Fish Out of Water

Here’s one design project that Michael Phelp’s would take to heart—a pavilion made from 200 Speedo LZR Racer swimsuits! The s_pavilion, designed by students at the Chelsea College of Art & Design, sat on display at the London Festival of Architecture June 19 – July 4.

Speedo donated a total of 600 suits to the upcycling project. Recent changes to swimming competition suit regulations left the swimsuit manufacturer with hundreds of leftover, unsellable stock. The students cut and stretched the suits to their maximum capacity, forming a series of interconnected, umbrella-like tents, which are interestingly similar to designs found in natural spider webs. (Personally, the structure makes me think of the story “Alice in Wonderland,” where a miniature Alice is so tiny that she can view at the underside of the “enlightened” caterpillar’s mushroom.)

The s_pavilion, which is now taking a brief summer hiatus, will reappear at the London Design Festival from September 18-26.

--Stacy Straczynski

Comments

[duct cleaning phoenix]

Wow, that's...a little gross, actually, lol. I'd love to see that thing in person, but I would never go closer than 10 feet to it, lol.