Marcel Duchamp's famous readymades are objects which have been removed from the sphere of the useful and placed in a new context. For US designer Stephen Burks, this "multiple use" and the fact that our perception influences the intuitive use of an object are highly inspiring. He designs, with his studio READYMADE PRODUCTS in Brooklyn, New York, consistently, formally and materially logical products, which display something like an "ideal structure." Be it the shelving system PARALLEL, which is at once light, stable and can be dismounted, the sofa system PLEATS, with its modules and an innovative pleated covering, or his NOT SO SOFT collection, consisting of a table and a chair which are each composed of a unique injection-molded polypropylene module, in terms of the design process, Stephen Burks thinks on his feet from the very start. The American designer takes an active role in non-profit organizations which work to bring sustainable economic and social benefit to local craft workers in developing countries. For AID TO ARTISANS and ARTECNICA, Burks realized projects in Peru and South Africa, which he enriched with his experience, to develop products for international export with the craft workers living there. Most of them, such as the colorful furniture TaTu for example, consisting of bowls, trays and baskets which can be used individually, are made from recycled wire.Burk's combination of DIY aesthetics and formal value perception is also in high demand at companies like Cappelini, Missoni, Moroso, Vitra and Zanotta. Which makes it clear that his cultural and technical (in terms of production) understanding leaves his objects room for all sorts of activities.www.readymadeprojects.com