Transformatory

Cindy / Sin Ting Lui

Transformatory is a word that combines ‘transformation’ and ‘history’. It is a term for the design that transforms the history into a new product or a system. Many designs have their own values from creative designers, but history, which was happened for a period of time ago, can be our new values for creating something with deep meanings. This can also be described as a design to keep our individuals, group of people, or a country’s memories from ‘transformatory’. Many things have deep relationship and memory with humans, it can be a doll from 30 years ago, it also can be a broken television from few months ago. We do all know everyone have their own history or memories, but not everyone knows how to keep them. Therefore, transformatory can present the history though a new form with different ways. The audiences can earn more knowledge and comprehend about the implication while experiencing the system.

People always say ‘it is time to move on.’, but people never can forget the memory and just keep it in a secret space in their brain. So, what if we bring this secret piece into a meaningful art.

why it is important

Transformatory is not just a product design, it also can be a service design to show that old things can found their new life and serve to the latest generation with a different approach. The new design will attract young people to visit or use, then the new generation can enjoy with new design and also look deeply into it to understand their meaning. Besides, it gives inspirations for designers to think about using the materials that already have a long history during the whole design process.

Read the article: All people are living histories

T Cafe

This is an inspiring and modern furniture design with using fender woods from demolished Wan Chai Pier, Hong Kong. The seriously damaged woods were going to the landfill but the memory about this pier gave inspiration for the designers to reuse those meaningful woods, also it is presenting a further understanding of environmental protection. So now this is an incredible project that won the good design award in Japan.
This is a series of unconventional musical instruments which is designed by the Mexican artist, Pedro Reyes. Those instruments are entirely made by illegal de-commissioned weapons. This collection is shown at Lisson Gallery in London, and it was created as a part of an ongoing project called ‘palas por pistolas’. Originally it is initiated by reyes in an effort to raise awareness to the high rate of gun-related deaths in Mexico, as well as bring attention to the relationship between crime and the number of weapons in circulation. Therefore, this project brings a great attention to audience with understanding their origin meaning. As guns from the U.S. pour across the border and fuel violence in Mexico, artist Pedro Reyes uses his work as a peaceful, cathartic form of protest.