Florida-based designer Andrew Morrison is crazy about cases. Knives, files, laptops, PDA’s, CD’s, and more–whatever it is you need to carry, chances are he’s drawn up a case for it. Check out Morrison’s full book on Coroflot.
(Photos: neo-utility)
This week found us back at Manhattan’s sprawling Jacobs Javits Center for the New York International Gift Fair, a bi-annual wonderland of gizmos, stuff, and really good homegoods that always makes us consider abandoning this whole words business to start a forward-looking gift hut in say, Bora Bora. Of the show’s 2,900 exhibitors, we focused on those in the juried Accent on Design division as one of five judges for the “Bloggers’ Choice Awards.” Our top product pick—based on the criteria of “creativity, functionality, and originality, urgent, odd, and delightful design”—is the Boskke Sky Planter, designed by Central Saint Martins Grad Patrick Morris and on offer from Brooklyn-based neo-utility. Suspended from a ceiling or wall-mount, the ceramic planter locks the plant and soil into place, where it is watered gradually from a reservoir hidden in the top. An elegant solution to fussy orchid pins and an innovative way to use plants as design elements, particularly in small spaces.
Previously on UnBeige:
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Burton released another board in their exclusive Private Stock Collection today. Available in only 100 specialty shops worldwide, the 2010 edition features Fritz the Cat, cartoonist R. Crumb‘s infamous feline con artist. Fritz also starred in the first animated feature film to receive an X rating in the United States, the most successful independent animated feature of all time.
The limited-edition board features the Channel system and takes on the new super smooth but playful V-Rocker shape—the edges, nose and tail slightly curve up providing a skate-like feel to the ride.
Available for $400 from a select group of retailers contact Burton Rider Service at +1 800 881 3138 to locate an exclusive dealer near you. Burton flagship stores in New York, Burlington and Los Angeles will also carry the board.
Also, be sure to check out Burton’s new site, especially The Community, which allows riders to make their own profiles.
Read more about the Private Stock Collection here.
 | If the idea of retro lingerie makes you think of dreadful terms like “foundations” or worse, girdles, keep reading. Lacy little things have their place in many a top drawer, but retro lingerie, with a little more fabric and function, is just as alluring. Think along the lines of high-waisted panties and boyshorts, longline bras, tap shorts, and feminine ruffles- fun, right? The simpler shapes and modest cuts convey an innocence lost in the heaps of skimpy lace found in most stores these days, and even if you’re far from innocent, it’s fun to play the part every once in awhile. For a retro twist on a modern favorite, try Hanky Panky’s hi-rise panty– it’s perfect for high waisted jeans and skirts. Betsey Johnson’s cami and tap pant set is a sweet take on this throwback trend, and if pale pink and ribbons are your thing, you’ll love the charming ‘Amelie’ bralette from Undrest. Sure, these don’t exactly agree with your SO’s unofficial “less is more” mantra, but this was never really about them, was it? See the slideshow for my favorite retro underthings. |
The Sèvres Vase Clock, a prototype by Georgios Maridakis, indicates the hour with an audible knock. Just place the vase of your choice on the brass and wood stand and the hammer will strike the vase each hour.
Each vase makes a different sound, but adding different amounts of water for different pitches and notes takes it one step further. The modern take on a grandfather clock is a subtle, unobtrusive way to indicate time—we’d add a few flowers too.
Designer Georgios Maridakis is currently finishing a stint at the Royal College of Art in London. Visit his site for more info on this and other projects.
via Yanko
Nestled in the wilds of the 92-acre Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia, a new exhibit blends education, entertainment and lessons in environmental sustainability. Called Out on a Limb, it consists of a 450-foot walkway that takes visitors five stories high view from inside the forest canopy.
At the center of this spectacle is a 250-year-old Chestnut Oak whose trunk and root structure remain literally untouched by the innovative design from Metcalfe Architecture & Design.
Made from recycled wood and metal, it’s a lightweight structure that can be disassembled and reassembled in places to move with the ebb and flow of the forest’s natural growth. Lumber from the walkway was milled from locally felled back locust—the same that’s currently used in New York City’s park benches—as it doesn’t require chemical treatment to resist rot.
The exhibit only opened last month and is designed for children and adults alike. It’s located in the leafy Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia.
Morris Arboretum
100 East Northwestern Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19118 map
tel. +1 215 247 5777
Dutch graduate designer Pascal Smelik has made an aluminium table cast from hot wax poured into cold water. (more…)
Lotta Tu’s baby-moving idea, conceived of when she was an ID student at Taiwan’s Tung Hai University, is simple but clever: An electric scooter good for traveling short distances, and when you arrive, it turns into a stroller.
Safety issues would mean it’s probably only good for certain locales. I’d never put my kid on the back of one of these and buzz down Houston Street, but for a quick cruise through Central Park, sure.
Check out the rest of Tu’s book on Coroflot.
(Photos: Prada)
How quickly these strange few months have passed, right? It seems like only yesterday we were welcoming Rem Koolhaas‘ Prada Transformer into this world, with its Miuccia skirts and its swanky parties. Then there was the Alejandro Inarritu and Elvis Mitchell film festival back in July. Now the temporary, evolving structure is set to make its third and final transformation into an exhibition hall to display artist Nathalie Djurberg‘s latest installation project. Our good pals at Wallpaper have the goods on this last movement, complete with a handful of photos showing some of the exhibition itself and a look outside, seeing how they move this gigantic structure around. Here’s a bit:
Best-known for her bizarre stop-motion animations, Berlin-based, Swedish born Djurberg will fill the cruciform configuration of the Transformer. Producing a gigantic cave-like installation, Djurberg has plastered the tent-like walls with swathes of undulating white felt, and the floor with densely padded grey layers.
…Projected at full size onto two screens within the transformer, the films come accompanied by a series of sculptures, shown last year at the Fondazione Prada in Milan. Featuring giant caves, a potato and two small whales produced in Djurberg’s signature rudimentary style, the sculptures pay surprising compliment to Prada’s high-styled aesthetic.
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Karl Zinsmaster, Bjorn Ricke, Summer Covell, and Travis Bookler have been collaborating on a series they call Constructs. Investigating the “legitimacy of material, icon and author,” design classics are remade in humbler materials that evoke the shop: Castiglioni’s Arco lamp is interpreted as a cinder block, a work lamp, conduit and paint; Le Corbusier’s Petite Lounge is reconstructed from rebar and Quikrete packages; the classic Noguchi table is replicated in Oriented Strand Board; and a historical Mondrian painting is remade in ceramic tile samples.
I love this project not only for its simplicity and humour, but also for the clever and insightful ways the designers have interpreted the essential elements of these design icons, distilling them into the simplest of constructions without losing their recognizability.
Much more after the jump!
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