Hackability of the Stool by Dasuike Motogi-DDAA Lab – Photo by Takumi Ota.
Design – At Drop City, under the vaults of Milan’s Central Station tunnels, Tokyo-based Daisuke Motogi / DDAA Lab presents the Hackability of the Stool exhibition, 100 ideas for altering the iconic Stool 60, one of the most widely-recognized designs of the 20th century originally designed by Alvar Aalto in 1933 for Artek.
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Photo by Takumi Ota.
“The Hackability of the Stool (Possibility of modifying the stool) is a project that adds diverse, niche, and modest functions which have been cut out in the design process.” Explains Daisuke Motogi at DDAA LAB. “This is an assemblage of research and ideas based on mass-produced products. It could keep the advantage of modernism and mass-produced products and produce multi-product in a small lot. You can make a useful and diverse product as easy as possible.”
Photo by Takumi Ota.
For 100 days starting June 23, 2020, DDAA Lab came out with 100 ideas for modifying the stool. The project seeks to discern how to make valuable and diverse products that meet consumer needs with efficiency and style.
DDAA Lab hacked the stool in multiple ways, often changing the seat’s original purpose. Adding extra elements, Stool 60 becomes a wall watch, a vinyl record player, a champagne holder, a side table, and a cat nest. Other fun hacks transform it into a rocking chair, an armchair, a lamp, a chess board, and even a marimba.
Photo by DDA Lab.
Stool 60 is a masterpiece that everyone has seen before. Hence it has the stereotyped shape of the “typical stacking stool.” Also, the modernist design represented by Stool 60 is made in the greatest common denominator, not for all-rounders. Keeping it simple can paradoxically cut out so many things.
Photo by DDA Lab.
The Hackability of the Stool exhibition: photos by DDAA Lab and Takumi Ota, courtesy of DDAA Lab.
Photo by DDA Lab.
