PLEATS

Consisting of a range of modular elements combining to form chairs, benching and sofas. PLEATS offers a versatile solution for both domestic and contract projects, with the ability to extend the seating to any length. By Stephen Burks Stephen Burks and his New York studio, Readymade Projects,have been responsible for creative design direction on projects ranging from retail interiors and events to lighting, furniture and industrial design. He has developed innovative concepts for international brands including Aid To Artisans, Cappellini, Covo, David Design, E&Y, Estee Lauder, Herman Miller, Idee, Missoni, Mogu, Moroso, Triple 5 Soul, Vitra and Zanotta. He has consistently been the first African-American industrial designer to ever collaborate with these companies. Stephen's projects have been exhibited around the world at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York, Tokyo Design Week, the Salone del Mobile in Milan, the Victoria & Albert Museum's exhibition Milan in a Van, the 2003 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum's Design Triennial. As a lecturer, Stephen has been invited to speak at the Rhode Island School of Design, Parsons School of Design, Pratt Institute and the Beckmans School of Design 1998 international design seminar entitled "Disruption Contents" in Stockholm. In 1997, he was one of fifteen designers invited to host a design workshop at the Ecole Des Beaux Arts de Sainte Etienne in France as part of their first international design biennial in 1998. In 2002, he was also one of the judges of the Student/Concepts category of I.D. Magazine's 48th Annual International Design Review. As the international art director for the former Japanese brand Mogu, he designed the Mogu-fied Fun House exhibition in Milan, 2003, the first ever Mogu flagship store in New York, 2003, and the Missoni Mogu Fun Fun exhibition during the Salone del Mobile, 2004. Most recently, Stephen was chosen by Infiniti as a featured creative in their current international ad campaign, Infiniti In Black (www.infiniti.com/black). Stephen studied architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology and Product Design at IIT'S Institute of Design, as well as attending Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture. www.readymadeprojects.com