On the occasion of the Milan furniture fair 2008
What do an iron, an airplane seat, a shopping bag and a socket have in common?
We are hardly aware of it any more but we are living in the age of plastics. Owing to their multifaceted application possibilities, plastics have become an indispensable fixture of modern life. Plastics are instrumental for our quality of life and comfort. They play an ever-greater role when it comes to conserving natural resources since the use of plastics can save more fossil fuel than is needed for their production – a fact that many of us do not realize.
Plastics give designers and engineers a high degree of design freedom; more than with metal, glass or wood, the shape of objects made of plastic can be easily varied and numerous functions can be integrated. Over the time spanning from the prototype of the Panton chair made of Luran® S back in the 60s to MYTO, the innovative cantilever chair created by Konstantin Grcic in 2008 (1), a myriad of interesting design objects have been made of BASF plastic in bold, exciting, clever or simply beautiful shapes. They reflect the versatility of BASF over the course of 50 years of competence in plastics.
Noble seating furniture and quiet walls
* The Italian company Softline® All Kit is using Luran®, a BASF styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer (SAN), to produce the seat shell of SLIM, its new designer chair. This thermoplastic stands out for its high transparency and brilliance, making it the material of choice for designers aiming to create eye-catching pieces. (2)
* The furniture manufacturer Walter Knoll, of Herrenberg, Germany, has launched the first fire-proof upholstered furniture with a core made of a special foam. This novelty has been made possible by Basotect®, BASF’s flame-resistant melamine resin foam. With this material, the designer furniture series KITE 560 – its body consisting of steel, impregnated Basotect and a core of Bonnell springs – is particularly well-suited for furbishing public spaces. This fire-proof sofa was created by the British design team PearsonLloyd, for which they have been awarded a number of design prizes. (3)
* Basotect, a universal foam developed particularly for sound insulation, is also the foundation of the new acoustic system that BASF and Caparol showcased in 2007, namely, the CapaCoustic Melapor acoustic system, consisting of molded parts made of BASF foam that are available in 50,000 shades of color and can be mounted on walls or ceilings with little effort. These parts now also come in decorative colors and they can even be printed with images, all the while retaining their characteristic properties of high sound absorption, fire resistance, and flexibility. The acoustic system is well-suited for retrofitting public buildings such as kindergartens and hospitals with fire protection, easily and harmoniously blending in with the existing architecture and without taking up too much space. (4)
Design in the home
* THE KETTLE, a water boiler concept made of BASF’s engineering plastic Ultrason®, was recently awarded the Design Plus prize by the German Design Council and by the Frankfurt Trade Fair. Ultrason is a material that is particularly well-suited for use at temperatures of up to 220°C [428°F] and it also exhibits good electric insulation capacity. In their quest to showcase the innovation potential of this material in the realm of design, plastics experts at BASF have blazed new trails. Together with the IDEO agency of Munich, Germany, they fashioned new ideas for esthetically pleasing applications for Ultrason in the home. THE KETTLE is one of these outcomes. (5)
For our feathered and hoofed friends
* The construction kit for the birdhouses made by the Dutch company Wilnest is an example of a clever application for BASF’s plastic Luran® S (ASA), an acrylonitrile-styrene-acrylate copolymer impact-modified with acrylic ester rubber. This double-walled and thus well-insulated plastic structure is made almost completely of this lightweight and weather-resistant material. This plastic is particularly well-suited for outdoor applications. (6)
* The Belgian injection-molding company Polymar uses Terblend® N, BASF’s ABS/PA blend, for the toe-cage treads it produces and sells under the name Compositi. This marks the first time that this plastic has gone into such an application, where primarily leather or metal had been used up to now. The lightweight, easy-to-install parts prevent the rider’s foot from slipping through the stirrup when the horse is galloping. In these safety-relevant parts for horseback riding, this material has an edge over conventional materials since it is easier to maintain, cheaper and dimensionally stable. (7)
In traffic: for cars and other vehicles
* More design freedom and an improved energy balance – for Dutch traffic systems manufacturer Vialis, these are excellent reasons to use plastic to replace conventional aluminum housings in the production of traffic lights. Development engineers at Vialis turned to BASF’s Luran® S for the ViaLina traffic signal – the winner of the International Forum Gold Design Award 2005. This material meets the requirements relating to a high-quality appearance and stability (impact resistance) as well as good weathering resistance. (8)
* A futuristic engine cover with an integrated air filter is the brainchild of developers at MAHLE Filtersysteme in Öhringen, Germany. MAHLE produces this large part with its attractive design for DaimlerChrysler’s V8 engines. The company uses BASF’s Ultramid®, a polyamide 6 reinforced with 30 percent glass fibers. This material combines the aspects of a particularly high resistance to bursting pressure with very good dimensional stability, while its surface characteristics allow the creation of aesthetically pleasing products. (9)
* A bicycle, a carrier and a pushchair combined in one and, on top of that, an award-winning design object – that is the new Triobike from Denmark. The part of this combo vehicle that functions as the pushchair has to meet very high requirements in terms of safety and its exterior has to be resistant to weathering and UV light. This is why the manufacturers turned to multifaceted Luran® S (ASA). The sandwich structure of the pushchair panels consists of two co-extruded sheets and a foam filling in-between. The sheets have a Luran S side and an ABS side. (10)
Wood finishing
* With the PermaSkin® system, thermoplastic films are shaped and, at the same time, laminated onto components made of wood, plastic or metal in a single work step. This is how doors, window frames or façades can be systematically protected against the effects of weather. Textures that are typical of the surface of the material, such as the grain of wood, show through this colorfast film down to the last detail. The technical laboratory at BASF’s site in Ludwigshafen, Germany serves to demonstrate the capabilities of this paint-free coating system on the customers’ own, actual doors or window profiles. BASF offers the innovative and sturdy PermaSkin coating system within the scope of a new business model: customers receive the film, the adhesive and the laminating machine directly from BASF. (11)
Design and the designfabrik
A new piece of furniture, a new type of packaging, an innovative electrical device, novel sports gear? Which plastic matches my vision? What can it do? How should the material be processed?
With an eye towards assisting designers in their work with plastics, BASF has now combined all of its competence in the realm of designing with plastics. An integral part of this concept is the designfabrik™, the design factory that BASF founded in Ludwigshafen, Germany in May of 2006, a place where industrial designers can consult with BASF plastic experts regarding their projects, starting from the original idea and ranging from the product concept all the way to color choices and tool design. (12)
Just give us a call to schedule a visit.
Phone no.: [+49] (0) 621 60 45946
www.designfabrik.basf.com
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