Family of Sam is the brand name for the diverse range of products designed by Samantha Parsons.

Date 2007

Description “I am obsessed with books – every part of them! After making a bookscreen I am left with a lot of pages, many of them are quite beautiful in themselves. Not wanting to waste any paper I started bending the left over ‘bookblocks’ to create bookends. The resulting forms were very sturdy. As a natural progression I started to play with the pages from larger books”. Siena the Bookblock Table was born. They work as an individual table or in clusters. They can be used with or without a tray / plate / book sitting on top (whatever you have at home).

Sizes various

Photographer Peter Bennetts (top) and Matt Moore (bottom)

Stockists Format furniture (Melbourne and Sydney), Safari Living (Melbourne), Antipodes Bookshop Gallery (Sorrento Victoria)

Date initial mock-up 2005. Several screens made since

Description Bookscreen is a flexible screen constructed from pre-loved, hardback books. Each one is hand made, individual, an exploration into colour composition and builds on the qualities of the original books.

The collected books, which have outlived their intended function and have been discarded in good working order, are dissembled. The covers are then arranged according to the colour and reassembled utilising traditional book binding techniques. The integrated book spines provide pliable hinges for the concertina screen and enable it to have greater movement than many screens. The back of each screen is also treated in a unique manner.

Bookscreen would be an ideal privacy screen for reading, as a feature in corporate foyers, or for delineating space and providing a haven in the open plan house. The screens pure colours, simplicity, and existing patina would add an element of personality to any interior.

Awards SMH Young Designer of the Year 2005

Sizes Although each of these pieces are unique, a typical size is 48 books: 8 books high and 6 books wide. Lower screens 1 to 3 books high are also made to provide table/desk top privacy. Bookscreens can also be custom made to a specific size or colour composition.

Colours The bold colours of the covers provide an integral part of Bookscreen. Hard back books can be found in a range of colours and tones. The different coloured books can be arranged in a variety of ways, for example a gradation of a range of colours, a variation of a single colour, or a composition of colours.

Photos Peter Bennetts

Stockists Format furniture

Price Available on application. Price depends on: size (eg height, length and number of books), colours selected and the level of customisation required.

Date May 2007

Sizes Example shown is made from 18 books: 3 books high (approximately 550mm) and 6 books wide. Various heights are available (eg 1 or 2 books high)

Description This low screen is an ideal privacy screen on a workstation. A composition of yellow, green and maroon is shown in this example.

Photo Peter Bennetts

Stockists Format furniture

Price Available on application.

Date October 2006

Sizes Various. Example shown is made from 72 books: 8 books high (approximately 1500mm) and 8 books wide.

Description This screen is based on a spectrum of colour, spanning across the horizon from blue, to green through yellow, orange, red and finally maroon. The colours of the books gradually become darker as they get higher.

Photos Provided by Format Furniture

Stockists Format furniture

Price Available on application.

Date October 2006

Award On july 16 2008 Paul won a Premiers Design Award in the Self-initiated Hand Made Objects Category and was awarded a prestigious Premiers Design Mark

Size 48 books: 8 books high (approximately 1500mm) and 6 books wide.

Description Paul shows one of the many possible methods of colour composition. He was an experiment with the abstract arrangement of books. Inspiration was drawn from Paul Klee’s 1933 painting ‘Head with Blue Tones’. The reverse side of Paul exhibits a composition of folded pages (taken from the original books themselves).

Photos Provided by Format Furniture

Stockists Paul the Bookscreen has been sold. Format furniture sell are range of other ready made bookscreens or they can be made to order.

Price Available on application

Date 2002

Description Floorscape is an interactive rug that can be easily folded, configured and reconfigured into freestanding structures. It has an integrated structure and a series of fold lines for simple, on the spot assembly without any separate, fiddly pieces.

Inspiration and influences were far and wide. They included: 1) day to day experiences of living in and growing up in Australia, 2) architecture, especially such masters of form as Le Corbusier and Felix Candela, 3) furniture where surface and structure were inseparable, 4) a curious exploration into tailoring, 5) paper folding and deployable structures, and 6) the traditional nomadic lifestyle of central Asia, especially the Mongolian ger (a simple, felt, tent-like structure with a timber frame) and their rugs. Notably these nomadic rugs each had a specific function (for example sleeping, eating, praying, or meeting) and when not in use they were simply rolled up and stacked around the outside of the tent.

Status Prototype

Awards Floorscape has been recognised by various awards programs

Designer Samantha Parsons

Photography Earl Carter (top image) Samantha Parsons (other)

Date 2004

Description Floorplay was designed primarily with portability and simplicity in mind.

Floorplay consists of a grid of squares, fold lines, and slits enables it to be easily folded into a variety of low forms including screens, headrests, archways, tunnels, rooms or boxes.

Floorplay is suitable for all ages: a portable, clean surface for new borns and crawling legs, an engaging object for curious ‘4 going on 10’ year olds, a comfortable headrest for resting or a visor for picnics in the park.

Floorplay provides design conscious parents a stylish children’s product they can display in their home. Its simple, no fuss aesthetic enables it to form part of any décor. When not being used by the children, it can be left as a stylish floor rug. Alternatively it can be easily folded and stored away.

Floorplay has received tremendous recognition both in Australia and overseas, especially following the prestigious Milan Furniture Fair 2004. It was a finalist in the Australian wide, State of Design Award and it was exhibited in October 2004 at Tokyo Designers Block and Seoul Design Festival as part of an Australia exhibition titled ‘Tyranny of Distance’.

Status Prototype

Designer Samantha Parsons

Photography Earl Carter (top image) Samantha Parsons (other)

Date 2004

Description Beachboard was created to provide a convenient alternative to traditional beach towel. The headrest, with integrated structure, is ideal for reading on the beach. The structure also helps to delineate personal space and offers some privacy from passer-bys. The ‘fins’ offers a safe, shaded place to hide drinks, valuables and belongings.

Materials Neoprene with screen print, zips, foam

Inspiration Beachboard is reminiscent of Australia’s beach culture – surfing, colour, fauna (eg shark fins), flora (eg tea tree foliage), cliff topography, sand landscapes (castles and dunes) and the play of shadows.

Status Prototype

Designer Samantha Parsons

Photography Samantha Parsons

Graphic motif Spacecraft

Date 2006 (for submission into the Reece Design Award, Bathroom furniture category)

Description Alba (Italian for Sunrise) is a freestanding, portable, lightweight, folding, screen for the bathroom. It consists of 5 hinged, sloping panels. Alba incorporates a fixed shelf, hanging points for towels and allows for optional attachments such as the towel pole or a full-length mirror. Its portability enables it to be used not only around the shower, but also around the bath or toilet so several people could use the bathroom at once. When space is a necessity it can be folded away into a compact form.

Materials It is intended that Alba would be made from lightweight, corrosion resistant, anodised, aluminium sheet, available in a wide variety of colours.

Inspiration Rock formations and waterfalls provided inspiration for the dynamic shape and profile of the panels.

Status Concept

Designer Samantha Parsons

3d simulation Jimmy Yuan

Illustrations Russell Bryant