May 15, 2012

Respond Mechanical Coat Rack

Berlin-based designer Nicole Schindelholz has managed to weave kinetic interest into what's ordinarily a rather staid object: The coat rack. What could be mistaken for gears are actually blocks of wood, precision-cut into blocks or trapezoids and glued to either side of a flexible strip, allowing the assembly to bend in a snake-like way.

While the motion of the Respond Mechanical Coat Rack does not provide a functional benefit, that's not what it's about—Schindelholz, a former Swiss schoolteacher turned Eindhoven grad, had a different motive:

Today, more and more products are simple on the outside and complicated on the inside. people cannot understand the products anymore and they lose the control over them. concerning this development, the desire of understanding a product while using it decreases. with this project, I have taken the opposite tack, to ensure that people can see how a product works, so that they can enjoy understanding how technology works. it is my aim to set people thinking, so that they really perceive the world with the help of their eyes and their hands.



"respond" is an interactive coat rack, which moves when a coat is hung on it. it is an ingenious weight system, using precision carpentry and the element of surprise. after all, surprise arouses curiosity, and curiosity can lead you to the pleasure of understanding.

Video of its look in motion:


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