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Design entrepreneur Marvell Lahens started generative design brand Self to offer users a more accessible approach to furniture design. The Chicago-based brand, he explains, “came out of my own introduction to furniture design, and a feeling that barriers to entry were in the space (be it lack of training or credentials, not being proficient in joinery or use of hands). tools, etc) means I need to approach it from a more accessible starting point.’
Self: generative design brand
(Image credit: Courtesy Self)
Now launching in beta, Self is an experimental brand offering custom made-to-order furniture designed by consumers. This project was inspired by the book Grammar of Forms by Jannis Maroscheck, ‘the exploration of the paradigm of algorithmically defined shapes and the resulting permutations’, explains Lahens.
‘The moment of enlightenment came when I realized that the same rules, which are really just constraints, could theoretically be used by anyone (designers and non-designers alike). Given an easy-to-use layer on top of that rule set (say, a configurator), I jump to the possibility that anyone can manipulate the resulting shapes. And if anyone can manipulate the resulting shapes, they can immerse themselves in several levels of the design process. This idea, that I could invite and enable people of all backgrounds (not just creatives) to be co-designers and full participants in designing something of which they are end-users (first with furniture), became my pursuit, and Self was manifestation of that.’
Independent at NYCXDesign 2023
(Image credit: Courtesy Self)
For two days during New York Design Week 2023, Self invites visitors to experiment with the possibilities of generative furniture designs, and explores the work of designers Norman Teague and Max Davis, who were invited to experiment with the functionality of the tool.
This brand launch features coffee table tops that can be shaped via vector poly-lines, or by using two standard shapes (organic or geometric) and then adjusting parameters such as points and radius. “Even within algorithmically defined constraints, the shape possibilities are innumerable, and as more grammars are added, customers will have a wider range of starting points and possibilities in Self,” adds Lahens. Further customization includes table legs, materials (with plywood and steel options), and colors for the steel version.
The collaboration with Norman Teague “is an extension of Self’s design approach, and is the start of a series of collaborations and starting points co-designed for consumers to use and manipulate,” Lahens said.
‘Norman is a brilliant designer whose work already contains the kind of interesting shapes that are naturally amenable to whimsy. For the table set that Norman and I designed together, he wanted to draw threads from his existing body of work, through this new approach. The resulting pieces are just the four innumerable possibilities that can be derived from the grammar.’
Self seen on 20 and 21 May 2023 (11.00 – 17.00)
Somewhere in Ludlow
48 Ludlow Street
New York
New York 10002
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