Hasta La Ideas

Today LG is releasing the StandbyMe Go, a briefcase containing a 27-inch battery-powered touchscreen monitor. The portable screen can be operated in three positions: Portrait, landscape and flat.

On its own, it has the ability to stream content and can play board games. It has built-in speakers, and it can also mirror the screen of your device. The battery is reportedly good for up to three hours.

At press time the price wasn’t listed, but it’s expected to go on sale today—in LG’s home market of South Korea.

Promotion: the American Hardwood Export Council has launched Three, an exhibition of work made by three Scandinavian designers using American hardwoods, at Copenhagen festival 3 Days of Design.
The designers – Anne Brandhøj from Denmark, Pia Högman from Sweden and Anna Maria Øfstedal Eng from Norway – each used a different kind of wood for the exhibition, which was created by the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) for the 10th edition of 3 Days of Design.

AHEC aimed to show that iconic designs can be created using less environmentally damaging wood than teak and rosewood – materials that were often used for mid-century modern pieces by famous Scandinavian designers such as Arne Jacobsen.

Each of the creatives taking part in the exhibition was tasked with designing furniture pieces that would instead encourage sustainable wood production by working with three undervalued American hardwoods: American red oak, cherry and maple.

AHEC also hoped to show how the three female designers are “breaking boundaries in a male-dominated field”.

Øfstedal Eng created her trio of furniture pieces for the exhibition using American maple, a wood she found similar to the Norwegian ash that she normally works with.

“When you carve it, it creates an organic, double-curved landscape that is so aesthetically pleasing,” she said of the wood, which she used to create furniture that was informed by the way in which moss spreads across a rock.

Øfstedal Eng designed a shelving unit with CNC-milled shelves, a footstool and stool that were informed by the age rings in maple trees for the exhibition.

Brandhøj fells her own timber, and her work is informed by the imperfections in the wood this reveals, from cracks to moss and fungus.

“You don’t know what you will find when you open it up; I find that really beautiful,” she said of her process.

For the Three exhibition, she created a series of cubic consoles that are built up using layers of carved American cherry and have wavy cut-out details.

“To some people, wood is just wood, but to me, different types of wood give completely different experiences,” Brandhøj said.

The final type of wood used in the exhibition is American red oak, which Högman turned into five chairs that she treated with different finishes to showcase the material’s open-grained structure in a variety of ways.

At the exhibition, the chairs, which have both curved and linear panels, are displayed to show off their spectrum of colours.

“My goal as a designer is not to simply produce products that anyone could make; it’s more important to me to contribute to something bigger, like giving materials new life,” Högman said.

To view more about AHEC, visit its website.

Three takes place from 7 to 9 June 2023 at Copenhagen Design Agency, Amaliegade 14A. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for AHEC. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

The post Three exhibition showcases timber craftsmanship by Scandinavian designers appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen Showroom: French design brand Petite Friture has added a silvery metallic finish to its Week-End collection of outdoor furniture, which features tables and chairs with slatted aluminium surfaces.

The Week-End collection was originally designed in 2017 by Paris-based studio Brichet Ziegler with a grained epoxy paint finish available in a variety of colours.

The newly added finish was designed to celebrate the furniture’s aluminium material in its bare state.

The Week-End furniture has a playful and curved composition designed to seamlessly integrate into various outdoor environments.

“Week-End is a full range of garden furniture whose framed, oval seat-plates highlight the backrests and form an overall graphic signature,” said Petite Friture.

The collection benefits from being lightweight and stackable, making the furniture easy for users to store and manoeuvre.

The aluminium finish is exclusively available to contract buyers. A set minimum amount of products must be ordered to qualify purchasing this finish.

Product: Week-End outdoor furniture
Designer: Brichet Ziegler
Brand: Petite Friture
Contact: sales@petitefriture.com

Dezeen Showroom

Dezeen Showroom offers an affordable space for brands to launch new products and showcase their designers and projects to Dezeen’s huge global audience. For more details email showroom@dezeen.com.

Dezeen Showroom is an example of partnership content on Dezeen. Find out more about partnership content here.

The post Aluminium Week-End outdoor furniture by Petite Friture appeared first on Dezeen.

We hear how the artist found her voice and a perspective on post-internet Kenyan creative culture

Thandiwe Muriu is Kenya’s first woman commercial photographer and a photographic artist of international acclaim. Encouraged by her family, Muriu developed a passion for photography in her teens and set a goal to become a professional photographer. This transformed into a career in the world of advertising, and later into the exploration of personal projects. Her energy, optimism and enthusiasm are immense—and you can feel the love, power and creativity from the opening moments all the way through our latest episode of Design Tangents.

Muriu knew from the beginning that she was more interested in creating narratives. She built sets with what she could find, citing that creative recycling is distinctly Kenyan: if “you can’t afford to buy things to solve your problems you look at what you have and solve them that way.” This is a practice she continues to honor today, recognizing that “there is beauty even in that difficulty and I wanted to bring that to my work.”

As her career developed and commercial work was taking off she started to feel like something was missing. “I had gotten into the routine of creation but I had lost the heart of creating in that process. That’s the moment I began making art—when I began taking pictures for myself and having projects exclusively for myself.” This was when her “Camouflage” series was born. “I began to make art that was impactful when I began to allow more of my story to show in my images,” she says. This shift unlocked a new level of creative energy for Muriu and it’s influencing her commercial work as well.

“They always come first,” Muriu say of the Ankara textiles that inform her “Camouflage” series. The bold, hypnotic and colorful patterns are the backdrop of each image, are used to make the clothes for the model and establish the title of the final work—which is often named by finding a Kenyan proverb that matches. Some of her favorites are “A woman’s beauty is not hidden in her face,” “A diamond does not lose value due to lack of admiration” and “When your sister does your hair you do not need a mirror.”

The model is photographed in situ—everything you see was created and captured on set. “I want to celebrate our natural beauty and address some of the stereotypes in Kenya,” she explains while talking about the models she chooses. Muriu also collects objects that she, in the spirit of Kenyans making do with that they have, uses to design unique eyewear for each image. She has jua kali artisans craft these items—which are also art works of art on their own.

Art was viewed as something you did if you failed at life. That stereotype is beginning to change and that means people have more courage to want to become an artist.

Nairobi’s perception of artists, Muriu shares, infers that “art was viewed as something you did if you failed at life. That stereotype is beginning to change and that means people have more courage to want to become an artist.” She talks about a shifting creative perspective, “I call it the new Africa. We’re tired of other people telling our stories and we are beginning to recognize our changing identities.” Heavily influenced through exposure to global media online she describes a “new hybrid culture” that’s still African in its roots yet also very Westernized. “Someone like me would reject tradition but I’m coming to this place of realizing it’s a core part of who I am and it doesn’t take away from the other aspects of me that are very Western.”

Muriu sees her work as an opportunity to further share her culture and educate an international audience. “I get to bring my Kenyan voice to global issues and platforms,” she says. And though her commercial clients are from all over she always encourages them to “come to Nairobi” if they want a deep understanding of her personal style.

Words cannot truly convey Muriu’s magnetism. Tune in to this episode of Design Tangents to hear her voice and learn more about her work, culture and motivation. And because, as she says, “Instagram literally opened doors for my career,” be sure to follow her there, too.

To learn more about Korean design and how it influences the design process at Genesis, listen to episode six of Design Tangents featuring their design leadership.

Subscribe to Design Tangents on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify. When each episode comes out it will be ready and waiting in your player of choice.

Design Tangents is presented by Genesis and produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Rob Schulte, Hannah Viti, Wize Grazette and Samantha Sager and to Amber Lin for creating our show art. Discover more design podcasts from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com.

A beautiful piece of furniture can complete a room. It can be the final piece that makes a space come full circle, building a comfortable and cohesive haven, rather than a random area. Furniture pieces make or break a home, they add on to the essence or soul of a home, hence one needs to be extremely picky while choosing a furniture design. The design should be a reflection of you, and what you want your home to be. When you place a piece of furniture in a room, it should instantly integrate with the space, creating a wholesome and organic environment. We’ve curated a collection of furniture designs that we believe will do this! Each of these pieces is unique, well-crafted, and made with a whole lot of love, and the love really shines through in the fine detailing and workmanship. We hope you feel the love too!

1. The Drum Stool

Designed By Teixeira Design Studio, The Drum stool is a minimal, clean, and stackable stool design that is also super sustainable. Although it looks like an adorable little wine cork, you will realize it offers so much more, once you take a closer look.

Why is it noteworthy?

Materials such as cork and wood were selected by Teixeira to build the stool, instantly making it a sustainable design. Cork was utilized to build the seat, while wood was used to create the legs.

What we like

• The cork seat is comfortable and inviting and provides a grip while handling, so the stool is quite easy to move around and place in different positions

What we dislike

• The wave pattern of the trimmed cork seat seems uncomfortable to sit on for long durations

2. The Cheviot Side Table

Designed by Ylisse, the Cheviot side table is built from sturdy steel featuring a long-lasting, heat-cured powder-coating finish. The finish offers resistance to everyday wear and tear. The table can be procured in two combinations – elegant walnut to match the black base, or iconic cherry to complement the white base.

Why is it noteworthy?

The Cheviot side table is a sophisticated and comfortable piece of furniture, with a simple and contrasting shape that perfectly complements modern homes. It features a mix of textures and contrasts which provide depth to our contemporary living spaces and supports a streamlined aesthetic.

What we like

• Compact + space-saving design
• Minimal and clean aesthetics

What we dislike

• Colors may change over time, providing the wood with a more amber color – which may not be preferred by some

3. The Flow Single Sofa

This minimal, elegant, and chic-looking armchair is called the Flow Single Sofa and is part of SUNRUI’s FLOW Collection. It literally looks like the Queen’s Chair if you look closely enough!

Why is it noteworthy?

The armchair has a bulky, space-consuming, and yet deeply elegant form that manages to represent, as well as downplay, the stoicness of the sofa. It has been equipped with spiral armrests that provide the sofa with a sophisticated and classy air.  The spiral armrests add an interesting and artistic element to the sofa and also quite amusingly resemble the Ionic Order. The Ionic Order is one of the orders of classic architecture and is defined by twin volutes or spiral scrolls.

What we like

• Meets the needs of humans and pets alike
• Creates a shared space where the owner and cat can spend some quality time together

What we dislike

• If your pet pees or poops inside the armrests, it could be challenging to clean up

4. Sushant Vohra’s Stool

Designed by Sushant Vohra, this stool design is pretty cool! It has a compact, concise, and minimal form that makes it the perfect addition to any modern living room.

Why is it noteworthy?

It features a concise circular platform that serves as a seating section, with a concrete and clear coated sheet metal volume inserted into it, functioning as a support for the seating area. The result is a visually and geometrically interesting stool with a burst of orange that counteracts the otherwise minimal and simple appearance of the stool.

What we like

• Interesting color contrast
• Compact + space-saving form

What we dislike

• The partition is not changeable or removable when the entire table top is needed

5. The Venus Folding Chair

Created between 30,000 and 25,000 BCE, the Venus of Willendorf is one of the oldest and most important works of art. The Venus Fold Chair draws inspiration from this piece of art, and it functions as a cozy and comfortable seating option that can be easily folded.

Why is it noteworthy?

The Venus Folding Chair was built with great care and precise attention to detail, creating a product that perfectly marries form with functionality, as well as a bit of artistic flair. It has a unique space-saving mechanism which makes it a notable and significant design.

What we like

• It’s an excellent seating option for people who host events or gatherings
• Ideal for tiny flats, outdoor events, or temporary seating arrangements due to its compact and folding design, which makes storage simple

What we dislike

• It doesn’t seem like a great seating option for longer durations of time

6. The Pentagon Stool

The Pentagon Stool is a clean and minimal low stool that was created by Designerd using five identical pieces of hardwood.

Why is it noteworthy?

The hardwood pieces function as the legs of the stool, giving it its name ‘Pentagon’. The legs are woven together and held together using a star plate. The designer states that the leg element of the stool can be swiftly and efficiently produced in a one-line production.

What we like

• Comes in a flat-pack design
• Can be assembled with ease

What we dislike

• The seating area is limited and may not be comfortable for all body types

7. Brottö Chair

Swedish design brand Atolmar has designed an elegant directors-style chair built from teak, that can be used both indoors and outdoors. Featuring a hand-sanded teak frame, the minimal and clean chair can be utilized for both dinner and lounge settings.

Why is it noteworthy?

The back frame of the chair is slightly angled with an acrylic fabric back and seat to provide maximum comfort to the user. The chair can be compactly and efficiently folded into itself owing to the fabric seat and back. The seat and the backrest were created using a synthetic fabric which makes it water, stain, UV, and mold resistant, allowing it to withstand a variety of different outdoor weather conditions.

What we like

• Available in a range of different colors including sand, nougat, and anthracite

What we dislike

• The aesthetics are a bit simple and unassuming

8. Kabinett

Conceptualized by Stockholm-based designer Alexander Lervik and manufactured by Finnish furniture manufacturer Adea, the Kabinett is a minimal and sturdy cabinet designed for modern home offices…that also doubles up as a work desk!

Why is it noteworthy?

Kabinett is a part of Adea’s Smartwork range, and it aims to function as an ergonomic set-up for home offices. While functioning as an efficient work table, Kabinett also serves as a rather stylish and elegant dresser.

What we like

• Multifunctional + ergonomic design
• Its minimal aesthetics are a plus point since this allows the furniture to seamlessly merge with all kinds of home offices

What we dislike

• Bulky + space-consuming design, not ideal for small homes

9. The Fortune Cookie

The Fortune Chair is designed by Hyeyoung Han and Hanyoung Lee, and it is an interesting mix between a chair, a pod, and a beanbag, and it also happens to look like a fortune cookie!

Why is it noteworthy?

The innovative chair includes a fortune cookie-inspired wooden outer wall, which functions as a covering frame that surrounds the user. This outer wall creates a cozy, comfortable, and private space for the user to sit in. It looks and functions much like a fortune cookie!

What we like

• The Fortune Chair functions as a little oasis for you to work in peace, much like the office pods we find today in commercial offices

What we dislike

• Given the inwards curving design, the chair may become uncomfortable as the user cannot change their position frequently

10. Wormhole Coffee Table

Wormholes can hypothetically connect two disparate points in spacetime via a tunnel. And they’re quite commonly found in science fiction! And this mind-blowing coffee table by Olivier Gomis attempts to convert the hypothetical wormhole into a physical manifestation.

Why is it noteworthy?

The shape of a table is already quite eye-catching on its own. It’s almost like a wooden plank that has been bent so that the two ends are on top of each other and then joined together by a double cone. These are then glued together with sheets of maple veneer in between, which give the appearance of those faint light lines that form the grid.

What we like

• A lamp was installed in the center of the hole, giving the table an eerie appearance in the dark

What we dislike

• The inward curving section provides a risk for products that could roll inside and get stuck like a marble or a coin

The post Top 10 furniture designs for your living room first appeared on Yanko Design.