PRADA FOAM - VINCENT DE RIJK FOR OMA

OMA developed foam as part of their work for Prada. Foam is a poly urethane cast of an aggregrate condition between solid and void. It is both a regular and irregular structure of spongelike consistency that can be cast in stages from hard to soft, and from transparent to opaque. It forms a substance that can be used to build objects as well as entire spaces a further interpretation of solid and void.
Foam was developed beginning with an architectural model using a regular cleaning sponge. Because the visual effect of this backlit texture was very intriguing, OMA initiated an extensive search to recreate this material in 1:1 scale. Vincent De Rijk made hundreds of prototypes in order to test the hole sizes, percentages of openness, translucencies, depths, colors, etc. In its multiple and varied manifestations, Foam offers a new definition of functional and visual properties between artificial and natural, irregular and regular, transpararent and opaque, translucent and solid, flexible and rigid qualities in the design of interior environments.

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