marleen kaptein employs aerospace fibre placement technique to form carbon chair

marleen kaptein employs aerospace fibre placement technique to form carbon chair
(above) ‘recycled carbon chair’
all photos courtesy of labadie / van tour

marleen kaptein has engaged in a perhaps an unlikely partnership for a furniture designer—working together with the netherlands aerospace centre (NLR). the organization gave her access to a fiber placement robot capable of printing thin, but strong, carbon tape in all directions, in which kaptein employed the innovative fabrication technique to produce two armchairs and a lamp.

detail of the thin carbon fibre ribbons that form the the ‘recycled carbon chair’

the ‘fibre placement chair’, ‘recycled carbon chair’ and ‘fibre placement lamp’ each take advantage of the material, technology and manufacturing possibilities that the fabrication method offers. here, kaptein has explored the implementation of the technique on a more intimate scale in the form of furniture, as opposed to its typical industrial application—focusing on the entire chain of production from the raw material through to the process to the resulting waste materials.

the ribbons are woven together to forma lightweight but incredibly durable chair

presented during milan design week 2016 by LABEL/BREED who is producing the ‘fibre placement lamp’ (the armchairs are still in their prototyping phase), the collection of pieces concentrate more on manufacturing process as its focus, rather than the aesthetic outcome.

‘fibre placement chair’ 

the woven pattern of the ‘fiber placement chair’ forms a low sitting, seating piece

detail

‘fiber placement lamp’

in the case of the ‘fiber placement lamp’, the threads are shaped in a way that forms more organic forms
the carbon fibre elements deflect light in a more abstract way
carbon fibre floral details