Hasta La Ideas

In our final preview for the Salone, we present “Social Cave” by the mysteriously-named Non-Linear Solution Unit (NSU), an interdisciplinary lab at Columbia University’s prestigious architecture program, directed by Caterina Tiazzoldi with the help of interaction designer Mirko Arcese of BCAA.it.

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Furniture Fair of Milan, the Salone Satellite chief curator Marva Griffin invited the architecture and design Research Lab Non-Linear Solutions Unit of Columbia University to develop a small pavilion project in response to the question in what direction is design heading.

NSU is concerned with some pretty cerebral stuff, but they’re not just “envisioning the new frontier of socialization” in a bubble: Salone marks the unveiling of “Social Cave,” an uncanny, interactive installation where real and digital space become one in the same. In other words, “Social Cave” is a step towards making virtual reality a physical reality.

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An assortment of city bikes suited to commuting or cruising

There is no better way to celebrate warm weather than with a bike so we pulled together an assortment of this season’s top commuters and cruisers, all well suited to riding to work or taking a casual spin through the park.

Traitor Cycles’ Luggernaut 3spd is the ideal bike for running around town. The beauty of a classically lugged track frame combined with a 3-speed internal hub gives this urban commuter a sleek look and the ability to tackle everything from city flats to rural hills. The generous Seattle, WA-based company delivers all this plus a lifetime “crash warranty” for only $505.

Best known for his stunning track and road bike builds, Portland’s Jordan Hufnagel is shifting focus to developing the ultimate city commuter. Designed strictly for having a good time ripping around the city, this San Francisco “hill bomber” is a minimal commuter inspired by the classic Swhinns of the 1940s. With a complete custom build ranging from $5,000-10,000, Hufnagel hits a higher price point, but deservedly so.

New for 2011, Raleigh’s Alley Way is a comfortable hybrid that appeals to almost everyone. The standout implementation of a belt drivetrain rather than a traditional chain gives the crank a smoother run while leaving less room for breakdown. At $1,475 the Alley Way looks great and rides even better.

Gary Fisher may have originated the mountain bike but he also knows a thing or two about cruising. The Simple City is a great women’s step-thru you can ride home from the bike shop. Full aluminum fenders help with spring showers and a Swiss-made double-legged kickstand holds this beauty clean and steady when not in motion. With the choice of a 3- (pictured above) or 8-speed internal hub, the Simple City runs between $600-970.

Hand-built by Boston-based ANT bikes, the Boston Roadster strep-thru is gorgeously functional. Designed to your exact specs and available in any range of custom colors makes this roadster an absolute perfect fit with a unique design. The Boston Roadster comes “fully equipped” as well, meaning all the enticing accessories are standard. The custom cruiser sells for around $2,700.

Up above is “Bespoken Dresses for Old Chairs,” a piece by fabric-loving Frederick Farg that we spotted at Milan in ’09. Farg will be back for Milan 2011 with his Succession Collection, below, a series of stools and shelves where it seems the upholstery has somehow spontaneously spread from the seating surfaces to the storage units.

Three of the Succession pieces will be on display at Milan’s Superstudio Piu, but if you want to see more you’ll have to wait for New York’s ICFF in May; says Farg’s website, “The hole [sic] collection will be shown at RH-Gallery during ICFF.” That’s either a typo or Farg’s nickname for these….

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For ages, fanboys have pumped out concept renderings of different products and stamped a well-known corporate name on them to lend an air of legitimacy. The worst of these have been pure flights of fancy with no attention paid to “design DNA”—some of the more ridiculous faux-Apple-branded concepts come to mind—while the best have incorporated well-recognized design elements, using a certain angle here, the proper font there, to suspend disbelief.

Good or bad, these concepts have largely been ignored by the companies themselves. But now we’re seeing something interesting, an actual Nokia-branded blog displaying the concepts prominently. It’s only after carefully reading the descriptions (or recognizing images from earlier Engadget/Gizmodo posts) that readers discover the concepts were not done in-house, but were in fact culled from around the internet.

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AWAA is a three-headed design team from Norway, showcasing the design skills of Simen Aarseth, Christoffer Angell and Øyvind Wyller. The guys, fresh out of school as of June 2010, will exhibit the minimalist kitchenwares previewed here at Salone Satellite.

“Dark Matters” is a ceiling lamp with a sci-fi look and feel, “like a planet with a bright and a dark side.”

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