Slip Casting • CNC Machining • SubD Modeling
Common Thread was an exercise in international collaboration between Appalachian State’s Industrial Design program and The Academy of Fine Arts and Design’s Ceramics Department in Bratislava, Slovakia. We found the housewares retailer IKEA was a place of common ground our two nations shared, and we sought to elevate some of their products in a more conceptual and purposeful way. Lillabo, a wooden train set sold at IKEA, was redesigned to highlight the threats facing our natural world through man-made climate change and deforestation.
Insight
Our teams in America and Slovakia determined that we all shared concerns for the future of our planet. It is critical that we educate children about man-made climate change and deforestation at an early age so that the next generation will begin thinking about and reflecting on how they can make a difference on resolving these global issues.
Cammed Wheels: were thought of to create a see-saw motion as if the creatures were walking; however, compatibility with the track became an issue.
Added Ridges: within the track grooves of the tunnel element impede the motion of the animal train through the set. The ridges are timed with a transition on the tunnel from a forest with trees and vegetation to a bare landscape with stumps and soil erosion.
Exploration
Frodig’s design style, forms, and even name were carefully selected to both complement the original Lillabo IKEA set and to highlight the new set’s mission to inspire nature preservation. Frodig, in Swedish, means lush. It was determined that the chosen animals and tactile indicators should intuitively help children connect a human action with a climate consequence and invite contemplation.
1. 2-part mold construction
2. Completed 2-part molds
3. Slip casting
4. Green animal casts
5. Bisque fired animals
6. Glaze fired animals
Solution
Frodig is a train set consisting of wooden and porcelain animals that can be installed onto IKEA train carriage bases, allowing for compatibility across all wooden train sets regardless of retailer. The centerpiece of the Frodig set is a tunnel illustrating deforestation by transitioning from a lush forest to an eroding landscape with fewer trees and less vegetation and a rough textured path. This texturing mirrors the difficulty many of the animals featured are experiencing with regards to migration and movement within a fractured ecosystem. The intention is the Frodig would be a series of sets each depicting a different ecosystem and climate concern.
Credits: Ethan Merklein; Júlia Petrušová