Breeding Tables project by Clemens Weisshaar and Reed Kram (2003–ongoing). In this project, their approach is to intelligently intertwine product development and media design, while taking advantage of the newest technological possibilities.
The product of Breeding Tables is tables, not as single tables, but as an indefinite number of different tables. With Breeding Tables, Weisshaar and Kram bid farewell to the idea of designing one product to be mass manufactured as a reproduction of the original prototype. They have developed a process that allows for the production of a multitude of individually different pieces of furniture, tapping into the full potential of current production technologies.
The product of Breeding Tables is tables, not as single tables, but as an indefinite number of different tables. With Breeding Tables, Weisshaar and Kram bid farewell to the idea of designing one product to be mass manufactured as a reproduction of the original prototype. They have developed a process that allows for the production of a multitude of individually different pieces of furniture, tapping into the full potential of current production technologies.
Weisshaar and Kram have conceived a process hinged upon custom computer code that generates an indefinite number of solid construction surfaces. Taking into account the specifications of parameters like height, depth, width and load capacity, these computer-generated cutting patterns and the associated processing information orchestrate computer-controlled laser cutters and bending machines, and seamlessly materialise three-dimensional corpuses.
The flexibility of present-day machines allows for the continuous implementation of modifications. The opening now emerges for the constant production of unique pieces under the conditions and within the budget of mass production a principle extraordinarily adopted by Kram/Weisshaar for the Breeding Tables project. As Ronald Jones puts it, 'They synchronise form, materials, and process in a Prouvéian manner'. (Ronald Jones, Knowledge-enabled Mass Production. In: BREEDING TABLES, Actar 2009).
The term 'breeding' bundles several concepts that are central to the project. Each of the Breeding Tables are bred according to algorithmic presets and stands equal and individual. There is no longer an ultimate product. The issue of the distinction between the original and its copy becomes irrelevant. In tune with contemporary production facilities and conditions, the Breeding Tables stand for a new form of integrated product and process development, and thus, a new way of thinking design.
Tables from the BREEDING TABLES project are in the permanent collections of PINAKOTHEK DER MODERNE, München, VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM, Weil am Rhein, the CENTRE GEORGES POMPIDOU, Paris and the Museum of Modern Art, New York as well as numerous private collections. One off pieces are produced and distributed by KRAM/WEISSHAAR while MOROSO are distributing two models named COUNTACH under license.