Hasta La Ideas

Milan 2014: an armchair made entirely from foam and designed by Canadian designer Philippe Malouin is being exhibited in Milan.

The chair, called Mollo, has been designed for British brand Established & Sons and is Malouin‘s first project for a commercial furniture brand.

The chair is made without any hard internal structure. The design aesthetic came about as Malouin was experimenting with the expanded polystyrene foam – an everyday foam that you might find in a mattress.

“We always knew we wanted to make something super soft and comfortable and [Mollo] kind of happened by accident,” said Malouin.

The seat and arms are created using stitches to make shapes in the material. “Imagine you are putting your finger on the foam, where that pressure is you place a stitch and that creates the seat which is lower than the armrests,” he explained. “This curves the foam is such a way that gives it its plumpness and shape.”

The prototype was made from a single piece of foam, but it will be produced using two pieces. The foam is upholstered in velvet.

Speaking about why he decided to work with Established & Sons, Malouin said, “they just came to the studio to meet me at the beginning of this experiment and they were interested in developing it. I rarely contact people because I’m too shy but I’ve always admired the brand and wanted to work with them.”

The chair is being shown until 13 April at 
Istituto dei Ciechi, 7 Via Vivaio, Milan.

The post Philippe Malouin creates “super soft” foam chair
for Established & Sons appeared first on Dezeen.

London Design Festival 2013: fluorescent lights are controlled by analogue toggle switches in this interactive installation by Faye Toogood for design brand Established & Sons (+ slideshow).

London designer Faye Toogood responded to Established & Sons‘ invitation to produce an installation for the London Design Festival by replicating the appearance of a giant equaliser inside the brand’s 550 square-metre showroom.

A hundred and sixty fluorescent tube lights flicker in alternating sequence and can be controlled by toggling switches mounted on a central switchboard.

The switches are embedded in blocks of coloured resin, through which the cables can be seen.

Beneath the switches the cables drop down through a metal mesh table and spill onto the floor, creating a tangled pile that carries current to the lights.

Iridescent panels fixed to the wall behind the lights are made from zinc passivated steel, a material commonly used to provide insulation from electronic interference.

Toogood developed the installation in response to a new series of colourful resin furniture by Japanese architect Jo Nagasaka, which Established & Sons is also launching during LDF.

Faye Toogood recently designed the interior for a London boutique with a bright white basement and a moody blue ground floor, and used raw concrete and colourful fabrics for the interior of a fashion store in Dubai. See more Faye Toogood »

Established & Sons launched a table supported by four chairs in Milan earlier this year and commissioned designers including Jasper Morrison and Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby to design benches for an exhibition at the V&A museum during last year’s London Design Festival. See more Established & Sons »

Here’s some more info from Established & Sons:

Established & Sons at The London Design Festival

14th–22nd September 2013
Established & Sons – A Vivid Interval
The Conductor

Established & Sons is delighted to announce an artistic collaboration with London designer Faye Toogood during the London Design Festival.

Faye has been invited to create an interactive installation at Established & Sons’ 6,000 square foot studio showroom. Titled, ‘The Conductor’ the creation will allow guests to watch and control a rhythmic symphony of light played out on a giant circuit board of iridescent zinc passivated steel – an industrial material used to provide insulation from electrical interference.

Echoing the graphic of an equaliser, 160 fluorescent bulbs fed by intertwined wires and cables, light up in alternating sequences. The circuit is completed by the audience themselves, who can ‘conduct’ this electrical spectacle from the centrepiece switchboard; itself an array of intricately pigmented resin blocks and archaic-looking analogue toggles, which operate the light orchestra. The result is a macro-electronic display that redefines the notion of son et lumière.

Maurizio Mussati, CEO of Established & Sons says, “We are delighted to welcome Faye Toogood to transform our showroom this year. Established & Sons provides a creative platform for innovative concept ideas inviting the use of visual imagination in design. Faye’s interactive creation will be an immersive and inspiring visual experience, with light and colour dancing across the eyes. It provides the perfect platform for the launch of our stunning new resin series, designed by Jo Nagasaka and should make a memorable impression. I recommend bringing a pair of sunglasses!”

Japanese architect, Jo Nagasaka’s new resin series, was the inspiration behind ‘The Conductor’; the idea of a symphony of colour and industrial materials. These stunning pieces; a coffee table, side table, credenza with sliding doors and a new chair, remain true to Japanese minimalist style whilst being elevated to avant-garde status through the use of brightly coloured resin.  The elegant and smooth finishing highlights the beautiful properties of the natural grain of the wood.

Opening Times/ 16-21 September:
10am – 6pm, 22 September: 12pm – 4pm
Established & Sons Showroom, 5-7 Wenlock Road, London, N1 7SL

The post The Conductor by Faye Toogood
for Established & Sons appeared first on Dezeen.

News: Sebastian Wrong has resigned as design director of Established & Sons, becoming the fourth of five founding partners to exit the British design brand.

Established & Sons was founded in 2005 by designers Tamara Caspersz, Mark Holmes, Alasdhair Willis and Sebastian Wrong together with Angad Paul of business group Caparo.

Renowned for its extravagant parties in the first few years, the brand was initially set up as a platform for British design and manufacturing but has more recently been working with international designers such as Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec and Konstantin Grcic.

Casperz and Holmes left Established & Sons in 2008 to set up the London-based design brand Minimalux, then Willis departed two years later to start The Anonymous Partner branding agency.

Last year Wrong launched The Wrong Shop, intended for leading designers to experiment with unorthodox production methods, at the Qubique design event in Berlin.

“I have been very privileged to have been part of the Established & Sons team from the very beginning and am proud of the great things we have achieved,” said Wrong in a statement. “Our vision as a brand has made a significant mark in the industry as a creative force that has inspired many. I am looking forward to concentrating on new projects at this time and wish the business every success for the future.”

Established & Sons is now led by Angad Paul and CEO Maurizio Mussati, who was appointed to the role following Willis’ departure.

Last year Dezeen filmed Wrong giving a tour of Established & Sons’ exhibition inside a former fire station Berlin Tempelhof airport as part of the design fair Qubique 2011.

More recently we featured Established & Sons’ exhibition of benches at the V&A museum as part of this year’s London Design Festival, which included designs from Jasper Morrison, AL_A and Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby.

See all our stories about Sebastian Wrong »
See all our stories about Established & Sons »

The post Sebastian Wrong resigns
from Established & Sons appeared first on Dezeen.

Designed in Hackney: today’s design icon created in the London borough of Hackney is Jasper Morrison‘s Crate Series. 

The range of yellow-pine storage units with coloured fabric hinges can be used as tables, cabinets and even a spare bed.

They were first presented in Milan back in 2007 by British brand Established & Sons, who are also based in Hackney on Wenlock Road. Morrison’s studio was located on Hoxton Square at the time and he’s since moved to Kingsland Road in Shoreditch.

See a larger version of this map

Designed in Hackney is a Dezeen initiative to showcase world-class architecture and design created in the borough, which is one of the five host boroughs for the London 2012 Olympic Games as well as being home to Dezeen’s offices. We’ll publish buildings, interiors and objects that have been designed in Hackney each day until the games this summer.

More information and details of how to get involved can be found at www.designedinhackney.com.

The Temporium: design brand Established & Sons present a collection products from their Estd. range at our Christmas shop The Temporium in London, including these storage jars inspired by the shape of space capsules.

The Store jars have cork tops and a matte glaze on the base to stop them sliding around.

Other Established & Sons products on sale include the pewter Pour jugs (above), Hang coat stand and Butt stool (below).

The Fold lamp by Alexander Taylor was one of the company’s first products and is made of a folded sheet of metal.

The Torch Light by Sylvain Willenz has a soft silicon case and references hand-held torches or car headlights.

See all our stories about Established & Sons here and watch design director of the brand Sebastian Wrong give a tour of their current collection in our movie on Dezeen Screen.

Dezeen presents The Temporium

65 Monmouth Street
Seven Dials, Covent Garden
London WC2H 9DG

Map

Telephone:
020 7503 7319

Dates:
1-24 December 2011

Opening times:
Monday – Saturday: 11:00 – 19:00
Late-night shopping Thursday until 20:00
Sunday: 12:00 – 17:00

More info: www.thetemporium.com