In anticipation of the second official NYCxDesign week and this weekend’s opening of ICFF, New York-based furniture studio Assembly Design paired up with textile innovators …
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Since 2010 Brooklyn’s Wintercheck Factory has routinely rolled out new designs across apparel and homeware, to furniture and lighting. While the urge to design across all platforms is still alive and well, founder Kristen Wentrcek…
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Milan 2014: Dutch designer Maarten Baas‘s circus-themed show at Milan design week, featuring a welded metal gum ball machine and modified arcade game, was created to “emphasise the circus that Milan is” (+ slideshow + interview).
Baas‘s show was installed in an empty garage in the new 5 VIE design district during the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, which took place from 8 to 13 April.
Visitors followed a red carpet that led them through a presentation with fairground music and surreal objects created specifically for the event, as well as some of the designer’s latest work for clients and galleries.
“The starting point was to emphasise the circus that Milan is,” Baas told Dezeen, adding that the event has become more about presenting photogenic objects for promotional purposes than retail-ready products.
“It hardly makes sense to develop a piece from A to Z and then present it in Milan because in the end it’s nothing more than a snapshot for sharing on Facebook, and the product is never sold even though it’s widely published,” he said.
Baas and his team spent three weeks in Milan producing pieces for the exhibition, many of which were deliberately fabricated to look good in photographs, but were, in fact, very roughly finished.
These pieces included a chair with a randomly shaped seat upholstered in a red fabric that was held together at the back with sticky tape.
To enhance the idea of creative freedom and that “everything was possible”, Baas exhibited new limited edition works for London and Paris gallery Carpenters Workshop Gallery alongside pieces made from polystyrene that were thrown out after the fair.
To tie in with the circus theme, Baas replaced the playful seats of rocking rides commonly found at fairgrounds or shopping malls with a range of adulterated alternatives including a welded metal box, an upholstered four-legged creature and a foil-covered blob embellished with coloured lights.
Inside two booths built against the walls of the exhibition space, actors dressed as clowns sat surrounded by everyday paraphernalia, representing Baas’s recent collaborations with Dutch theatre group De Kwekerij.
A gumball machine in Baas’s cartoon-like style dispensed oversized pills instead of sweets, while chairs and lamp shades were presented on a carousel with a stripy tree at its centre.
Summarising his thoughts on the overwhelming volume of products launched by design brands in Milan and the reason for his own avant-garde presentation, Baas said: “for the visitor [to Milan], your whole critical system is kind of wobbling in the end – you kind of swallow everything and that’s what I wanted to break open.”
The exhibition was coproduced by Ventura Projects, the organisation behind the Ventura Lambrate design district. It was presented alongside a separate show dedicated to the work of designers and companies with whom Baas collaborates, including Den Herder Production, Bertjan Pot and Nightshop.
Photography is by Kazoe van den Dobbelsteen.
Here’s an edited version of Dezeen’s interview with Maarten Baas:
Marcus Fairs: Tell us about the show you’ve set up in Milan.
Maarten Baas: In the Circus there’s a lot that reflects my ideas. The starting point was to emphasise the circus that Milan is and also that things are very much about showing nice pictures. It hardly makes sense to develop a piece from A to Z and then present it in Milan because in the end it’s nothing more than a snapshot to share on Facebook or whatever. And then the product is never sold, even though it’s widely published. So I think it’s not needed to develop the product totally. So I made a lot of improvised pieces that look good from one side and are taped together from the back side in order to anticipate that way or working.
That’s one thing and another thing that was important was that it was so crazy, I wanted to get rid of all the critical voices in your head saying “This is not done!” “You cannot do this!” All the things that in the creative process are blocking your creativity. I threw it all out, all the ideas, I put bronze next to polystyrene pieces, very expensive €40,000 pieces next to things that we are going to throw in the garbage after the fair. We cut a Bambi in half and made a trophy out of it, we made a rocket going through the sky, everything was possible and I wanted to explode all those ideas.
Also for the visitor, your whole critical system is wobbling in the end. You kind of swallow everything. That’s what I want to break open.
Marcus Fairs: Describe the show for people who haven’t seen it.
Maarten Baas: We’re here close to the Duomo, five minutes walk from the Duomo. I always like to be not in the popular zones. This is a new zone called 5VIE and it’s a kind of garage. Since I’ve put a circus in it you could say it’s a circus tent. It’s an open space where I put all my pieces around a red catwalk carpet. You walk in one direction and go around all the pieces in a certain order and then you go out having seen the entertaining show.
Marcus Fairs: You have some kiosks with actors dressed as clowns in them.
Maarten Baas: I collaborated a lot this year with other artists, other designers but also theatre people. Also last year I designed a set for a theatre play in Holland. I see design in the widest sense of the word as anything that is creative in whatever way and where the creativity becomes reality or hits the market. I want to use design as a platform where everything like that can happen. So theatre and music and all kinds of things that are somehow connected.
The post Maarten Baas’s surreal solo show created to
“emphasise the circus that Milan is” appeared first on Dezeen.
Though it’s simply called “RUG,” it’s much more than that! At first glance it looks like your average shag, but pick it up and you’ll see that you can flex it to become an instant place to plop your bum down. A multifunctional rug… who woulda thought?!
Designer: YOY
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Yanko Design
Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Shop CKIE – We are more than just concepts. See what’s hot at the CKIE store by Yanko Design!
(A Bum-friendly Rug was originally posted on Yanko Design)
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Milan 2014: Japanese architect Jo Nagasaka has created a collection of spongy seats by tying up blocks of foam and dipping them in rubber.
Nagasaka, who is principal of architecture studio Schemata Architects, based the Shibari series on the traditional Japanese art form of the same name, which means “to tie something with string”.
The series, created for Japanese design brand Ichiro Inc, was presented at Spazio Rossana Orlandi during the Salone del Mobile in Milan earlier this month.
To create the pieces of furniture, foam sheets were folded and tied up into bulging forms with rope. They were then dipped in a rubber coating. Each piece is a different irregular shape and comes in black or white.
Different types of furniture – stools, sofas or tables – can be created by varying the way the foam is folded and tied. The lightweight items can then be carried around by using the knot as a handle. “We are envisioning furniture that generates different activities according to what we tie and how we tie,” said Nagasaka.
Shibari is reputed to have evolved from Hojo-jutsu, the martial art of restraining captives by tying them up with rope. Samurai warriors honoured high-status captives by binding them in elaborate and flattering ways.
This later evolved into Shibari, an erotic form of bondage that involves tying up the human body in such a way that the knots and ropes act upon pressure points to create an effect similar to shiatsu or acupuncture.
See all our stories from Milan 2014.
Photography is by Hirotaka Hashimoto.
The post Foam dipped in rubber becomes
seating by Jo Nagasaka appeared first on Dezeen.
Milan 2014: this plastic table by Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka for Italian brand Kartell resembles cut glass.
Tokujin Yoshioka‘s Twinkle table for Kartell refracts light in a similar way to crystal glass. “The table explores a new possibility of plastic,” said Yoshioka. “Twinkle is a table that shines like a crystal by reflection of light.”
The polycarbonate breakfast table is made using injection moulding, a manufacturing process that allows for a table size that would not be possible to create from glass.
Changes in the thickness of the material created by the shape of the mould produces a prism effect.
With a square base, the table features shallow grooves that run along the single pedestal leg and spread out from the centre beneath the larger square table top.
The table was exhibited at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile 2014, which concluded on Sunday.
The post Plastic table by Tokujin Yoshioka for Kartell
sparkles like crystal glass appeared first on Dezeen.
Milan 2014: cushions scattered on the Nubilo sofa by French designer Constance Guisset look like a collection of giant pebbles (+ slideshow).
Constance Guisset designed the Nubilo sofa for French brand Petite Friture, with round cushions in different sizes and colours that can be rearranged to optimise comfort.
“Nubilo is a sofa made of several round and organic cushions that can be arranged to maximise cosiness,” said Guisset.
The cushions rest against a gently curving back of upholstered foam, which surrounds one side of the elliptical seat.
Coloured fabric covers and the imagination of the sitter can transform the grey pebble-shaped cushions into other objects and create different settings.
“It becomes the place where dreams take the occupant, a springboard to imagination and musing,” said the designer. “Either a cloud, balloons, a sea, anemone, an algae, pebbles…”
The sofa is fully upholstered, with the back and seat available in different shades. It was exhibited on Petite Friture’s stand at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, which concluded on Sunday.
The post Nubilo sofa by Constance Guisset for Petite Friture
offers pebble-shaped cushions for comfort appeared first on Dezeen.
Milan 2014: what started as a conversation between Swedish furniture brand Offecct and Milan-based Fattorini+Rizzini+Partners at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in 2013 has come full circle with the launch of the MEET sofa (+ slideshow).
“Our very first meeting during Salone del Mobile in 2013 quickly turned into a fascinating philosophical discussion about what informal meetings mean, and from there Fattorini+Rizzini+Partners have carried out this project perfectly,” said Offecct design manager Anders Englund.
Design studio Fattorini+Rizzini+Partners‘ brief for MEET was for a sofa fit for different types of activity, from work and informal meetings to casual time.
“When we work on projects aimed at the environment between office and residential space, we always want to see and feel how this product will actually work in a space so it can be of full service to the people who will use it,” said chief designer Robin Rizzini.
“We wanted to create a sofa that gives you the feeling of being virtually anywhere,” he continued. “Offecct’s new sofa system MEET is designed for this purpose. Its functions address Offecct’s main areas: the sustainability and sound absorbing qualities of their products, the importance of injecting life through plants in indoor environments and Offecct’s craftsmanship in working with wood and fabrics.”
MEET was shown on the Offecct stand at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile last week.
The post Fattorini+Rizzini+Partners’ MEET sofa combines
“sound absorption” with versatility appeared first on Dezeen.
From fashion to photography to furniture, recent years have seen a shift in the creative world’s overarching palette from highly saturated primary colors to a soft range of light corals, sea foams, baby blues, pale yellows and pinks. Some tones lean toward a more shimmery, nacreous vibe that melds well…
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Swedish architect and designer Mia Cullin has produced a range of benches and stools with adjustable seats modelled on traditional wooden peg furniture and piano stools.
Mia Cullin‘s Orkester collection features benches with two or three seats as well as individual stools. The flat circular seats are attached to cylindrical pieces of timber by large wooden screws.
Four wooden legs are splayed from beneath the horizontal section of wood.
Mia Cullin said the design was influenced by a type of piano stool with an adjustable seat and “simple traditional wooden furniture assembled with plugs without any screws or metal fittings”.
“As the seats are adjustable, you can choose the height suitable for you but still sit next to your friends, parent or child,” explained Cullin.
The furniture is made entirely from ash wood, without the use of any screws or metal fittings. It was designed for use in schools and nurseries, but can also be used in waiting rooms, entrances and other public spaces.
The benches and stools come in natural or stained colour variations. Photography is by Mathias Nero.
The post Mia Cullin models wooden benches
on piano stools for Orkester collection appeared first on Dezeen.
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