Visually mixing two types of topological spaces is meant to be the idea and perhaps mind-bender here, adding to the original units’ tickling in the eyes.
(1) I found the beautiful wrought iron knot in a shop this summer. It was the shop’s last, number 3, starting last summer. If this had been in a design shop (which it wasn’t), I assume that negative price elasticity would have come into play. Tripling the low price probably would have sold them all by the hour. We don’t want cheap stuff, do we? A Swedish design store called Seklet [1] had bought this from some rather good metalsmith I presume. I don’t know his/her identity, but I do know it didn’t make itself. It weighs 1620 g.
If this were a paper strip (with two physical sides) and the ends were glued together after a half-twist of the strip, it would have become a Möbius strip (with only one topological side). See Wiki-refs and embedded photo from Wikimedia. But since this one has a circular cross section I must imagine a Möbius strip. A complication is that this one is knotted and would need some «sowing» to make. (Pardon me for not being a mathematician.)
(2) However, if a square cross section iron bar had been twisted 180°, knotted and ends connected, the Möbius origin might have been obvious (with four physical sides and two topological sides).
I am not certain which of these that are called infinite loop or eternal loop. But at [4] they call something equal to the iron knot for an infinite loop. There you may also turn it around on the screen. Searching for these terms tends to take me to the programming idiom (which I more or less use daily).
(3) And then, the very nice Danish cube (or Kubus Bowl). This is easy to measure on even if the symmetric form makes it only necessary to measure one side. It’s kind of the opposite to both (1) and (2) and I think that they match perfectly. The frame weighs 460 g.
Let me start with its precursor. From the Mogens Lassen Wikipedia page [2] I read (Danish left):
| I 1962 tegnede han den ikoniske Kubus lysestage, som dog først blev sat i produktion i 1980’erne af barnebarnet Søren Lassen. Salget af Kubus-stagen voksede med 30 procent de første 15 år, men har siden 2011 været en kæmpe succes med en stigning i salget på 80-100 % om året. I december 2014 blev der solgt mere end 1.000 Kubus-stager om dagen. | In 1962, he designed the iconic Kubus candlestick, which, however, was only put into production in the 1980s by grandson Søren Lassen. Sales of the Kubus candlestick grew by 30 percent in the first 15 years, but since 2011 it has been a huge success with an increase in sales of 80-100% per year. In December 2014, more than 1,000 Kubus candlesticks were sold per day. |
Then about my starting point, with a bowl instead of the candlesticks. We have enjoyed it for years already. From [3] and [5] I read:
| Designer: Søren Lassen. The Kubus Bowl is inspired by Mogens Lassen’s iconic Kubus candle holder and features elements of Bauhaus design – one of the Danish designer’s primary sources of inspiration. The German artistic movement, with its signature angular, geometric style, brought accessible and functional design to the people. The Kubus Bowl is a natural extension of the iconic Kubus candle holder series. Suited to a multitude of uses – as a herb pot, container for knick knacks and more – an inlay is available separately to protect the surface before being used to hold food, plants or other items. |
| The Kubus Bowl is designed by Søren Lassen, and features elements evocative of the Bauhaus school, one of Mogens Lassen’s primary inspirations. The German design school believed that good design should be accessible to the people, and this concept appealed to architect Mogens Lassen. The Kubus Bowl is produced in Denmark with a focus on high quality and solid craftsmanship, and the bowl is a natural extension of the iconic Kubus candleholder, designed by Mogens Lassen in 1962. The Kubus Bowl is suitable for home decoration year-round and can contain everything from blossoms to herbs, fruits, vegetables or your favorite candy. |
(3) – bowl + (1) or (2) As my turn I removed the bowl from the small (14 cm cubed) Kubus and added the infinite loop, and hung it up in (4) three blue linen threads. This combination also speaks for itself. No design on my behalf, only a combination of three gorgeous designs. Thank you! Total weight 2080 g.
Finally. If this were to be a product it would certainly take some thinking to finish it. Nylon string? Zinc instead of steel? Packing? Colours? Cross section types? Cross sections equal or opposite? Plus, as something that would have purely aesthetic qualities, is it at all feasible to make it a product and sell it for the original huge + added huge price? («Accessible to the people»..)
References
Wiki-refs: Euclidean space ,Infinite loop (programming idiom, not a physical thing), Möbius strip, Topological space
- Seklet at Facebook (I cannot find it any more there)
- Mogens Lassen at Danish Wikipedia
- Kubus Bowl at Illums Bolighus
- Infinite LOOP at Sketchfab: See https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/infinite-loop
- Kubus Bowl at Audo Copenhagen (they have bought the company By Lassen). Product sheet here