RichRach – Reinventing zippers

Designer; Daphna Kaplan Client: Final project From Core77

The zipper has been in our lives for over a hundred years, but when was the last time we stopped and examine it? Taking a closer look at its qualities gives a chance to explore the mechanism and how it can be manipulated and controlled.

From Helix to 90 degree zipper : RichRach aims to challenge the known zipper and create a catalog of new Forms and shapes that are no longer flat, linear and symmetrical.

Design Team

designer : Daphna Kaplan

professional advisor : Safi Hefez

photographer Anatoliy Arinitskiy

school : Bezalel academy of fine arts and design Jerusalem

photographer Anatoliy ArinitskiySpiral zipperSpiral functional zipper

photographer Anatoliy ArinitskiyAngular zipper90 degree angular zipper can have a structural benefit and enables closures that the flat zippers can’t.

photographer Anatoliy ArinitskiyCircular zipperFull circle zipper : can take any radius or size and combined with other characteristic.

photographer Anatoliy ArinitskiyPrinted functional zipperPrinted using SLA printing with nylon material gives strong but flexible qualities and allows delicate details.

photographer Anatoliy Arinitskiyzippers catalogAngular zippers : 120, 90 and 60 degrees angle and even spiral

photographer Anatoliy ArinitskiyZippers catalogcatalog : quarter half and full circle

photographer Anatoliy ArinitskiyZippers catalogcatalog : from the regular zipper to an asymmetrical zipper, anyone can play with the parameters and create a variety.

photographer Anatoliy ArinitskiyZippers catalogCatalog : complex shapes of curved zipper and helix

photographer Anatoliy Arinitskiyprinted circular flat zipperA fully functional circular zipper

photographer Anatoliy ArinitskiyPrinted objects with zippersRounded object can have a functional zipper : circular zippers can be flat, angular or tilted.

photographer Anatoliy ArinitskiyPrinted circular & angular zipperZipper can take the center of attention and take a major rule in the design.

The main goal of the project was transforming the zipper from a secondary addition that is too often overlooked into the center of attention by challenging its shape and mechanical structure.

First step was understanding the zipper: why it is designed the way it does, how it is manufactured and how it works – what is the formula that defines it? Can it be described mathematically?

The industrial zipper is linear, flat and symmetrical, but none of these qualities are a must : zippers can still function as a-symmetric, a-linear , angular or even spiral.

RichRach presents a catalog of fully functional zippers of angular zippers : 0° to 180° degrees , circular zippers : in different radius and curvature, asymmetrical in teeth size, length, width and allcombinations.

Parameterizing the zippers allows it to fit specifically to a design and function and to be customized: controlling parameters such as size, ratio, offsets angle and curvature. The zipper can even fit itself to a surface, Allowing complex structures that can be integrated into the design process in a more organic manner.

Those objects can be later manufactured and printed as a whole using 3d printing.

Video link :

Learn More About This Project

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