Design a tree – PARAPLYTRÄD

For the project “Design a tree – insight”, we had to think about a design object inspired by trees, their world and whatever concerned them, taking inspiration from all the project we did before.
Our research was led by the use of online documents, books, images, artistic artefacts, pieces of furniture and articles. This was the most challenging and long project, where we could experiment with our imagination and our own ideas.

At the end we developed the PARAPLYTRÄD, the new multifunctional umbrella for both private and public spaces which converts sun into light.

Our first idea was inspired by umbrellas and the feelings that unite them and trees: a natural garden umbrella. They key-word was “protection”, as both umbrellas and trees give us this feeling and sense of security, conservation and preservation.

The mood board inspo was composed by a series of garden and rain umbrellas and the first sketch was very different from the final shape of our project, because we developed and improved the object in order to use it in the best way possible.

Our new invention, the PARAPLYTRÄD is a multifunctional object.
Of course it protects people from sun and weatherings, but it doesn’t only have the basic umbrella functions.
The PARAPLYTRÄD also disfructs solar energy to provide nocturne urban illumination; in fact, it is a capturing solar energy system during the day, and a light diffusor during the night.
It can also be used in gardens and balcony as a privacy shelter.

The body of the object is going to be in bended powder-varnished alluminium, in order to be light and resistant at the same time.
A good finishing can make the load-bearing body much more resistant to weatherings.
The cap won’t be solid. As an umbrella it will be composed by a lightweight fabric made out of glass fiber (ATEX 3000 TRL). That allows to have 4 main advantages:
– impermeability
– it allows good light radiations to filter and stop those ones bad for men and plants
– it’s a light diffusor and reinforce the effect of the light inside
– it has mechanical resistance and it lasts a lot
Futhermore, it will be removable, with the purpose of not change the whole product when the fabric breakes.
This is the reason why we have to integrate a system of hangers.
The upper fabric cover will be removable and it will be possible to change its color and material.
The electric system will be “invisible”, which means that it will be placed into the bearing rod. Only the solar panels will be visible.

We developed 2 different versions of the PARAPLYTRÄD, one with a more complex mechanism, for private spaces, such as private gardens or balcony, and one for public spaces like squares and avenues, with a simpler shape and a more stable base.

The private version, as said before, is a little most complex one. It has and adjustable rod with bolts and screws, to allow more movement to the paraplytrad.
In fact, the private version of our project, is adjustable to the need of the user: you can lower it or raise it, tilt it or make it straight, in short, you can position it as you like.

We developed the public version after understanding that it wouldn’t have been possible to use the previous model also in public spaces like squares and parks: this one has a much more simpler design, also to make sure it doesn’t break or get vandalized in the middle of the street.
The base is indeed a bit stabler than the private one, and it is attached to the ground by screws and bolts, and the rod is composed of a single piece that bends in the upper part. Even with these changes, it still remains an innovative and environmentally friendly design object, as it has the same other characteristics as the other version.