Hasta La Ideas

In last week’s “Design Minutiae” I ogled the display tables used by Australian brand Mud, and wondered at the provenance.

Two sharp-eyed readers wrote in with information. Sarah Sitz pointed out that it was surely the Home Table designed by the UK’s Barber & Osgerby:

Home Table, Barber & Osgerby

Home Table, Barber & Osgerby

Reader Ian D. suggested it could be the Mira table designed by Denmark’s Ebbe Gehl:

Mira, Ebbe Gehl

The two tables do indeed look very (almost disturbingly) similar. But if we look closer, there are a couple of visual giveaways that indicated the tables at Mud are the Barber & Osgerby variant. The first is the height of the Mira’s apron, which appears slightly shorter than that of the tables at Mud.

Mira, Ebbe Gehl

The second is the notable reveals on the longer apron sides of the Mira.

Mira, Ebbe Gehl

Those are there not because the joinery is poor, but because they’re drawers containing leaves. The Mira was designed as an expandable dining table.

Mira, Ebbe Gehl

Both tables are made from solid oak, providing a similar appearance. But Ms. Sitz found definitive proof that the Mud table is Barber & Osgerby’s. As she writes:

DesignOffice, who consulted for Mud Australia’s retail spaces, list the Home Tables on their portfolio page for the Melbourne retail space.

Nail in the coffin. Er, table.

Some of you may be wondering, which came first, the Mira or the Home Table? I have an idea, but instead of just stating it up front, I’m going to show you some of the hell that a blogger goes through when trying to find what should be a simple answer. (Warning: Boring detective work up ahead.) Here’s what I could find:

1. Barber & Osgerby’s table was designed in 2000 and is currently in production by Isokon.

2. Gehl designed the Mira for John Lewis, year unknown, and is still sold there.

3. Gehl has been around longer. He started Nissen & Gehl, his design firm with partner Søren Nissen, way back in 1970, just a year after both Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby were actually born. (Barber & Osgerby, the firm, came about in the 1990s.) 

4. Gehl, not Nissen & Gehl, is credited as the designer of the Mira. This indicates Gehl designed it after he and Nissen parted ways. However, there is no record of the two splitting.

5. Neither Nissen & Gehl, nor Ebbe Gehl, has an active website.

6. John Lewis, the company the Mira was designed for, is a K-Mart-like department store in the UK that sells everything from furniture to baby clothes to appliances.

None of those provide a definitive answer, but no. 6 is the clue. Given the nature of department stores, I find it unlikely that Gehl’s design antedates Barber & Osgerby’s 2000 design and has remained in production for 18 years. I can’t say for certain, but my guess is that Barber & Osgerby designed their Home Table first.

Anyways, now you know why no one wants to talk to me at cocktail parties. (Might also be my breath.)

Thanks to Sarah Sitz and Ian D. for contributing!

Dezeen is giving away five copies of The Japanese House Reinvented by Philip Jodidio, a book featuring 50 houses that highlight Japan‘s current residential trends.

The book showcases properties from the last five years, designed by architects ranging from Pritzker Prize-winners to recent graduates.

Among the homes featured are designs by Koji Tsutsui, Tadao Ando and Shigeru Ban. Architectural trends in materials and technology are also explored.

“Contemporary Japanese architecture has emerged as a substantial force on the international scene ever since Kenzo Tange won the Pritzker Prize in 1987,” said publisher Thames & Hudson.

“Japanese houses today have to contend with unique factors that condition their design, from tiny plots in crowded urban contexts to ever-present seismic threats,” it continued.

“Their formal innovation and attention to materials, technology and measures to coax in light and air while maintaining domestic privacy make them cutting-edge residences that suggest new ways of being at home.”

Shigeru Ban’s Villa in Sengokubara is one of the featured properties. For this, Ban created a timber structure with a sequence of rooms that each face towards a central courtyard.

Another is Koji Tsutsui’s Inbetween House, a cluster of five connected cottages in a mountain region outside of Tokyo.

The Japanese House Reinvented was released in early 2017. Its launch coincides with the latest exhibition at London’s Barbican, The Japanese House: Architecture and Life after 1945.

This exhibition offers an overview of the developing distinct styles that defined Japanese house design after the second world war, and is on show until 25 June 2017.

Five readers will each win a copy of The Japanese House Reinvented, published by Thames & Hudson, but it can also also be purchased online for £24.95.

Competition closes 27 April 2017. Winners will be selected at random and notified by email, and their names will be published at the top of this page.

The post Competition: win a book showcasing 50 new Japanese houses appeared first on Dezeen.

From Lizzy Plapinger’s impassioned vocals to choreography from icon Karole Armitage and minimal, powerful lighting and set design, there’s nothing to dislike about “Tightrope,” a track and video from Plapinger’s solo project LPX. The powerful performance……

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Ask any traveller and they’ll tell you that in the fast-paced globetrotting world the saying goes “If you don’t snooze, you lose”. When you’re rushing between time-zones, or cities, or even within the city, one small power-nap does wonders. The Voyage Pillow by Sondre Travel is the perfect solution for anyone who wants to catch a few winks while traveling. Unlike those atrocious U-shaped travel pillows that look unsightly and occupy volumes of space, the Voyage is compact, some may say perfectly-sized even… for carrying around with you on flights, train-journeys, or even long road-trips.

At barely a third of the footprint of your regular travel pillow, the Voyage pillow does the job twice as well, allowing you to sleep with your head to the back, or even the side. It comes with a strap that secures itself around your neck so you don’t drop it, or leave it behind by mistake (we’ve all done it), plus the strap even doubles up as an eye mask, allowing you to get effective sleep virtually anywhere.

The Voyage pillow’s microbead pillow give you all-round comfort by adapting to your body. The Spandex fabric construction fits everyone and feels soft to the touch, allowing one to comfortably drift into sleep. Available in a variety of colors, users can choose between a classic Midnight Black, a dreamy Ocean Blue, or a rejuvenating Sunset Red. With its compact design, it fits comfortably into any suitcase giving you ample space to pack other important things as well. Essentially doing the job of a comfortable travel pillow, and an eye mask when needed, the Voyage pillow allows you to effectively rest on the go, in any which way you feel comfortable… because we all know that jet-lag can be a complete drag!

Designer: Matt Benedetto

BUY IT HERE: $21.00 $31.00

Affinity Creative Group seeks a dynamic creative director to help shape and drive the growth and development of a four-year-old brand and package design agency full of experienced, responsible and talented individuals from other respected firms. You’ll partner closely with your colleagues to build upon an established reputation for

View the full design job here