Category: Design

Reduced Brackets (Outgrowing Eames)

June 14, 2022 By arne hendriks Off

Ray and Charles Eames first introduced the Eames Lounge Chair (670) and Ottoman (671) in 1956, a time when people were considerably smaller than they are now. Some fifty years later, sales of the chair declined because its potential customers had become taller. Since we…

VW (Think Small)

December 7, 2021 By arne hendriks Off

In the 1950’s, U.S. industry had firmly embraced the ideology of planned obsolescence and obsolesence of desirability to convince consumers they constantly needed to buy something new. Competing auto makers were building ever bigger and more stylised cars for growing families with baby boomer children.…

Abundance Fantasies: Friedeberg’s Hand Chair

October 24, 2020 By arne hendriks Off

In Abundance Fantasies we explore how a desire for abundance is sometimes found in unsuspected places, practices and objects. Perhaps such encounters can be reinforced to stimulate a desire to shrink. In “The Art of small things” John Mack writes: “In literature, as much as…

Minidampf Monorails

January 25, 2015 By arne hendriks 0

One of the most straightforward consequences of shrinking the human species is that most of our built environment would have to be re-designed. Our cities, production facilities, agriculture and transport systems would all need to be downsized to fit our down-sized needs. And some things…

Japanese Miniatures: Tokonoma

July 26, 2013 By arne hendriks 0

The cultural environment we made (and that made us) bombards us with signs that bigger is better. The very notion of shrinking creates such internal conflict that we are inclined to ignore its obvious benefits and condemn the whole idea to the realm of mad…

Golem Studio

June 1, 2013 By arne hendriks 0

What will the human species look like if we decide to shrink to 50cm? Will we shrink proportionally, or is it more realistic to anticipate on subtle, or dramatic, changes to the human physique? How do aesthetic desires influence developments, and what are the ramifications…

Toad Leather

December 5, 2012 By arne hendriks 0

If we decide to shrink to 50 cm, cane toad leather could replace the less flexible, thicker leathers we use now. It is both beautiful and very soft, perfect for Shrinking Man’s shoes, bags or any other leather products. Other suitable leathers are snake-, eel-,…

Six Cities / Empty World

June 20, 2012 By arne hendriks 0

Earth is turning into a global city. Over half the world’s population lives in urbanised areas and those cities are taking up more and more space.  Most of the rest of the world is organised to supply food and resources. Even so, cities are the most…

Rewilding Ghost Suburbia

October 21, 2011 By arne hendriks 0

If mankind decides to shrink, and we succeed to achieve an average height of 50 centimeters as The Incredible Shrinking Man proposes, one of the most significant changes will be the increase of available space. The scale of buildings, infrastructure and distance will be enormous…

Plus Size Camouflage

March 30, 2011 By arne hendriks 0

One of the more complicated issues in shrinking the human species is how to deal with generational size differences. New generations will be smaller than older generations. Heleen Klopper, a designer especially interested in textiles, speculates on a future fashion and make-up of camouflaging the large as…

Robert Therrien

February 1, 2011 By arne hendriks 0

Robert Therrien makes monumental sculptures and installations, often in the shape of tables and chairs. In terms of material and form his works corresponds to the model down to the smallest details, but in scale the sculpture differs dramatically. The furniture has assumed such proportions that…

Tiny Towns for Special Forces

January 5, 2011 By arne hendriks 0

Joost Janmaat of Partizan Publik recalls his memory  of an intriguing search for a lost tiny town: “I fruitlessly embarked on a quest for little people two years ago when I was in Detroit. I am gonna relate you the story anyway, since by posting it on…

The Ames Room

December 20, 2010 By arne hendriks 2

In an Ames Room two or more people of the same size standing in a space appear to be of dramatically different sizes, even though they are actually the same size. Adelbert Ames, Jr. (August 19, 1880 – 1955) was an American scientist who made…

Killer Hail

November 16, 2010 By arne hendriks 0

Some things just won’t shrink. Like the weather. Rain drops, snow flakes and hail stones will not change with us. If we decide to shink to 50 centimeters, talking about the weather becomes more than the casual social exchange around the coffee machine. With hail…

Outgrowing Eames

November 5, 2010 By arne hendriks 0

The Lounge Chair (670) and accompanying ottoman (671) by Charles and Ray Eames, is one of the most iconic furniture designs of the 20th century. The Lounge Chair, like many important modern classics, is a piece of furniture that comes from the past but fits into…

Disproportionate Restaurant

October 30, 2010 By arne hendriks 0

One of the more exciting prospects of shrinking mankind is the drastic change in food consumption. To investigate this aspect more elaborately The Incredible Shrinking Man intends to build a fully functional restaurant catering to customers that are 50 centimeters tall.  The restaurant will also…

Transport Retrofit

July 18, 2010 By arne hendriks 1

Airlines have tried to compensate the increase in passenger size and weight by adding extra taxes and designing larger and more fuel efficient airplanes but surely there are limits to how big our vehicles can become. Shrinking on the other hand would open up a…

From Macro to Micro

April 28, 2010 By arne hendriks 0

As people start shrinking, Earth and everything on it will proportionally, grow in size. This growth of space and resources is actually one of the main reasons to consider shrinking as a sustainable way of inhabiting the earth. At the same time it holds the…

Less is More

April 12, 2010 By arne hendriks 0

A considerable downsizing of the human species would create an enormous market for architects and interior designers to make good use of the newly available space.  Not to mention the potential of repurposing roads, parks, canals, squares and so on.