Systemalab : Triangular shelters
Systemalab is derived from the Greek word σύστημα systēma, ‘whole compounded of several parts or members, system’, literary ‘composition’ and an abbreviation of laboratory. It is a studio for experimental aesthetics within the field of Design. Two equally important elements constitute the source of inspiration. The mediterranean landscape with its idyllic scenery, brimful of nature and architecture, pattern and form, material and structure, colors and shades, was a bottomless source of ideas.
Peristerionas – pigeon shelter – Cyclades, Greece
The first ring sketches were based on patterns found on small constructions that are used for sheltering pigeons, ‘Peristerionas‘, that one can encounter in many Cycladic islands. Beautiful craftsmanship and detail that is overwhelming for such a small building with such a peculiar function. A ‘jewelry’ in the landscape. The triangular pattern was ‘reinvented’, this time to adorn objects that can be worn. Scale and materiality had to be thought in a different way. Other source of inspiration, but not less important, is the ancient greek mythology, revised through the achievements of ancient greek engineering and technology.
The dwelling for birds make us think of the ancient greek comedy with the same name by Aristophanes. The birds build a city in the sky famously named cloudcuckooland, accompanied by a claim of divinity ahead of the Olympians.
Systema01 silver rings
We meditate on the Peristerionas – pigeon shelters – and draw the curves and the rounded soft shapes of their volumes in stark contrasts under the cycladic sun. The drawing is scanned and becomes a computer model – the curves become mathematical definitions and the form reaches technical precision enabling the translation into machine paths for production. Our servants are robots made from steel and controlled by digital protocols like Hephaestos old craftsmens dream of creating robotic servants from gold to alleviate the hardships of his craft. Our meditation on architectural artefacts for Pigeons on the Island of Sifnos, on ancient Cyborgs and the God of Craft leads us to the birth of the first robotic flying device from the mind of the mathematician, philosopher, strategist and mechanical engineer Archytas.
Systema02 gold plated silver rings
Archytas (Greek: Ἀρχύτας ο Ταραντίνος; 428–347 BC) has given name to the mathematical and geometric construction of a curve derived from intersecting a torus and a cylinder of the same diameter. Archytas interest in complex geometry and curvature more than yrs 300BC strikes us as excitingly contemporary. His invention that connects throughout time advancements in robotics is the construction of the first artificial self propelled flying device. His bird-shaped steam engined flying device is said to have flown a futuristic 200m and was named by its inventor: The Pigeon.
Systema05 silver rings
Systemalab owes its existence to the deep interest and research on pattern and form that stems from the common architectural background of the two co-founders, Sofia Daniilidou and Thomas Vietzke, who met working together at Zaha Hadid’s Studio in London. In fact architecture provides a strong foundation for the creation of forms that range from archetypical to purely experimental and organic. From big scale objects, such as buildings, to small scale ones, such as jewelry pieces. The same patterns can co exist in worlds that are ostensibly unrelated, but unavoidably are brought together when the creation process starts. The logic of construction is imbedded in the design process. The singularity of the rings stands also on the employment of digital tools for their design. The digital tools give a vast freedom for investigation on forms, patterns, surfaces. Mathematical rules are utilized in order to populate surfaces with patterns. The precision of the computer generated model attributes to the jewelry a unique impeccable esthetic.
