ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Christopher C. Deam - Designer
A fascination with clean lines, modern materials and tiny houses made Christopher C. Deam the perfect designer to rethink the Airstream trailer right down to its aluminum skin.

Why you should listen

Looking at his work, with its clean, swooping lines and elegant economy of movement, it's easy to guess that Christopher C. Deam is a surfer. His designs for spaces and furniture are light and clear and thoughtful, unleashed by modern materials and anchored in old-fashioned craftsmanship.

Deam's work came to national attention with his remodel of the iconic Airstream trailer, a project for the laminate maker Wilsonart -- a sweet-spot project that fired the design world's love of modular and small homes. (In 2009, it's hard to realize how radical this little trailer looked in 2000, during the heyday of the megamansion.) His other design work includes designs for Target, Herman Miller and many other manufacturers, as well as an architectural practice.

More profile about the speaker
Christopher C. Deam | Speaker | TED.com
TED2002

Christopher C. Deam: The Airstream, restyled

Christopher Deam redesenha o Airstream

Filmed:
340,193 views

Nesta palestra discreta e cheia de imagens realizada em 2002, o designer Christopher C. Deam fala sobre a transformação de um clássico americano: o trailer Airstream.
- Designer
A fascination with clean lines, modern materials and tiny houses made Christopher C. Deam the perfect designer to rethink the Airstream trailer right down to its aluminum skin. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
I was asked by Wilsonart International,
0
0
4000
Fui contactado pela Wilsonart International,
00:16
a plastic laminate company, which is
1
4000
3000
uma empresa de laminados plásticos que é
00:19
the largest plastic laminate company in the world --
2
7000
2000
a maior do setor no mundo todo,
00:21
they asked me to design
3
9000
4000
e eles pediram que eu projetasse
00:25
a trade show booth
4
13000
2000
um estande de exibição
00:27
for exhibition at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair
5
15000
4000
para ser usado na Feira Internacional de Mobiliário Contemporâneo
00:31
in New York, in 2000.
6
19000
2000
de Nova Iorque em 2000.
00:33
So looking at their three main markets
7
21000
4000
Ao observar os três maiores mercados
00:37
for their product which were basically
8
25000
3000
dos seus produtos, que eram, basicamente,
00:40
transportation design,
9
28000
3000
design de transportes,
00:43
interiors and furniture,
10
31000
3000
interiores e móveis,
00:46
we came up with the solution of taking
11
34000
2000
pensamos na solução que foi pegar
00:48
an old Airstream trailer and gutting it,
12
36000
3000
um antigo trailer Airstream, dissecá-lo
00:51
and trying to portray laminate,
13
39000
3000
e tentar expor os laminados
00:54
and a trailer, in kind of a
14
42000
2000
e o trailer, em uma espécie de
00:56
fresh, new contemporary look.
15
44000
2000
visão rejuvenescida e contemporânea.
00:58
When this trailer showed up at my shop
16
46000
3000
Quando este trailer apareceu na minha oficina
01:01
in Berkeley, I'd actually never stepped foot in
17
49000
2000
em Berkeley, eu nunca tinha sequer entrado em
01:03
an Airstream trailer, or any other trailer.
18
51000
3000
um trailer Airstream ou em qualquer outro trailer.
01:06
So I can be somebody that can look at this
19
54000
2000
Então eu pude olhar para isso
01:08
in a totally fresh perspective and see if I can
20
56000
3000
por uma perspectiva totalmente nova e ver se podia
01:11
optimize it in its most idealistic fashion.
21
59000
3000
otimizá-lo da maneira mais idealista possível.
01:14
I decided I had to do some research
22
62000
3000
Decidi que tinha que fazer pesquisas
01:17
and really figure out what had gone wrong
23
65000
2000
e realmente entender o que havia dado errado
01:19
somewhere along the history of Airstream.
24
67000
3000
ao longo da história da Airstream.
01:22
What I discovered in these interiors is that
25
70000
3000
O que eu descobri sobre estes interiores é que
01:25
there was a disconnect between the exterior shell
26
73000
3000
havia uma desconexão entre a carcaça exterior
01:28
and the interior architecture of the pieces.
27
76000
2000
e a arquitetura das peças do interior.
01:30
In that the shell was originally conceived
28
78000
4000
No fato de que a carcaça foi originalmente concebida
01:34
as a lightweight, modern, futuristic,
29
82000
4000
como uma cápsula leve, moderna, futurista,
01:38
high-tech pod for hurtling down the freeway, and
30
86000
4000
de alta tecnologia, para enfrentar as rodovias.
01:42
the interiors were completely out of sync with that.
31
90000
3000
O interior estava completamente em desacordo.
01:45
In fact it appeared like they
32
93000
3000
Na verdade, parecia que eles
01:48
referenced a mountain cabin.
33
96000
3000
faziam referência a um chalé.
01:51
That seemed really like a crisis to me,
34
99000
2000
Isso realmente me pareceu ser o ponto crítico,
01:53
that they had never been able to
35
101000
2000
por eles não terem sido capazes de
01:55
develop a vocabulary
36
103000
2000
desenvolver um vocabulário
01:57
about escape, and about travel, and modernity
37
105000
4000
sobre fuga, viagens e modernidade
02:01
in this trailer that was consistent with the shell.
38
109000
2000
neste trailer, o que seria adequado à sua carcaça.
02:03
We really needed to do some archeology
39
111000
4000
Precisávamos de um pouco de arqueologia
02:07
in the trailer itself to figure out what's authentic
40
115000
2000
no trailer em si, para entender o que era autêntico
02:09
in an Airstream trailer,
41
117000
2000
em um trailer Airstream
02:11
and what feels like it has true purpose and utility.
42
119000
3000
e o que parecia realmente fazer sentido e ter utilidade.
02:14
We stripped out all the vinyl
43
122000
2000
Arrancamos todo o vinil,
02:16
and zolatone paint that was covering up
44
124000
2000
e a pintura zolatone, que estava cobrindo
02:18
this just fantastic aluminum shell.
45
126000
3000
esta fantástica casca de alumínio.
02:21
We took off all the visible hardware and trim
46
129000
3000
Removemos todas as aparas e ferragens à mostra,
02:24
that was kind of doing the country cabin thing.
47
132000
3000
que de certa forma davam o ar de chalé ao trailer.
02:27
I literally drew on the walls of the trailer,
48
135000
4000
Eu literalmente desenhei nas paredes do trailer,
02:31
mocked it up in cardboard,
49
139000
2000
fiz uma maquete de papelão,
02:33
we'd come in and cut, decide things were wrong,
50
141000
3000
entrávamos, cortávamos, decidimos que as coisas estavam erradas,
02:36
pull it out, put it back in.
51
144000
2000
tirávamos, colocávamos de volta.
02:38
The main goal was to smooth out the interior,
52
146000
4000
O objetivo principal era suavizar o interior,
02:42
and begin to speak about motion,
53
150000
3000
e começar a falar sobre movimento,
02:45
and mobility, and independence.
54
153000
3000
mobilidade e independência.
02:48
The biggest difficulty on one of these trailers
55
156000
3000
O maior obstáculo em um trailer destes
02:51
is that when you're designing there's actually no
56
159000
3000
é que quando você está projetando, não há
02:54
logical place to stop and start materials
57
162000
4000
um lugar lógico para interromper os materiais,
02:58
because of the continuous form of the trailer.
58
166000
2000
em função da formas contínuas do trailer.
03:00
There's no such things as two walls and a ceiling
59
168000
3000
Não há duas paredes e um teto
03:03
coming together, where you can change materials and shapes.
60
171000
3000
se juntando, onde você poderia alterar os materiais e as formas.
03:06
So that became a challenge.
61
174000
2000
E isso pode tornar-se um desafio.
03:08
Compounding that,
62
176000
2000
Somando-se a isso,
03:10
the material of choice, laminate,
63
178000
2000
o material escolhido, o laminado
03:12
that I was trying to highlight,
64
180000
2000
que eu estava tentando colocar em destaque,
03:14
only bends in two dimensions.
65
182000
2000
só pode ser dobrado em duas dimensões.
03:16
It's a compound curve interior.
66
184000
2000
É um interior de curva composta.
03:18
What I had to devise was
67
186000
2000
O que eu precisava ter em mente era
03:20
a way of fooling the eye
68
188000
4000
uma forma de confundir os olhos
03:24
into believing that all these panels
69
192000
3000
para acreditar que todos esses painéis
03:27
are curved with the shell.
70
195000
2000
estavam acompanhando as curvas da carcaça.
03:29
What I came up with was
71
197000
2000
O que eu desenvolvi foi
03:31
a series of second skins
72
199000
2000
uma série de revestimentos
03:33
that basically float over the aluminum shell.
73
201000
5000
que basicamente flutuam sob a casca de alumínio.
03:38
And what I was trying to do there was
74
206000
2000
E o que eu estava tentando fazer era
03:40
direct your eye in the space,
75
208000
2000
desviar seus olhos para o espaço.
03:42
so that you would perceive the geometry in a different way,
76
210000
3000
para que você percebesse a geometria de uma forma diferente,
03:45
and that the casework wouldn't break up the space.
77
213000
5000
e que o resultado não interrompesse o espaço.
03:50
They also gave us a way to run power
78
218000
2000
Isso também nos propiciou uma forma de passar a energia
03:52
and rewire the trailer without tearing out the skin,
79
220000
2000
e refazer a fiação do trailer sem ter que cortar a casca,
03:54
so they function as an electrical chase.
80
222000
3000
fazendo a função de um abrigo elétrico.
03:57
That's the trailer, pretty much finished.
81
225000
2000
Aqui está o trailer, praticamente finalizado.
03:59
That trailer led to another commission,
82
227000
3000
Esse trailer levou à um outro projeto,
04:02
to participate in whats called Tokyo Designers Block.
83
230000
4000
para participar do chamado Tokyo Designers Block,
04:06
Its a week of furniture design events in Tokyo, in October.
84
234000
4000
uma semana de eventos de design de móveis, em Tóquio, no mês de outubro.
04:10
Teruo Kurosaki, who owns a furniture company called Idee,
85
238000
3000
Teruo Kurosaki, dono de uma empresa de móveis chamada Idee,
04:13
he asked me to ship him two trailers to Tokyo.
86
241000
4000
pediu-me para enviar dois trailers para Tóquio.
04:17
He said one he would like to
87
245000
3000
Ele disse que um deles ele gostaria de
04:20
make a real trailer, functioning, and we would sell that one.
88
248000
4000
usar como um trailer de verdade, funcional e que iríamos vendê-lo.
04:24
Trailer number two, you have a blank slate, you can to anything you want.
89
252000
3000
Para o segundo, me disse que eu tinha carta branca, que poderia fazer o que quisesse.
04:27
We came up with a fantasy scenario
90
255000
2000
Pensamos em um cenário de fantasia
04:29
of a DJ traveling around the States,
91
257000
2000
com um DJ viajando pelos Estados Unidos,
04:31
that would collect records and go on tours.
92
259000
3000
que ia colecionar discos e participar de tours.
04:34
This trailer housed two turntables,
93
262000
3000
Esse trailer era equipado com dois toca-discos.
04:37
mixer, wet bar, fridge, integrated sound system.
94
265000
4000
um mixer, bar, geladeira, sistema de som integrado.
04:41
It's got a huge couch, fits quite a few people,
95
269000
3000
Tem um sofá enorme, para várias pessoas,
04:44
and basically we'd had a great time with this.
96
272000
3000
e basicamente passamos ótimos momentos ali.
04:47
And so in this trailer I took it upon myself to think about travel,
97
275000
3000
E este trailer fez-me refletir sobre viagens
04:50
and escape, in an idiosyncratic sense.
98
278000
4000
e fuga, no sentido idiosincrásico.
04:54
A lot of these ideas migrated into
99
282000
2000
Muitas idéias migraram para os
04:56
the production trailers for Airstream.
100
284000
3000
modelos de série da Airstream.
04:59
This brings us up to the time that I started consulting to Airstream.
101
287000
4000
Era a época em que comecei a trabalhar como consultor para a Airstream.
05:03
They came to me and said,
102
291000
2000
Eles vieram até mim e disseram
05:05
"Well, what can we do to freshen this thing up?
103
293000
2000
"Então, o que podemos fazer para atualizar essa coisa?
05:07
And do you think kids, you know, skateboarders, surfers,
104
295000
4000
Você acha que crianças, ou skatistas, surfistas,
05:11
rock climbers, would use these things?"
105
299000
2000
alpinistas, usariam esses trailers?"
05:13
And I said, "Well, not in that interior."
106
301000
3000
E então eu disse "Bem... Não com um interior desses."
05:16
(Laughter)
107
304000
1000
(risadas)
05:17
Anyway, I went out to Airstream
108
305000
2000
Enfim, eu fui à Airstream
05:19
about six times during the process of building this prototype,
109
307000
3000
umas seis vezes durante o processo de construção deste protótipo
05:22
and it's called the Bambi prototype.
110
310000
2000
e ele é chamado de protótipo Bambi.
05:24
I thought, "Finally, oh yeah great,
111
312000
2000
E pensei "Finalmente, ótimo,
05:26
big company, I'm gonna work with somebody with money
112
314000
2000
grande empresa, vou trabalhar para alguém com dinheiro
05:28
for tooling and molding."
113
316000
3000
para ferramental e moldagem."
05:31
And I walked in their prototype facility, and
114
319000
3000
Então entrei na fábrica de protótipos deles e
05:34
it's exactly like my shop, only bigger --
115
322000
3000
ela era exatamente igual à minha oficina, só maior,
05:37
same tools, same things.
116
325000
2000
mesmas ferramentas, mesmas coisas.
05:39
So the problem became -- and they set this dilemma to me --
117
327000
4000
Então o problema passou a ser, e foi como o dilema me foi apresentado,
05:43
that you have to design the interior using only our existing technology,
118
331000
5000
você precisa projetar o interior usando somente nossas tecnologias disponíveis,
05:48
and there's no money for tooling or molding.
119
336000
2000
e não há dinheiro para ferramental ou moldes.
05:50
The trailers themselves are actually hand-built.
120
338000
3000
Os trailers em si são na verdade construídos artesanalmente.
05:53
All the casework is hand-scribed in, uniquely,
121
341000
3000
Toda a decoração da carcaça é feita à mão, de forma única,
05:56
so you can't just cut 100 parts for 100 trailers,
122
344000
4000
então você não pode simplesmente estampar 100 peças para 100 trailers,
06:00
you have to cut them big, and every single one is hand-fit.
123
348000
3000
você tem que cortar peças maiores e ajustá-las manualmente uma a uma.
06:03
They didn't want to go to a componentized system.
124
351000
4000
Eles não queriam migrar para um sistema componentizado.
06:07
And there it is, that's the Bambi 16.
125
355000
4000
E aqui está, eis o modelo Bambi 16.
06:11
(Applause)
126
359000
4000
(aplausos)
Translated by Ricardo Teixeira
Reviewed by Moreno Barros

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Christopher C. Deam - Designer
A fascination with clean lines, modern materials and tiny houses made Christopher C. Deam the perfect designer to rethink the Airstream trailer right down to its aluminum skin.

Why you should listen

Looking at his work, with its clean, swooping lines and elegant economy of movement, it's easy to guess that Christopher C. Deam is a surfer. His designs for spaces and furniture are light and clear and thoughtful, unleashed by modern materials and anchored in old-fashioned craftsmanship.

Deam's work came to national attention with his remodel of the iconic Airstream trailer, a project for the laminate maker Wilsonart -- a sweet-spot project that fired the design world's love of modular and small homes. (In 2009, it's hard to realize how radical this little trailer looked in 2000, during the heyday of the megamansion.) His other design work includes designs for Target, Herman Miller and many other manufacturers, as well as an architectural practice.

More profile about the speaker
Christopher C. Deam | Speaker | TED.com