Clad in impressive garments designed by his uncle, Yigal Azrouel, Dror Benshetrit moves between openings, cocktail parties, and receptions in Milan.
Clad in impressive garments designed by his uncle, Yigal Azrouel, Dror Benshetrit moves between openings, cocktail parties, and receptions in Milan. Projects he has designed were showcased in at least four of them, each completely different from the other, attesting more than anything else to the wide range of design spheres he commands.
Dror Benshetrit sitting on an armchair he designed for Capellini, inspired by the Walt Disney film, TronAt Capellini Benshetrit showcased an armchair inspired by the Walt Disney film, Tron (click here to watch an interview with Dror Benshetrit about the armchair), and at Lualdi he showcased a series of impressive doors. But it was QuaDror, a new geometric structural joint that attracted the most attention. In Interni Magazine’s exhibition and cocktail party a surprising sculptural construction was showcased that demonstrated innumerable possibilities and tricks offered by this truss, and attracted hundreds of students, who immediately appropriated the horizontal beams to serve as bar tables.
It is not easy to explain what this joint/truss, which leading magazines from all over the world have crowned “one of the revolutionary inventions in recent times”, and engineers have dubbed “Space Truss Geometry”. But when you watch Dror Benshetrit lovingly caressing this sophisticated geometry, to which he devoted four years of research, it is hard to remain unimpressed, not only by the simplicity of the invention, but also by the aesthetic it offers. It is constructed of four identical L-shaped pieces that operate with a kind of yin/yang action through a unique corner hinge that allows it to fully open up or fold flat.
Dror Benshetrit demonstrates QuaDror on Vimeo
It all began in 2007, says Benshetrit, when he designed a chandelier for the Swarovski Crystal Palace exhibit. Although the chandelier glittered with a thousand sparkling crystals, but it was the simple angular frame he designed that began the research process. Following four years of research, consultations with dozens of professionals, establishing a studio that worked exclusively on the joint, and submitting more than ten patents for registration, Dror Benshetrit can heave a sigh of relief. “You can’t patent geometry”, he says, “so we had to register different patents for its different applications. We divided them into several main spheres that cover such a wide range of possibilities that it would be difficult to actually copy them”.
Floor Chandelier designed by Dror Benshetrit for the Swarovski Crystal Palace exhibit, Milan Design Week 2007
Simulation of the principle of QuaDror using old books
QuaDror made from concrete
Since the launching of QuaDror a few weeks ago, it transpires that its applications are many and varied. From trestles for tabletops, dividing walls, and sound barriers on main thoroughfares, to massive bridges that utilize the flexibility and stability of the joints.
Simulation of a building built from QuaDror
QuaDror watercolor painting for The GuggenheimThe most exciting application is the possibility of building emergency housing in disaster-struck areas. The QuaDror Home is a kit that includes instructions and joints. 1,750 such kits can be packed into a single 12 m2 container, says Dror. “I wanted to do something that could withstand the forces of nature, that could be used as effortlessly as possible, and in conjunction with local materials for the walls and roof. It makes these homes very cost-effective and sustainable. The first kit is already in production, and we hope to build houses like this in Sierra Leone and Brazil next year”
