For the third consecutive year, Karten Design is proud to be supporting the A+D Architecture and Design Museum > Los Angeles in its 2014 annual gala and fundraiser, “CELEBRATE: GROUNDSWELL,” celebrating the vibrant coastal communities of California that for decades have served as meccas for leading artists, designers, and architects. Following this year’s sun-‘n’-surf theme, Karten Design will be contributing “Endless Sinter,” an exclusive, custom-built surfboard design for a live runway show and silent auction benefiting the A+D Museum.
“Endless Sinter” is Karten Design’s tribute to the classic single-fin surfboard, popularized during the rise of surf culture in 1960s Southern California. Inspired by the wave patterns created when swells from the Northern and Southern Pacific converge—producing ideal surfing conditions—“Endless Sinter” features a unique hollow frame constructed from overlapping sets of concentric rings. A thin strip of dark walnut wood sweeps down the board from its nose to its tail, creating rich visual contrast against the off-white body. Continuing the same wave-inspired graphic element, a single fin protrudes from the bottom side of the board.
“Endless Sinter” is the first surfboard of its kind to be 3D-printed. Its name is a play on the classic surf film title, “Endless Summer,” and the special process by which it was fabricated, called Selective Laser Sintering. Karten Design partnered with SciCon Technologies in Valencia, CA to implement this additive manufacturing technique, which laser-binds materials together one fragment at a time, allowing for maximal customization while minimizing waste. By introducing this technique to the surfboard design process, Karten Design was able to realize a distinct, elaborate design that would be nearly impossible to accomplish using traditional hand carving methods.
For Karten Design, the surfboard is meaningful not only as a symbol of the coastal culture that surrounds us, but also as a quintessential example of great design. Like any well-designed object, surfboards embody beauty in their proportion, form, and material; yet, they deliver pure function, with no extraneous details needed to achieve optimal performance. Designing “Endless Sinter” served as a fun reminder of how fortunate we are to blend the best of creativity and purpose in our everyday work—in one of the most beautiful settings in the world.
Source: Karten Design