Hasta La Ideas

Product News: French brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have designed a collection of cutlery for Italian design brand Alessi.

Created to complement Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec‘s earlier Ovale range of tableware for Alessi, the set includes over twenty pieces in stainless steel.

“We had been trying to follow the logic of Ovale and decided at the beginning to apply the minimum shape that would be needed to make everything,” Erwan Bouroullec told Dezeen. “We tried to find something which is not forced, not only for special dinners and not only for everyday. Just to find the refined language that makes it stand for itself, while not trying to bring any kind of luxury or pretentious shapes.”

He compared the process to devising a new typeface: “On the one hand you’ve got certain geometries based on ergonomics and you have to respect them in order to make well-balanced cutlery that’s comfortable in your hand. On the other hand, like a typeface, we’ve been defining some rules about what happens between a line and a curve – where is the radius? Is it a straight join or is it slightly curved? And then you kind of apply these rules to every shape.”

Bouroullec also stressed the importance of creating rules that are appropriate to every piece. “I think, sometimes, in contemporary cutlery there is a kind of will to apply some shape or some design language that doesn’t fit every part of the cutlery. That really is a problem. You have to find a logic which is worth applying to many objects.”

“When you treat it seriously, exactly like a typeface, you need to do every piece: the very small spoon, the half spoon, the middle spoon, the big spoon, the big big spoon and so on. So you have to go through the full exercise,” he added.

The designs were evolved through many prototypes, first in the brothers’ Paris studio and then using stainless steel at the Alessi factory. “One really big issue is the weight: not to make it heavier or lighter overall but you must balance the weight of the handle and the front part of the cutlery really well to get a good movement in your hand,” said Bouroullec.

The original Ovale range of plates, dishes and tumblers was launched by Alessi in 2010 and features rounded corners with sides that aren’t parallel. Read more in our earlier story.

The Bouroullecs also recently designed all the furniture for the remodelled Faculty of Humanities at Københavns Universitet in Copenhagen and Dezeen interviewed Erwan at Clerkenwell Design Week this summer about their Pico tiles (shown in the background of these images) and their new monograph. See all our stories about design by the Bouroullec brothers.

Alessi was founded outside Milan as a metal tableware producer the 1920s, became synonymous with designer kettles in the 1980s and now works with a host of international designers including the Campana Brothers, Karim Rashid and David Chipperfield. A selection of Alessi watches is available from Dezeen Watch Store.

See all our stories about Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec »
See all our stories about Alessi »
See all our stories about cutlery »
See all our stories about homeware »

The post Ovale cutlery by Ronan and Erwan
Bouroullec for Alessi appeared first on Dezeen.

Design Miami: French designer Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance has launched a white variation of his leaf-like LED lighting, which fades and flickers like dappled light coming through trees.

The white Naturoscopie II lights by Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance contain LEDs behind their perspex “leaves”, which slowly brighten and fade to reflect different background colours.

Above: image shows close-up of black version of Naturoscopie II

“This collection is linked by the fact I really wanted to express something a little bit more intimate than through a functional object,” Duchaufour-Lawrance told Dezeen at Design Miami, where he exhibited the lighting in the Galerie BSL booth. “It’s more sculptural, because it’s not really a light, it’s more an object that provides an emotion by the contemplation of it.”

Above: image shows close-up of black version of Naturoscopie II

Other projects by the designer we’ve featured on Dezeen include an airport business lounge with tree-shaped lamps and a spiral bookcase inspired by an ammonite fossil.

Dezeen was in Miami last week covering all the highlights from Design Miami, including Asif Khan’s “ice halo” of Swarovski crystals and Snarkitecture’s sausage-like inflatables over the entrance to the fair – see all our stories from Design Miami.

See all our stories about Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance »
See all our stories about lighting »

Here’s some more information from the designer:

Naturoscopie II – Lights

This set of lights corresponds with the responsive transcription of the sun when it filters through tree foliage. Within each head, the sequence of the LEDs and their reflection on mirrors and coloured surfaces interpret this natural movement, in a both fugitive and perennial temporality. The light asserts itself in the form of sparkles and bright or mellow green, yellow or silver fragments.

In the mural compositions, the foliage pattern unfurls flat, on a single level parallel to the wall, the articulations of the heads making different positions possible. With the ceiling fixtures, the volume of the foliage opens out, the modules connecting at different heights.

4 wall hangings, with 2 and 3 heads:
H/175 x L/95 x W/14 cm (2 heads)
H/75 x L/135 x W/14 cm (2 heads)
H/140 x L/195 x W/14 cm (3 heads)
H/165 x L/105 x W/14 cm (3 heads)

3 ceiling fixtures, with 2, 3 and 5 heads:
H/33 x L/117 x W/78 cm (2 heads)
H/32 x L/165 x W/99 cm (3 heads)
H/38 x L/208 x W/154 cm (5 heads) – also available as a wall hanging.

Stainless steel, fibreglass, mirrors, paint and soft touch varnish, light diffusing plexiglas, LEDs. Two versions regarding the light diffusing plexiglas: matte finish or gloss finish.

Galerie BSL edition of 8 + 4 AP for each version.

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Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance appeared first on Dezeen.

Product news: items of furniture in this collection by Daisuke Motogi Architecture are shaped so that they can still be used when flipped upside-down (+ slideshow).

Extra legs protrude from the backrest of the Flip chair by Daisuke Motogi Architecture so it can be toppled backwards to make a lower lounge seat (above).

A coffee-cup-shaped piece functions as an armchair when upright, but when turned on its side the handle becomes a backrest for a stool and when flipped over it transforms into a coffee table.

Turning over the stool with the curved back reveals a lower chair with a longer seat and backrest (above), while the rocking chair becomes a stable seat when overturned (below).

Each piece is made from moulded urethane foam to make it light enough to be moved and revolved easily, plus the entire collection is covered with a water-resistant coating developed by Sixinch.

The Flip Series also includes a table with a glass top supported by wooden frames. These frames can either be stood upright or rested on their sides, creating two possible surface heights (below).

Sixinch Japan, an offshoot of Belgian brand Sixinch, originally exhibited prototypes of the furniture at Designtide 2011 in Tokyo last month but has now put the table, coffee cup chair and a kid’s version of the Flip chair into production.

See all our stories about furniture »

Photographs are by Kenta Hasegawa.

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for Sixinch Japan appeared first on Dezeen.

Product news: Oslo designer Andreas Engesvik has created a series of blankets inspired by the textiles of Norwegian folk costumes.

Bunader are traditional costumes with roots in rural clothes from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and Andreas Engesvik worked with Norwegian manufacturer Mandal Veveri to make the wool Bunad Blankets.

They’re based on motifs from five different regions in Norway: Setesdal, Nordland, Fusa, Bringeklut and Sunnmøre. “Mandal Veveri also had the complete recipes for all types Bunads which made it easy for us to be exact,” Engesvik told Dezeen.

“All the colours are exactly the same as on the bunads,” he continued. “We did a lot of fine tuning off course, and we had to choose eight colours for every blanket as this is the limit for the Jaquard machine.”

“The bunad is one of the most visible and known traditions in Norwegian cultural heritage; the garment is a significant cultural carrier and is central to the passing on of Norwegian handicraft traditions,” he added.

Andreas Engesvik is an alumni of University of Bergen and the National College of Art and Design Norway. He was co-founder of Norway Says in 2000 and founded his own studio in Oslo in 2009. He has previously featured on Dezeen with his coloured screens in collaboration with Norwegian designer Daniel Rybakken.

For more cosy design our top ten rugs and blankets here or our Pinterest board on the topic here.

Here’s some more information from the designer:

Bunad Blankets is a series of blankets launched during the London Design Festival, September 2012. The first Bunad Blankets we will show are based on bunad motifs from five different regions in Norway; Setesdal, Nordland, Fusa, Bringeklut from West Telemark, and mens bunad from Sunnmøre

The Idea for the Bunad Blanket came about one Christmas Eve a couple of years ago. I was sitting in the kitchen – surrounded by my girlfriend, her mother and her sister with husband. They were all wearing bunads from Setesdal. I sat in a chair while the others stood and walked around me. The abundance of colors, stripes and details where overwhelming. It hit me then, that bunads can be experienced as colors composed on a surface.

The Bunad Blanket is a new product category that encompasses recognizable aspects from the bunad tradition. Bunads are composed of color in proportion – that means compostition and disposition of surfaces. The bunad is further composed in a series of different materials and techniques such as embroidery, detail seam, pearls, wool, linen, metal and so on. The Bunad Blankets represents a simplification and transferring of the Norwegian folk costumes. The Bunad Blanket introduces this rich tradition into our daily environments and interiors.

The Bunad Blankets are developed in co-operation with Mandal Veveri and are woven from pure wool in Mandal. Mandal Veveri is a nearly 100 year old textile company, and has a young and ambitious leadership. It is the leading producer of textiles for bunads in Norway today. Mandal Veveri is owned by Stina Skeie.

The Bunad is a range of traditional Norwegian rural clothes and folk costumes with its roots dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. In Norway, it is common to wear bunad at various celebrations such as folk dances, weddings, and especially the May 17 National Day celebrations.

National romanticism still has a stronghold in Norway, and the bunad is one of the most visible and known traditions in Norwegian cultural heritage. It played a role in building national identity before and after 1905 – when Norway became independent. The bunad is a significant cultural carrier and is central to the passing on of Norwegian handicraft traditions. There are about 400 bunads and folk costumes in Norway today

The quality of the blankets has the right balance between weight and function (not too thick) and it drapes nicely. It is meant as an all-year blanket, to be used both at home and in the summer/winter cabin.

Designer: Andreas Engesvik
Junior designer: Ingrid Aspen
Company: Mandal Veveri, Stina Skeie
Material: wool
Dimensions: 130 x 200cm (without fringes)
Production: November 2012

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Andreas Engesvik appeared first on Dezeen.

Product news: Bangkok-based design firm THINKK Studio has launched a collection that includes hanging lamps made from concrete and wood, concrete vases with wire frames and a little truck to hold your pens and paper clips.

The Workaholic collection by Thai designers THINKK Studio includes the CementWood hanging lamps made from hand-lathed ash and concrete.

The Truck desk tidy is made from ash wood and powder coated steel and has a container that slides out to reveal two compartments inside.

The Foldo desk lamp comprises an ash base and a thin sheet of powder coated steel which curves over to form a lampshade.

The Truss concrete vase can be paired with one of three different wire frames in geometric shapes.

The vases in the Workaholic collection are similar to an earlier series of concrete and wire vases by THINKK Studio designer Decha Archjananun.

We’ve published two other lamps by THINKK Studio – a wooden lamp that slots into a marble base and another wooden lamp held together by a red cord.

Other desk accessories we’ve featured include a silicone pen pot with a dish for paper clips and sharpeners and a solid concrete tape dispenser, pen pot and tray.

See all our stories about stationery »
See all our stories about lamps »

Here’s some more information from THINKK Studio:

Workaholic is a set of small items for working space or studying area including Truck, CementWood lamp, Foldo lamp and Truss Vases.

Truck

Truck is a little desk organizer which allow us to have fun and enjoy our childhood memories in order to recharge and refresh our imaginations as we were young again.
Materials: Ash wood , Powder coated steel
Dimension: 110 x 200 x H190

CementWood lamp

On this project, We provide more choices of materials for 2 main parts of the hanging lamp which made of concrete and wood. There are 2 different hand crafted techniques for making the same shape made of both materials. Wooden pieces are made by hand lathing while the concrete pieces are formed by rotational shaping process.
Materials: Ash wood , FRC Concrete
Dimension: 130 x 130 x H180

Foldo lamp

Foldo is a simple desk lamp, combined with wooden base and a single piece of folded steel which act as a lampshade.
Materials: Ash wood , Powder coated steel
Dimension: 250 x 150 x H290

Truss Vases

Truss Vases are inspired by metal structures which normally found in construction site. 3 shapes of wired steel can be insert on the top of concrete base for different flowers arrangement.
Materials: Concrete , Powder coated steel
Dimension: A.135 x 200 x H240 / B.135 x 200 x H350 / C.135 x 260 x H350

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THINKK Studio appeared first on Dezeen.