When an international chemical conglomerate, an Italian furniture manufacturer and a German designer collaborate on the development of new materials and their application then legends are born. For example the new plastic cantilever chair "Myto".A great deal about this project is astonishing. Let us start with the location of the initial presentation: the "K" trade fair for plastics in Düsseldorf had not hitherto been noted for its furniture premières. So visitors were not a little surprised to be confronted, last October, by an encounter with something so completely different on the stand of the chemical conglomerate BASF. There stood a cantilever chair made completely out of plastic, apparently defying the laws of mechanics; and strangely appealing with its perforated surface.Myto is the result of the collaboration of three very different partners. The large BASF concern is looking to use the recently developed all-plastic material Ultradur High Speed in a design product. Following the success of the Miura stool - also designed by Konstantin Grcic - the small Italian firm Plank, still a family-run business, is keen to stage the next coup in the furniture world. And finally there is Konstantin Grcic himself - currently Germany's most innovative designer - who has long since made a name beyond the confines of the design community. The unusual trio had taken on a difficult task. Yet after the first workshop at the BASF premises in the summer of 2006, in which experts from different areas participated, it took just one year to reach production readiness. That too is astonishing, as one normally assumes a development period of about three years for comparative projects. But it is not exactly easy to find such a comparison - and where there is a mythological will, there is also a way. And what of Myto itself? Is it the fulfilment of our dreams as far as plastics are concerned? According to BASF, it is not yet entirely finished. We still need to wait once more until the Milan Furniture Fair for its introduction to the market. Even if Düsseldorf is not too happy about it!www.plank.it
www.basf.com“Fundstücke” is a joint project between Baumeister Redaktion and STYLEPARK