This section will lift the curtain over my laboratory. Here, like a medieval alchemist, I return to the same search of meaning, form and essence of things over and over again. I conduct various researches, which becomes a reliable foundation for my design.
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Let’s get back to the iron, an object simple and plain, with an illustrative history of technological evolution, evolution of form and materials. 
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In the middle of the past century, with the appearance of plastic and technologies
of operating it, a revolution in design took place. It became possible to work not with the content
of an object but with its appearance. It became unnecessary to reach perfection
inside the device for the distribution of household appliances, there was no
need anymore to work on new engineering and technological solutions. It’s enough
to change the appearance once a year and pass of the stylization as a new
quality design. This way, new appearance with a vast and beautiful description
of minimal changes in the construction, has satisfied the consumers’ demands
for the last fifty years.
I see
three ways of development. The first one – the manufacture of plastic irons
while there is still oil. The second – the search and discovery of absolutely
new technological solutions, for example, the iron will not heat but iron
surfaces with the help of nanoparticles or spreading over in a thin coating, in
this line of development I allow the appearance of such fabrics that do not
need an iron at all. The third one – a new method of ironing hasn’t been
discovered yet, so there is a need to arrange the design of already existing
objects.>
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In the previous article I gave a detailed research of the process of
evolution of the iron in the context of using various materials in the
manufacture. This will help me suggest a hypothesis. Evidently, before plastic
appeared, the use of deferent materials for the production of different parts
of the device was very logical and didn’t arouse any questions. The heated
surface was made from metal, the handle was made from wood, the water container
– from glass or metal. The balanced combination of the materials reflects the
harmony in the technological processes connected to the production of separate
parts. So, the foundry men on factories cast the metal details, the wood
craftsmen carved handles and the glass-blowers produced bubble-containers. The balance
in one specific iron reflects the well-balanced economy. This is the way it always
was, until the chemists discovered the philosophers’ stone. Oil can turn into
anything we need it to be, from fuel to T-shirts, from candles to spark plugs.
Practically all industrial technologies connected to handling metal, glass and
wood. All these branches moved to the category of handicraft, or began serving
the manufactures connected to the production of plastic objects. The balance is
disturbed, the ecology is suffering, the economics are on the hydrocarbonaseous
needle, and the irons are as similar as twins.
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What prevents me as a designer
to suggest that beginning with the end we can outbalance the situation? Surely the product of this chain is the iron. Based on my theory of expedience in handling
materials, it should be organized in the following way. A foot-platform and metal
body-frame, they conceal the process of heating, the power adapter and the
electronics are
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also placed inside. The handle from wood/cork
can be pressurized with the help of resin or rubber. The water container is from
glass or ceramics. In the construction of the iron I wasn’t able to find any
significant junction or detail for the justified use of plastic. For the integrity of test, I didn’t detalize
the form on purpose, and didn’t work with it at all. On this level of discussion
we are only talking about the contents.
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The next time I will begin to talk about the theory of expedience in handling materials not from the end, but from the very beginning, starting with the analysis of historical heritage from the moment of the first descriptions of the four elements: fire, water, earth and air.
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