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Things that look simple are often the most difficult
to design. Dirk Wynants does not feel that sketches
are needed for an idea mature to an advanced stage.
In his opinion, spatial thinking always offers greater
freedom than pen and paper. It’s easy to illustrate the
Picnik idea using a simple sheet of paper by cutting
and folding the paper to create a tabletop with benches
attached. The idea was to develop this at full scale
from a single standard sheet of aluminium.
After much experimentation, it became clear to Dirk
Wynants that Picnik could only achieve the necessary
structural strength if the material was reshaped or
‘rolled’. Coincidentally, the Belgian designer Xavier
Lust had just made use of this technique in his iconic
2000 piece ‘Le Banc’. Collaboration between the two
designers seemed to be the obvious way forward.
Extremis
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