Instances

Projecting on the idea of a 3d printer soon to be on every desktop equipped with re-usable material, an object’s continuous existence is a digital one, realised for an instance in the physical realm, then de-materialised. This future calls for personally contextualised objects, designed with a future to be determined by their user – a new design experience. Designing for such scenarios requires a new approach, one that asks the designer what parameters could be left open for a user’s choice. in some types of objects, the choice could be of function, in others of size. but in purely formal objects, like vases, the key parameter is that of an experience, of the process of choices a user makes to arrive at an outcome, and the price he pays for these choices. the more personal the process is, the more personal the product becomes. it is as if the user surfs the form, the physical realm, as he would online.