Hasta La Ideas

Emerging designer Simone Viola is pleased to present his first private collection of furniture, “completely handmade, customizable by materials and finishes.” Taking its name from the year in which it was created—this one—the 27-year old Swiss designer will exhibit his new work at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan.

The “Anthony I” high back armchair, also pictured above

The “Lady Rose” Chaise… an homage to Eames?

Viola started with “the intention to create objects that seem far too perfect” at first glance, creating articles of furniture that belie the “marvelous and unique natural imperfections dictated by the limits of the materials.” Despite the vaguely technological sheen of the highly polished surfaces, Viola is particularly concerned with the age-old notion of handcrafted production, and, to that end, each of the manufacturing processes is done by hand. From creating and later extracting the fiberglass molds to applying the surface finishes and final clearcoat, Viola was able to collaborate with craftspeople who were able to realize his vision without compromise.

Thus, the “twentytwelve” collection is “the first in a series of collections that have the intent to offer quality products, completely handmade, customizable and a lowest prices as possible.”

See the other two pieces after the jump…

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One of the stand out entries at the Stockholm Furniture and Light Fair that took place last week in conjunction with Stockholm Design Week came from the students at Beckmans College of Design. “Never Mind the Object” is the result of an assignment that paired Visual Communications with Product Design students, who explored how furniture design is communicated. The resulting exhibition is a series of videos that challenge the relationship we have with objects and beg the question: why do we only appreciate them when they have a purpose?

Personally, I appreciate objects more when they don’t have a defined purpose. Think of all the items you surround yourself with on your desk, your nightstand, in your kitchen and your office that don’t solve a real problem. On my desk alone I have an old, ivory elephant charm, a dirty piece of wood block type, a necklace my grandfather used to wear and a rock from the beach I visit with my family every summer. Because these objects don’t have a purpose that goes beyond my personal connection to them, to me, they are more fully realized as objects, yet the glass I drink out of during the day or the pencil sharpener I use every fifteen minutes are more likely to escape my notice. But the videos the Beckmans College students made call attention to said drinking glass, as well as the solidity of a baseball bat and the everyday necessity of a light bulb.

Check out the other two (equally short) videos after the jump:

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A lot of great studios strutted their stuff at last week’s Stockholm Design Week, including Note Design Studio. Their Marginal Notes #2 exhibition showcased an utterly unique approach to design. After a trip “deep into the forest to explore, measure and collect” and take notes on their surroundings, studio mates Alexis Holmqvist, Susanna Wahlin, Johannes Carlstrom, Kristoffer Fagerstrom and Cristiano Pigazzini went back to their office in Stockholm, where they paged through their notebooks, not for the notes themselves, but for the ideas in the margins.

The outcome? According to the studio, “many seemed to have a common theme that we simply called “Base Camp”; the simplistic materials and shapes of scientific field expedition tools adapted to stand wear and tear…We ended up with a diverse collection of colours, shapes, materials and expressions; just the way we like it.”

The resulting furniture exhibition at Stockholm Design Week was a mix of those aforementioned simple shapes and clean lines in materials like untreated wood, metal and fabric. The color palette is bright green, red, blue, orange and purple. A good example of their efforts is the Settler seat, a cylindrical, metal bench perched on a wooden stand that was inspired by the logs the studio members sat on in the forest. “The iconic shape of a log on a sawbuck inspired these benches, since a dead tree in the forest is really the best place for a short rest,” Fagerstrom says.

Other recent projects include Folded Functionality, a bright, striped room divider made from fair trade materials, the result their collaboration with Afro Art. They also design the friendliest office spaces, coffee shops and banks you’re likely to see. And they’re Swedish so yes, they’ve done work for IKEA. Take a look at the rest of their work.

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Reporting by Marc Thorpe. Images courtesy of Tokujin Yoshioka Studio.

Paris’ semiannual design tradeshow honors the creative genius of designers across architectural interiors, furniture and product design through their design à vivre “Design of the Year” program. 2012’s nominees the Campana Brothers, Hubert le Gall and Tokujin Yoshioka showcased their work through special installations at the fair.

We were particularly taken by Tokujin’s exhibition of his Crystallized project, an ongoing meditation on the “relationship between [the] power of nature and human beings.” Through his series, Tokujin attempts to create a new portrait of nature, manifested in crystalline structures. The exhibition debuted a new crystallized painting series grown by the vibration of music, “Rose,” a video art piece, and “VENUS – Natural Crystal Chair” (2008).

Marc Thorpe explains that, “the most interesting aspect of [Tokujin’s] exhibit is his understanding of time. The work is evolving and changing. It’s never the same exhibit in detail. The objects created are not his design by physical hand, but our design by perception.”

Tokujin Yoshioka adjusting his Crystallized project. Image by Marc Thorpe

Crystalized “Rose” and video “Rose” in background

Crystal Painting

Venus Chair

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It’s no secret that we’re fans of London’s Black+Blum: year in, year out, the design duo always seems to have something new up their collective sleeve. The recent NYIGF was no exception, as it was occasion for the official unveiling of three new designs.

First up, the “Eau Good” water bottle is a clever take on a water bottle with a natural filter.

The bottle uses a filter system with binchotan active charcoal, which has been used in Japan as a water purifier since the 17th century. It reduces chlorine, balances the pH and adds minerals to the water. Most importantly, it makes tap water taste clean and delicious.

The design of the eau good combines the vintage feel of the cork stopper with the unique clear, blow-molded bottle and the utilitarian aspect of the centuries-old filtering system.

The filter takes roughly 6–8 hours to work its magic and after its six-month lifetime, the charcoal can be used as an odor absorber for refrigerators.

The “Lunch Pot” (center) is a new offering in their line of tupperware containers: a pair of pots that neatly snap together, a handy solution for those of us who often bring multi-part meals for lunch. The watertight, BPA-free, microwave- and dishwasher-safe pots also feature an unique threadless enclosure for added convenience. Meanwhile, the strap remains secure even when the “Lunch Pot” is inverted or otherwise subject to the abuse of transit.

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