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Brief
As a next chapter in an ongoing series of collaborations conceived to infuse the textile world with the fresh perspective of industry outsiders, Maharam approached Canadian graphic designer Bruce Mau with a brief intended to bring a new level of animation to the predictable and staid realm of panel fabrics…the textiles typically utilized on open plan workstations. Maharam felt that Mau, designer well versed in the language of both two-dimensional and interactive design, was particularly well suited to realize this concept.
MegaNano represents Bruce Mau’s first foray into textile design. In an effort to inspire unconventional thought, Mau was intentionally given little direction. Unfamiliar with the labyrinthine and often visually numbing landscape created by the open office environment, Mau and his team visited numerous corporate installations to gain orientation. Maharam provided a variety of workstations to the Bruce Mau Design studio in Toronto; dubbed the “PanelLab,” these workstations offered immediate access to an interactive environment as concepts were put on trial.
After several presentations of predominantly digital concept which fell well outside the boundaries of commercial and practical plausibility, Maharam slowly introduced real-world production and application limitations to the mix. Chief among these were a rather narrow palette of suitable yarn types, the constraints of weaving in repeat, and issues of pattern alignment and distortion from panel to panel. These, as well as numerous lesser hurdles ultimately forced a transformation from the limitless possibility of digital design to the analog realities of jacquard weaving.
Product Overview
MegaNano by Bruce Mau challenges the predictably static appearance of panel fabric in the corporate office environment with the introduction of two series of patterns, each centered on a singular theme presented in macro (Mega), micro (Nano) and mixed (MegaNano) scales. The varied proportions of MegaNano generate alternative views as seen from typical perspectives…within, or across a field of workstations. Rather than fading in the distance, MegaNano remains graphic and visible, engaging the viewer, exaggerating distances, and creating surprising spatial relationships and depth of field in this personal yet communal work environment.
MegaNano Structure, Mega Structure and Nano Structure depict an elemental organic grid, and are available in coordinated suites of usable neutrals accompanied by rich chocolate, olive and gray accents. MegaNano Point, Mega Point, Nano Point and the over-scale Giga Point are based on perforated punch cards that recall the origins of our computerized society and are available in coordinated suites of tinted neutrals, featuring metallic effects, and are accompanied by lustrous copper, green and yellow accents. MegaNano by Bruce Mau is constructed with 100% post-industrial recycled polyester.
Biography
Bruce Mau has gained international recognition as the founder of Bruce Mau Design, Inc., an interdisciplinary design studio committed to practicing design as a means, not an end. Comprised of a staff of thirty architects, writers, curators, designers and artists, Bruce Mau Design, Inc. approaches each project as an opportunity to study a new discipline; clients are encouraged to take part in the evolutionary design process, and are treated as collaborators to be worked with, not worked for.
Founded in 1985, Bruce Mau Design, Inc. has applied its unique design sensibilities across a vast array of media. The book S,M,L,XL, 1996, explores the work of Rem Koolhaas while adapting the pace of cinematic sequencing to a printed form. A brief to develop a new graphic identity for Gagosian Gallery yielded an exclusive font, named “Gogo,” 1999. Conceived as a series of operational strategies, rather than a classical park design, Tree City, 2000, Bruce Mau Design’s winning plan to transform Downsview Park in Toronto, envisions a constantly evolving epicenter connecting the city’s parkland to form a green infrastructure for the Greater Toronto Area. Part monograph, part manifesto, Lifestyle, 2000, documents Mau’s design conviction, creative process and studio practice through a collection of essays, observations and anecdotes. Comprised of a series of multi-media presentations, the New Tokyo Life Style Think Zone, 2001, explores the past, present and future of Tokyo through the lens of urban planning. The large scale video installation “Stress: An Inventory of Effects,” 2000–2003, utilizes digital projections to illustrate what Bruce Mau calls our “culture of stress” and its effects on the human nervous system.
MegaNano by Bruce Mau will be launched in June at NeoCon, and will be on display in both the Maharam and Herman Miller showrooms.
Mega Point by Bruce Mau
Width: 66" (168cm)
Colors: 6
Content: 100% Post-Industrial Recycled Polyester
MegaNano Point by Bruce Mau
Width: 66" (168 cm)
Colors: 4
Content: 100% Post-Industrial Recycled Polyester
Nano Point by Bruce Mau
Width: 66" (168cm)
Colors: 8
Content: 100% Post-Industrial Recycled Polyester
Giga Point by Bruce Mau
Width: 66" (168cm)
Colors: 3
Content: 100% Post-Industrial Recycled Polyeste
Mega Structure by Bruce Mau
Width: 66" (168cm)
Colors: 5
Content: 100% Post-Industrial Recycled Polyester
MegaNano Structure by Bruce Mau
Width: 66" (168cm)
Colors: 3
Content: 100% Post-Industrial Recycled Polyester
Nano Structure by Bruce Mau
Width: 66" (168cm)
Colors: 8
Content: 100% Post-Industrial Recycled Polyester