Hasta La Ideas

Product news: the repeating arches of these colourful chairs designed by Spanish architecture studio Arquitectura-G were inspired by the use of forced perspective in Renaissance paintings.

The Claudio Chair by Arquitectura-G has a seat that narrows at the front, bringing the front legs closer together.

When you view the chair from the back, you can see its front legs as well, an effect that creates a false vanishing point.

As well as the four colours in production, the designers have launched a series of 43 one-off chairs, each in a different colour, which can be placed side by side to form a full circle resembling a colosseum (see bottom image).

We previously featured a couple of architectural projects in Barcelona by Arquitectura-G – an apartment renovation with built-in mezzanine levels and another apartment with sliding and folding doors between each room.

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Photographs are by Arquitectura-G.

Here’s some more information from the architects:

INDOORS is a section of the architecture office ARQUITECTURA-G. It focuses on the interior rearrangement of the urban apartment, suiting it to the contemporary dwelling culture. With the very same philosophy, INDOORS also produces its own furniture, Claudio chair being part of it.

The starting point of the Claudio chair’s design is the arch as an element and its repetition. The arch, traditionally related to heavy solid construction rather than to the framework, is here decontextualised, using it in a small scale piece made out of thin wood planes.

The lower part of the legs is rounded so each one only leans on a single point. Then, the legs make up an L-shaped cross-section which transforms into arches in each plane, making the joints under the seat stiff. To form the back, the rear arch grows without touching the seat – a horizontal plane that reinforces the categorically geometrical character of the piece – until it reaches the proper height.

The trapezoidal form of the seat breaks the formal purity of the whole, giving in exchange a fake illusion of vanishing point, in the same way as the forced perspectives of the Renaissance and the paintings of Chirico.

Material: Lacquered MDF
Design: ARQUITECTURA-G
Edition: INDOORS
Design year: 2012

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Arquitectura-G appeared first on Dezeen.

Berlin-based designer Uli Budde placed a flat disc above the bulb of this lamp so that it looks like a hot air balloon taking flight.

Balloon, which was created by Uli Budde for Slovenian lighting brand Vertigo Bird, consists of a bulb in a cylindrical base with a thin aluminium disc leaning over it.

Inspired by antique oil lamps and candle holders, Budde used the disc as a circular reflector to diffuse the light from below, producing a warm glow.

The resulting shape leaves room for our own associations, according to Budde. “Is it a balloon soaring into the air, a small glowing sun or an oversized light bulb?” he asks.

The lamp is made from lacquered aluminium and plastic and is available in white or yellow.

Balloon was shown in Copenhagen last week and will appear in Zurich from 23-25 November as part of the international design fair Blickfang.

Other designs inspired by balloons we’ve featured on Dezeen include a desk supported by giant Jenga blocks at one end and balloons at the other and a light that looks like a helium balloon stuck to the ceiling.

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Here’s some more information from the designer:

Balloon is a table lamp generating diffused, ambient lighting.

Balloon owes elements of its forms to the typical antique oil lamps and candle holders with a reflector placed behind the flame to reflect and direct the light. Besides, the idea that we often consider the moon to be a light source (next to fire and the sun, for example) although it is just enlightened by the sun, gave the stimulus to work with indirect light.

The lamp’s light source is situated inside a cylindrical base. Light shines upwards and lights the reflector, which tilts forwards, re-directing and reflecting a diffused glimmer of light. Through its simplicity and figurative character, the lamp leaves room for associations and fantasy – is it a balloon soaring into the air, a small glowing sun or an oversized light bulb?

For the special exhibition format called ‘blickfang selected’, five renowned personalities from the design scene have chosen young talents involved in furniture design. Uli Budde has been invited as one of them by Philipp Mainzer – architect, designer and co-founder of furniture brand e15 – to present his work at blickfang Copenhagen in Øksnehallen from 9-11 November, 
blickfang Zürich in Kongresshaus from 23-25 November and 
blickfang Basel in Messe Basel from 8-10 March 2013.

The lamp is available in White and Yellow.

Design: Uli Budde
Producer: Vertigo Bird
Year: 2010/11
Light source: 9W energy-saving fluorescent light
Material: lacquered aluminium, plastic parts
Size: 280x425x135mm
Colors: matte white/matte yellow

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for Vertigo Bird appeared first on Dezeen.

Montreal-based designers St Ely have created a sofa made up of three interchangeable modules with sliced-off corners.

St Ely is a collaboration between industrial designer Eugenie Manseau and architect Hubert Pelletier. The seating has been launched by Lerival, an American design house that connects furniture design with architecture.

The design was inspired by the comfortable, angled back of old 1920s and 1930s couches and combined with the orthogonal rigidity of contemporary furniture.

Folding the ends of each module creates an angle between the back and sides, which the designers liken to ears.

“Most modular sofas are a continuous piece sliced up,” Pelletier said to Dezeen. ”We wanted to subtly stress the idea of the individual units and the act of combining these units together.”

“The fold at each end is the dominant detail of the design and creates a repetitive motif when many units are assembled,” he continued.

A key consideration for St Ely was the impact of the piece on the surrounding space: “A large piece of furniture like a sofa can be used to articulate the architectural space, divide rooms and underline functional transitions in space.”

“We think the back view is as important as the front or side view. By expressing the fold on the back side we created a formal detail that is coherent with the front view and that animates the back side,” Pelletier added.

More modular seating we have featured on Dezeen includes triangular sofas that tesselate to create different forms within a space and a modular seating system that encourages interaction between people.

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for Lerival appeared first on Dezeen.

The steel beam running through this compact bicycle by British industrial designer Ben Wilson means it can carry heavy loads on its front and rear platforms (+ slideshow + movie).

Ben Wilson came up with the Donky Bike after noticing that mountain bikes were being used on city streets. “Bicycle use in London was growing rapidly, but many of the bikes on the street seemed unsuitable for urban use,” he says, explaining that he wanted to combine the load-carrying ability of a Dutch model with the strength and simplicity of a BMX.

The resulting design has compact 20″ wheels and is designed to handle well even when moving through traffic at low speeds, as the weight of its cargo is distributed through the steel beam rather than hanging off the handlebars.

Wilson tested different methods of attaching cargo but settled on the standard bungee cord, as it offers the most flexibility and is widely available.

To park up, riders can either lower the footstand or stand the whole thing on end so that it rests on its rear platform and wheel.

It comes in lime green or black. It’s also made from widely available components that are easily repaired or replaced, ensuring its longevity.

Wilson studied on the Design Products MA at the Royal College of Art in London before opening his studio in east London. We’ve featured two of his other projects on Dezeen – a pedal-powered car that’s framed by a neon tube light and a unicycle that places its rider inside the wheel.

We’ve featured lots of other two-wheeled transport on Dezeen, including a folding bicycle with full-size wheels and a road bike with a frame made of steam-bent wood.

Above: photograph is by Jens Marott

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Above: photograph is by Jens Marott

Photographs are by John Selby except where stated.

Here’s some more information from the designer:

Donky Bike is a versatile load carrier designed to be ridden easily and safely with whatever you need to take with you. The cargo load is carried on the frame, not the handlebars, so the steering and handling remain light and balanced. The Donky is made with a tough steel frame equipped with simple low maintenance components.

The idea behind Donky bike was to create an affordable, practical bike which has a large load carrying capability. With great handling and steering, even at low speeds through traffic and when loaded with cargo. The idea was to build a bike that will last a lifetime, with durable components that can be added, repaired or replaced anywhere in the world, and is easy to build, ride and maintain. A bike for life, not landfill, a Donky bike is built to last.

The racks on the front and back are removable for storage, and in the future, Donky bike will offer further accessories which will be able to clip onto the frame. Compact strong and easy to ride – Donky is now in stock. One size, two colours.

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by Ben Wilson appeared first on Dezeen.

Interieur 2012: Dutch designer Richard Hutten has created a series of sofas and armchairs designed to resemble the icons on a smartphone screen.

Richard Hutten launched the Apps collection for Dutch brand Artifort at the Interieur design biennale in Kortrijk, Belgium, last month. “On the one hand, it is a very simple and therefore timeless design,” says Hutten. “On the other hand, it is entirely contemporary thanks to the flowing forms and a basic shape that appears to be based on icons displayed on a smartphone.”

The range includes an armchair and two-seater sofa, covered either in a single fabric or two contrasting ones. The seats are made with a wooden frame upholstered in foam and include webbing in the backrest. Prototypes of the Apps collection were first presented in Milan last April and the range is now going into production.

Artifort was founded 120 years ago as an upholstery company in Maastricht. “For me, Artifort is part of our national heritage,” says Hutten. “The quality of the designs dating from the 1960s in particular is very high and my ambition is to revive that golden era.”

Hutten founded his own design studio in Rotterdam in 1991 after graduating from the Design Academy Eindhoven and was a leading figure in Droog Design at its inception in 1993. Past projects featured on Dezeen include traditional oriental rug patterns stretched into stripes and leaf-shaped fridge magnets. See all our stories about design by Richard Hutten.

Interieur 2012 took place from 20 to 28 October and highlights included Troika’s arcade of light beams bent into gothic arches and Ross Lovegrove’s car shaped by instinct rather than science. See all our stories about design at Interieur 2012.

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for Artifort appeared first on Dezeen.