Playscape by Ladies & Gentlemen
Cost: US$60/£40/€53
Time: 90 min
The abstract and austere forms work together to create a surprisingly warm functional object, while still celebrating elemental materials and geometries. The combination creates a flexible flatworm to store and display common objects on a tabletop.
What you need
Marble tile, 30.5 × 30.5 cm. Wooden sphere, 6.5 cm diameter. Wooden disc, 2 cm high × 6 cm diameter. Copper or brass tubing, 10 cm long × 6.5 cm diameter. Brass keystock, 127 × 9 × 9 mm. Fine steel wool. Wooden cone, 7.5cm high, 5cm diameter. 150 grit wet/dry sandpaper. Button head wood screws with small washers, 2 cm long. 3 wood screws, 2 cm long. Rag. Small rubber feet. Epoxy. Tray wide enough to fit tile. Hacksaw. Pencil. Screwdriver. Drill. Masonry bit, 9mm.
Instructions
1. Use a hacksaw and cut the metal tubing, square brass keystock, and wooden dowel to the specified lengths – or have the hardware store do it for you.
2. Sand the cut edges of the metal until smooth, and sand the bottom of the wooden sphere so that it has at least a 2 cm diameter flat area that can sit on the tile. If necessary, also sand the round disc sides until the disc fits snugly inside the metal tubing. Polish the metal surfaces with fine steel wool.
3. Arrange the pieces on the tile to create your own ideal composition – though the wooden sphere should stay 2.5 cm to either side of the brass keystock. Outline the shapes with a pencil on the tile. Then mark the centers for the cone, sphere, and disc on the tile.
4. Submerge the tile in water in the tray, and use the masonry bit to drill the marked holes. Drill slowly from the glossy side of the marble down, stopping occasionally to make sure the bit stays wet and doesn’t overheat. Then wet sand the edges to remove small chips and saw marks. Clean and dry the tile surfaces.
5. From the bottom of the marble tile, screw the shapes in place. Take the metal tubing and put it over the wooden disc.
6. Epoxy the keystock in the outline marked previously. Epoxy the copper tube to the disc if desired. Place the rubber bumper feet on the underside of the tile.
Do It Yourself is published by Phaidon, £19.95; www.phaidon.com/DoItYourself