Michiel Van Der Kley

Project EGG‘ is made from 4,760 individuated pieces, which have been made by hundreds of desktop 3D-printers from all over the world, serving as an example of co-created DIY collaboration. conceived and organized by furniture designer Michiel Van Der Kley, the irregular ellipsoid form measures roughly 5 x 4 x 3 meters, and is being exhibited for dutch design week 2014 in eindhoven until october 26.
Each of the 4,760 ‘stones’ is made of PLA (polylactide) plastic, a material which is both biodegradable and commonly used for 3D printing technology. the construction allows for limited material usage, with pieces attached by custom hexagonal screws.
 
Supporters to the project participated by either printing a stone on their own machine, or otherwise by ‘adopting’ a stone through financial contribution.
Project EGG results from over two years of experimentation by the dutch designer with 3D printing technology. over the coming two years, studio michiel van der kley intends to show the pavilion all over the globe, while simultaneously advancing research and continuing exploration for movement forward. specifically, the team hopes to develop a similar pavilion with a material suitable for an outdoor setting.
Michiel van der Kley [1962, the Hague] started designing and producing furniture for his own company in 1989. After several years, working as a ‘self producing designer’ he decided to emphasise exclusively on the design part. Meanwhile his designs are being produced by leading furniture companies in Holland and abroad.
Michiel van der Kley: “I sometimes like a design because it makes a large gesture, and sometimes I like a design because its details turn it into something special.
Nature inspires me, and music, especially Jazz.
For me, great design is autonomous. That and the lack of unnecessary ornaments and details.
I believe that an objects’ shape is always something whole, like a sculpture and I welcome details as integral part of a construction, not as something just to decorate with.
I personally like something that has a certain similarity with things from nature, be it a structure , be it a shape or just a small detail like a transition from a leg to the fabric of a chair. Apart from that I am always attracted to monolithic things.