'Joyful, historical, psychedelic' Myles Igwebuike takes us through his 'Ukara' Technogym design in three easy steps

This week, Sotheby's Milan will host an anticipated sale of 15 designs from the "Design to Move; 40 Creations by 40 Designers for 40 Years of Technogym" exhibition at Milan Design Week. Myles Igwebuike's' "Ukara" design is one of them. He told Wallpaper* about his creative process

How did your "Ukara" concept come about

My work evolves in varied mediums, including painted objects, written pieces, film, materials science and sound. At the time I was approached about the Technogym project, I was researching the Ekpe. They are a secret society, a male-only community, found in southeastern Nigeria and western Cameroon. I had become particularly interested in the ukara cloth that the men weave and design, from both a material and philosophical viewpoint. It's worn by Ekpe members on special occasions, during rituals, and so I came up with the idea of treating the bench design almost like a cloth.

Tangerine, fluoro pink… how did you fix the palette

As someone who fences, boxes and who exercises regularly I find gym equipment extremely mundane and boring, so I started thinking, what would this look like if I wanted to have fun, to create a colour palette for a gym that has its own energy, that I would be happy to use myself. I was really thinking about youthfulness and energy, and my feeling was ‘How do I keep a high frequency, how can I colour-design emotion? I liked the idea of fluorescents, and a very hot pink was important to me, then I added the tangerine neon. But it’s the deep blue that holds it all together, that balances it out and pulls you in. That represents indigo, the dye used in ukara.

Tell us about the ukara 'sound'

The symbols I created for the design are an ode to nsibidi, an ancient numerical system in Western Africa, from the southeastern part of Nigeria that fascinates me. And so, it was in the spirit of the ukara cloth that I designed my own style of numerical writing for the bench. And, as I’m passionate about sound design and was listening to bass and drum frequencies during the process, I imagined the ritual, of playing the bench, drumming and tapping it. I think if you were to stare at the motif long enough, you'll discover a fluid, almost psychedelic quality.

But then it's just one of the different little dots that connected when I was imagining this piece. Overall, I really wanted to evoke joyfulness, so that everyone can enjoy the bench with or without a contextual approach. And if people like both, then It's a double win.

The Sotheby’s Milan charity auction in aid of UNICEF takes place on 24 September and includes 15 individual Technogym benches by Renin Bilginer, Antonio Citterio, Osiris Hertman, Kelly Hoppen, Myles Igwebuike, Konstantina, Piero Lissoni, Jana Mosconi, Nendo, Rolf Sachs, Elena Salmistraro, Yuetong Shi, Santo Tolone, Uchronia and Patricia Urquiola.

Register for the sale via Technogym.com

To bid remotely, contact: events@technogym.com.