It’s no secret, Creative Cape Town is a fan of forward thinking architects, fringe issues, fine and contemporary arts, and a fair bit more (Design Indaba, Toffees festival, Creative Week). But most of all we’re fans of using everything at our disposal to create a better world. And sometimes, even using things NOT at our disposal.
This is how we fell for Dror Benshetrit, poster boy for progressive design. He has, over time, quietly lent the world new impetus to dream big. It started at Design Indaba 2011 conference at CTICC with the announcement and launch of QuaDror, a revolutionary design geometry with many practical applications.
More easily understood as ‘interlocking Ls’, this structure builds houses, drowns traffic noise, separates spaces and supports them. With the express desire of addressing housing issues for all makes of men and women across the world, QuaDror is set to be the next best thing since ferrous concrete.
But he didn’t start with a brilliant idea. He started with a whole host of impossible dreams. So we chatted to him long distance, and tried to unpack the process of a man moving mountains with his mind.
CCT: The journey of inspiration is often invisible. Can one distil one element from each project you spoke about at Design Indaba 2011 (the modal roof system allowing variable sun and shade, the United Arab Emirates resort idea that became a reality) into QuaDror?
Dror : “Most of the design projects that we have completed start with childish and naive questions. It is a pretty consistent approach; we first ask very pragmatic and basic questions and from there we let our creativity free. For the eco-house, the question of the pitched roof versus the flat roof came from the instinctive and quasi-automatic way in which a child would draw a house. We start reasoning from there and integrated our understanding of the available design technology with the constant aim to reach and create intelligent design. Same with the island, it started with the idea of camouflage and hiding for privacy. When a kid wants to hide something in his bedroom, he is keen to hide it under the carpet. The idea of the carpet had an interesting resonance in a middle-east context for its iconic and cultural identity. So we decided to hide the villa under a floating carpet-like island.
The same way, we stumbled upon the QuaDror geometry when playing with forms and material at the studio. It started with a playful serendipity. We then investigated and started meticulous research and analysis.
CCT : In terms of QuaDror’s solution to global, low-cost housing issues, where do you hope to focus your first roll-out, and how?
Dror : “ Our development strategy is driven by the tremendous opportunity to address the global and fundamental issue of habitat for our contemporaries and children. This invention connects us to our work, giving us the wonderful opportunity to look at our lives in terms of our legacies rather than our activities. We would like to bring the QuaDror technology to disadvantaged urban areas around the world where it is the most needed and where locals will be able to benefit from its cost efficiency, its structural integrity and its ease of manufacturing and assembly.
“The geometric system of a QuaDror Home is based on four identical L-shaped pieces of various embodied elements assembled with the help of the QuaDror joints. The L-shaped pieces can be delivered with the joints or made of material available in the local environment. Both options allow for integrating a cultural and ecological context in the final design of the building. We are interested in the transformative power of design as an interdependent response to social, economic and ecological issues.
“As part of our current development activities, we are making local research in Sierra Leone (West Africa). We aim to understand the evolving social, political and technological environment from which our first prototypes may rise. We are evaluating the possibilities of local productions to minimize shipping cost and carbon footprint, so we may contribute to the local economy and integrate the local environment into the design of our prototypes.
“In the first implantation phase, we hope to share and spread our enthusiasm to improve many habitats, and to see people take ownership and express their own identity with the QuaDror Relief House.”
CCT :The geometric properties of this new design enables it to bear many times its own weight. Could QuaDror conceivably be used in the framework of car bodies to reduce the impact of accidents? Possibly, answers Dror, with input from the right people. Which would be… you?
More about the journey at Dror’s Studio
