The Hardware of Design

#140 Droog worked on the smallest parts of furniture, functional elements that are often invisible, all presented in their natural habitat, a hardware store. #salone2015

Once again, the Dutch collective Droog is animating the neighbourhood lying between Porta Venezia and Via San Gregorio with a project that does not fit into the usual categories.

Part performance, in line with the nature of Droog, the presentation Construct Me! takes place in a real ferramenta (hardware store), the owner of which even allowed Droog to paint smiley-face screws and the semi-serious slogan Screw Me! on the roll-down shutter. Inside, there is a display case with 210 pieces of hardware specially designed for the occasion, and a gumball vending machine that distributes smiley screws stands right outside the door.

The latter feature was enthusiastically assaulted by visitors of the Furniture Fair, some of whose curiosity had been aroused by the promotional pamphlet circulated by Droog.

Screws, hinges, nuts, nails, brackets and more were redesigned with an eye to functionality besides adding character and identity to things mostly neglected by designers. The new collection is a sublimation of construction items that include nails that reduce the risk of hitting your finger, two-way tie wraps, fancy hinges, screws that smile at you and others that glow in the dark, and large-headed decorated screws that sink flush with the surface of the furniture, transforming it.

“Our hardware gives flavour to simple DIY work,” they explain. “It can revive existing furniture and challenge the designer. It can be applied in an explicit way to all furniture styles, to fix things or adapt them to new requirements with a touch of creativity. The way we see it, this was a hole in the design market, and we wanted to fill it.” It would seem they are right as rain, seeing the huge surge in customers that the hardware store has been experiencing.