ryan frank.
by Cosmina Dinu
While experimenting different ways of non-polluting housekeeping and cleaning solutions, I rememberd Ryan Frank, THE Ryan Frank, a South African designer living in London. If you don see the connection I will tell you that Ryan Frank was awarded “Most sustainable product in 2006 & 2007″ and “Best Press Profile in 2006″ at the Hidden Art Annual Awards ceremony. Despite his impressive media coverage, Ryan Frank is truly some”one to watch” as per The Observer’s New Faces of 2008 since he is genuinely concerned about good design in terms of resources management, durability and functionality. As Maarten Baas would put it, why digging new holes in the mountains or cutting down trees when there are so many disused things on the streets, waiting to be reshaped and transformed?
While being an ecologist designer, pleading for vegetable patches and anti-consumerism, his work is still original, mostly because of his South African roots. Ryan Frank takes every opportunity to make use of traditional African crafts and symbols, a rich culture, source of inspiration for other designers also – I give only one example – Stephen Burks and his Love Collection for high end brand Cappellini, consisting in a set of small tables and bowls realized with paper mache and glass pieces by African artisans. The paper used for this project actually represented the designer’s magazines and newspapers and the glass pieces were reclaimed from different broken objects.
Ryan Frank offers a condensed list of objects produced in UK, with local materials. And this was no limitation for inspiration.
Skimming through London’s heaps of discarded furniture and usable timber, Ryan Frank turned deconstructed old office furniture and FSC wood into new, sleek chair and tables. Strata is a range of furniture including a chair, stool, coffee table and dining table. Materials for the items have been sourced from old office furniture and FSC birch ply. The chairs are CNC routed from the salvaged materials.
Another piece from his collection, a stackable stool called Isabella provides eco-ergonomic seating in addition to a sculptural storage solution inspired by hand-carved African designs. Rather than using the exotic hardwoods featured in traditional African seating, the innovative designer chose to work with 100% felted wool and strawboard – a sustainable, formaldehyde-free material made entirely from compressed straw.
Strawboard is a durable material that offers a sustainable alternative to plasterboard. Brands such as Invotek and Stramit helped to popularize the material, and now Frank’s stacking Isabella stools stand as a perfect example of the material’s versatility.
Hackney shelving is a very good example of collaborative process design, an ingenious idea that blurs the boundaries between furniture design, graffitti and conceptual fine art. London designer Ryan Frank strategically places white boards at various points in east London and waits for illicit decoration to begin. Frank leaves boards out for weeks until they have sufficiently “matured” into colorful pieces of street art. Once the boards have matured, they are removed and transformed into these colorful mobile shelving units – juxtaposing street art with interior environment. For the collectors out there: every piece is a completely unique slice of “recycled” Hackney street art.
Hackney Wick is part of the Hackney range and follow up design of the iconic Hackey Shelf. With a white front and back face, this product allows the owner to do graffiti in the privacy of their home. 
To the series of successful recylcled-chic projects, Inkuku (zulu for “chicken”) is added, an armchair made from plastic bags combined with traditional South African craft. Once again, Ryan Frank proves that trash can be treasure.
A number of commissions opened for the public and a recent dinner at the Royal Palace won Ryan Frank a place in “Who’s Who” of TIME magazine as an eco-guide. All eyes on him and I have a feeling that he won’t fail. Good luck, Frank!
Ryan Frank‘s giant Love Nests were designed, built and hung from a huge Horse-chestnut tree for an English summer festival.
Ryan Frank
Maarten Baas
Stephen Burks: Cappellini Love
Invotek
Stramit
Inhabitat
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