Alexandre P. Manko
About
Alexandre is a designer, artist, and engineer from Philadelphia, USA.
His latest series of work, Material Autonomy, investigates a systems-based, material-driven approach to object-design. His graduation collection explores how structure, function, and form can emerge from the latent behaviors of materials when instigated by tension. Rather than designing through imposition, this work aims to reveal what happens when material is given room to act and perform. The designer assumes a curatorial role, setting the conditions for material to reveal its own logic.
Each of the four objects in this initial collection holds a near explosive amount of potential energy; each displaying a different tensile system arrested in a state of equilibrium. With each decision and rationale exposed, the tension becomes visible, allowing the object to become more intuitive through each interaction.
Through these guiding principles, material autonomy looks to reframe the relationship between object and user as a dynamic interplay rather than a one-way interaction.
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