Mafoombey

MAFOOMBEY A SPACE MADE OF CORRUGATED CARDBOARD

Mafoombey, designed by Martti Kalliala and Esa Ruskeepää, took first place in the Habitare Fair design competition held in Helsinki in September for the best space for listening to music. The two students of Helsinki Faculty of Architecture, with the assistance of Martin Lucasczyk, realized Mafoombey, the ergonomically and acoustically optimum, as well as beautiful space, made of corrugated cardboard by cutting and piling.

“The initial concept for the design evolved from an ambition to create a strong spatial intensity within the volume of the dimensions given for the competition (2,5 x 2,5 x 2,5 m)”, tell the designers. “It soon developed into an idea of an intuitive freeform space cut into a rectangular stack of material.”
Kalliala and Ruskeepää decided to use corrugated cardboard as their material because of its low cost and strong aesthetic appeal. The interior contours of the cube were carried out mainly by means of computer design. When a pleasing form was found, the 3D model was sliced into horizontal layers in order to produce the cutting files for the computer-controlled Kongsberg cardboard cutter.

Each of the 360 layers of Mafoombey consists of two pieces of cardboard resulting in almost a ton in weight when assembled. Cardboard columns run through each corner of the cardboard cube stiffening the structure. No glue is used. Speakers, stereos and lamps are all integrated within the stack, allowing music and light to seep in through the cardboard structure.

Photo Credit:Stora Enso / Timo Wright Article:FinnishDesignShop