Prototype #4: Development & Inspiration

As I developed the universal box design, trying to make a sleek frame to encase/complete the machine has been a hard task.  No matter what the boxes can't be any smaller so the frame had to be bulky.  That's when I decided to look for inspiration to some of my favorite design movements.  I took a trip to Dessau, Germany last summer and visited the Bauhaus building so the Bauhaus movement was still fresh in my minds.  Bauhaus has been one of the major influences in modern design, many important furniture has came from it.  Chances are if you've been to any museums, galleries, or art school you've most likely have seen on of the Bauhaus furniture.

Always enjoying the Bauhaus minimal approach in design, I looked towards it for inspiration.  This is when I rediscovered Gerrit Rietveld's L40 light fixture.  But Rietveld was not technically part of the Bauhaus movement but part of the De Stijl movement, which was influential to the Bauhaus manifesto.

This was an important turning point in my project development.  I was making the project more complex than it needed to be.  Instead of trying to hide the axis, I should embrace it and show it for what it is.  Rietveld's L40 light is exactly that, 3 lights in 3 axis.  Minimal, simple.


This was my newest direction, keep it simple and show it for what it is: 3 boxes in 3 axis.  This is an early rendering development of the new direction.  Side legs were needed as I found out from the wooden Prototype #3 model was front heavy, so side supports were needed to keep the machine from tipping over when the Y axis was in full reach.