you see these images of the entry prototypes that combines soft upholstered seats for the long meetings, with an alternative to backs made from bent wooden veneer ply.
[Look again - the dark finish and the back of the classic chair design is not leather nor is it wood but the smoothest concrete. Design by Christian Flindt. Photo via]
I, finally, found the images of the fabric-formed chair in a lovely hiding place of a company web site today – Contec-prefab - another treat for you, is the high-performance concrete division within the Danish company Contec. While I tend to feel stupid when a company this relevant for my concrete endeavors slips under my concrete radar – I really wish that companies would invest in being searchable online. Oh well. It turns out that Contec and Flindt have teamed up and I really love their work.
[GFRC and wood. Images from the design prototypes for the Finn Juhl Hall. Design by Christian Flindt. Photo via]
I have always had a soft spot for the contrast between the materialities of concrete next to other materials like wood or steel. – Italian architect icon Carlo Scarpa was my first encounter, the amazing Castel Vecchio. I really, really want one of Flindt’s tables where he combines wood and smooth high strength concrete. The accuracy and finishes are great!!
Oh – I nearly forgot – look at the façade prototypes in colored concrete.
[Facade panels. Design by Christian Flindt. Photo via]
I look forward to more fruitful collaborations by Flindt and Contec. – and I hope that manufacturing technologies soon will make it economically feasible to produce sprayed concrete panels and furniture in flexible formwork in the limited numbers...
The Arizona based design-builder-educator Gore Design is another goodfella using GFRC and flexible formwork. - They do design and manufacture/contracting themselves – but you already knew about that, right?
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