OpenUp - Domestic Assemblage Labs

OpenUp Creative Partner in Greece: Department of Architecture, UTH

With that in mind, and following the prompts we were given by the Department of Architecture UTH teaching team, we engaged ourselves into creating the pieces presented below.

""An old thing becomes new, if you detatch it from what usually surrounds it."

ROBERT BRESSON, film director

Mrs. Anna Poleau

A gossip bench

"Here’s my gossip bench, Mrs Anna Poleau, she is the first to hear the good and the bad news.

I choose to give a second, even a third chance, to vintage furniture, a choice driven by the fact that these pieces have stories worth telling.

More than one users can benefit from this piece.
The assemblage parts can be easily removed or reconnected to the main surface, due the use of non-permanent types of connections, like magnets and hook-and-loop fasteners. For that reason, my versatile piece can accommodate a variety of activities, such as: Communicating, Sitting, Reading, Chilling, Organizing, Enjoying and Writing."

"anapolo" is a greek verb which means "to reminisce", "to recount memories".

The one-of-a-kind unique object Gossip Bench "Mrs Anna Poleau" was created in a domestic environment, during the Domestic Assemblage I laboratory, which was run online during the Covid lockdown in early 2021. 

Concept, design and implementation by Κonstantinos Tsogkas, 2021, All rights reserved.

Iggy

A painter's home studio assistant

Inspired by ants, Iggy collects and organizes the tools, brushes and paint tubes used at a home studio.

The use of door hinges allow three panels made of old window frames, to easily connect and disconnect. The main panel accessories are a recycling bin, custom made crochet brush cases, wire fence scraps bent to form baskets and hangers, a grater, magnets and hooks, all detachable.

Results: Previously hidden tools and materials (stored in closed boxes due to lack of space), are now ready to use, as they are attached on a versatile and portable vertical surface, which accommodates visible storage and unlimited upgrade or extension.

Concept, design and implementation by Nikoletta Theodoropoulou, 2021, All rights reserved.

The prototype object "Iggy, a home studio assistant", was created in a domestic environment, during the Domestic Assemblage I laboratory, which was run online during the Covid lockdown in early 2021. 

The Broken Armchair

A reclining seat

The Broken Armchair features nomadic life.

It is an assemblage of old, used and recycled materials - a floor panel, a pair of drawers, and timber beams, found and extracted from a pallet and a window frame.

The floor panel is cropped and cut to form the seat, while the drawers are repurposed as the "arms" or a side table. The timber parts were shortened to the desired length to form the base frame, applying japanese wood joinery (Kumiki), without bolts. The structure can be disassembled and packed in a portable box, without using tools.

Simplicity and freedom are the ideas behind this prototype.

A better crafted and more detailed version will soon be presented.

Concept, design and implementation by Nikoletta Theodoropoulou, 2022, All rights reserved.

The prototype object "The Broken Armchair" was created and presented in the creative environment and community of the Department of Architecture UTH laboratories, during the Domestic Assemblage II workshop, which was run in April 2022. All assemblage parts were collected from the nearby urban environment. 

OpenUp - UTH - Domestic Assemblage II

Watch selected scenes of the creative process on site