Hasta La Ideas

Textiles featuring three-dimensional patterns, by Dimore Studio, have been draped over chairs and surfaces to create an installation for a Parisian store.

Displayed in a shop window on Galerie de Montpensier – a street located in the first arrondissement, near the Garden of the Palais Royal – the colourful fabrics were thrown across chairs and piled onto surfaces to form a kaleidoscopic display of pattern and colour.

Originally launched in 2015 with new designs added each year, the Progetto Tessuti collection is in keeping with the studio’s opulent aesthetic.

Fabrics are made using “heirloom yarns” of different thicknesses and include hardwearing jacquard and printed fabrics that are suitable for indoor and outdoor use. They can be used for both curtains and upholstery.

Featuring out of scale patterns and subtle references to the art deco movement – themes often reoccurring in the studio’s work – the luxurious collection is realised in a combination of dusty and saturated colours.

To make the fabrics, the studio said it used “ancient working techniques reminiscent of couture”, such as embossing, ageing, glueing and laminating, as well as embroidery and other finishing treatments.

“It is an essential part of the experiment to obtain the depth of relief, the contrast between iridescent and matte and the sophisticated subtle shading of colour tones,” said Dimore Studio founders Britt Moran and Emiliano Salci.

“Indoor fabrics in satin, cotton and silk are designed to offer wonderful three-dimensional effects, featuring a variety of textures and extremely rich and full effects,”  they continued.

“Outdoor fabrics are printed with subjects inspired by urban settings where architectural elements transform into original decorative details, or by beaches where human presence restores the audacity of a sophisticated and unconventional creativity,” they added.

“The dusty and saturated colours are a constant of our aesthetics.”

Dimore Studio recently completed the interior of a west London members’ club, creating a rose-tinted restaurant inspired by the decadent 1960s nightlife spots on the French Riviera.

Previously the studio has applied its distinctive aesthetic to a series of five boldly furnished rooms inside a London art gallery, and an Aesop store which it finished with green-coloured subway tiles and lemon-yellow shelving.

<!– see_also_text: [Related story]: 1138954 –>

The post Dimore Studio’s opulent textile collection takes over Paris storefront appeared first on Dezeen.

Steve Raplee, the owner of the High Tide Cafe in Coos Bay, was recording the scene at the beach when a sneaker wave came in, sending him and others scrambling for safety. (Video courtesy of Steve Raplee)..(Read…)

Spanish studio Clap has used arch-shaped cutouts and primary colours to create a playful children’s shoe shop on a street corner in Valencia.

The local design studio was approached by the owners of children’s footwear company Little Stories to help develop its brand identity.

“After several workshops with the client, we came up with three key points that reflected the essence of Little Stories: games, simplicity, and adaptability,” said Clap.

With this in mind, the studio then set about creating a physical retail space.

The 70-square-metre store has a tiled facade punctuated by three oversized arched windows.

Inside, whitewashed walls and pale grey flooring act as a neutral backdrop for pops of colour provided by the shop’s fixtures.

Lights encased in chunky blue, yellow and red tubes distend from the ceiling, illuminating cylindrical display stands underneath.

These primary shades have also been used to paint cartoonish line drawings on the floor, intended to form small paths for children to follow through the store.

“The inspiration for these lines was the idea of freedom, fun and versatility – some characteristics we think the mind of a kid have” Angela Montagud, a designer at the studio, told Dezeen.

“Every detail is designed to encourage imagination and play, but at the same time highlight the products on display.”

The shape of the windows is echoed by the arched doorways of the store’s dressing rooms, the domed mirrors placed against the peripheral walls, and the curved form of the cash register.

Shoes are also displayed on metal semi-circle-shaped shelves, which can be detached and moved around due to a magnetic plate fitted to the wall.

While Clap applied bold tones throughout its interior scheme, fellow Spanish studio Nábito opted for pale interiors when designing a children’s shoe shop in Barcelona – covering the entire store in white, grid-like ceramic tiles to reference the ordered lines of school notebooks.

The post Arched doorways and bold hues appear throughout Little Stories shoe store appeared first on Dezeen.

US architecture firm Worrell Yeung has pared back the rural vernacular of the Hudson River Valley to create a contemporary black barn next to a countryside home.

The minimalist structure is an addition to a traditional property sited on a 30-acre (12-hectare) plot in the town of Ancram, New York.

“This modern barn adopts an unmistakably contemporary design approach, while incorporating key elements of the agrarian vernacular of the Hudson Valley region,” said Worrell Yeung, a Manhattan-based practice founded in 2014.

Oriented along an east-west axis, the Ancram Barn is made up of two separate sections, and encompasses 1,500 square feet (140 square metres). The western portion is tucked into the hillside, and is fully enclosed.

This area forms a two-car garage, with additional room for storage. “Inside, the prefabricated wood scissor truss structure and wood framing is left exposed,” the architects said.

The other portion of the barn is described as “a flexible, covered outdoor room”. Openings on three sides provide vistas of the house it accompanies, as well as views to the nearby Berkshires mountain range.

More refined finishes were chosen for this section of the building, as the residents of the nearby home use it for outdoor meals, or relaxing in the shade.

The hemlock boards used on the inside of this space match the exterior cladding, except that the external planks are stained black to improve their weather resistance.

“Material selections throughout were made to be durable and require little maintenance given the climate zone,” the architects said. For instance, simple black metal sheets were chosen for the roof.

The traditional rural architecture of Upstate New York also informed the design of a gallery added to an artist’s residence in the region by architect Koray Duman.

Photography is by Magda Biernat.

The post Worrell Yeung adds minimalist black barn to traditional property in Upstate New York appeared first on Dezeen.

Antwerp-based brand Ecobirdy has used recycled plastic toys to create a range colourful furniture for kids, aiming to raise their “awareness for sustainability”.

With an overarching goal of  introducing children to the circular economy, all the pieces from Ecobirdy’s debut collection are made from old plastic toys and are completely recyclable.

Debuted at this year’s Maison&Objet furniture fair, the collection includes a lightweight chair called Charlie that has rounded legs and edges, and an accompanying table named Luisa.

A bird-shaped storage container with a removable beak is designed to raise awareness of the endangered Kiwi bird, while a rhino-shaped lamp draws attention to the plight of rhinos.

The brand, which said it aims to “create pieces that enable kids to experience creativity and at the same time raise awareness for sustainability”, is co-funded by the COSME – an EU programme that aims to make it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises to access finance in all phases of their lifecycle.

Ecobirdy’s debut collection follows an in-depth two-year study into how to sustainably recycle plastic toys.

“We found that plastic toys use plastic more intensively than other consumer goods,” said Ecobirdy’s founders, Antwerp-based designers Joris Vanbriel and Vanessa Yuan.

“By giving old plastic a new life, our aim is to free our ecosystem from its pernicious impact. As we use innovative technologies, made for the reuse of plastic, there is no need to add any pigments or resin.”

As well as the design and production of the new products, Ecobirdy has created a system for the collection and recycling of old or unused toys.

The design, recycling and production of Ecobirdy furniture is all carried out in Europe using fair business practices.

“Due to accurate sorting, cleaning and grinding during the recycling process, the plastic of all products is absolutely free from harmful chemicals,” said a statement from the brand. “It is clean, pure and 100 per cent safe.”

“The whole collection is produced in Italy. In the manufacturing process, manual labour plays a significant role alongside machines.”

An accompanying storybook and school programme have been designed to introduce children to the circular economy and inspire them to contribute to a more sustainable future.

Design for children has exploded in recent years as brands wisened to the vast potential of the kids’ furniture market.

In 2016 child-focused furniture and toys dominated Milan Design Week when Kartell president and CEO Claudio Luti told Dezeen: “It is a huge market with very high potential, and many offers in terms of furnishings and toys.”

Since then, numerous design products aimed at children have launched, including a collection of self-assembly furniture secured by sausage-shaped party balloons, smart and robotic cribs by the likes of Yves Behar and Ford, and a line of furniture that grows up with children.

The post Plastic furniture made from old toys introduces kids to the circular economy appeared first on Dezeen.