Our project brief was to make three aluminium benches for an art exhibition, with emphasis on artistic design and precision sheet metal cutting.
FSM Manufacturing was approached by London-based furniture designer Alexandra Gerber to take on a project involving collaborative design and manufacturing for an art exhibition.
Project Overview
We worked with Alexandra Gerber on manufacturing custom aluminium benches, ensuring that they remained practical to produce and use while retaining their unconventional and artistic designs.
We encountered considerable production challenges when trying to convert unique concepts into fully engineered creations that were durable and safe for use. Developing and laser cutting the flat profiles was relatively straight forward. However, forming and bending 12mm aluminium without the material cracking and breaking proved problematic. We had to use the correct grade of aluminium alloy to ensure its ductility and malleability while ensuring that where possible, we formed the bends against the natural flow of the material grain to minimise the risk of fracture.
Results and Client Feedback
The designs went into production in August and were delivered to Paris in early September where they were publicly displayed at the Centre for Contemporary Arts. The display was part of an exhibition by renowned French Art Director and Artist, Alice Gavin. It ran from September through to December 2023.