Hasta La Ideas

Milan 2011: Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola presented this series of beech furniture for Italian brand Moroso at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan last week.

The collection, called Klara, is manufactured using both industrial processes and local hand-craft techniques in the chair-manufacturing district of Manzano, Italy.

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The following is from the designer:

Patricia Urquiola – Klare Collection

Klara is a wooden armchair designed by Patricia Urquiola for Moroso. The design works on a simple, linear aesthetic that is harmonious in its curved yet essential shape. The use of wood emphasises its lightness and elegance.

The structure is both functional and decorate, and calls to mind the first serial productions of the early 20th century (not least) due to the use of woven cane, a hand-crafted technique in practice in Friuli a century ago.

For its production, Moroso decided to work with the Manzano chair-manufacturing district, both in recognition of a production area that has represented Italian excellence in the production and industrial processing of wooden chairs for over a century, and because Moroso has always considered fine Italian, and in this case, local craft skills to be of great value.

The name Klara evokes a sense of tranquillity (Klare in German means clear, limpid, whilst the Spanish equivalent Clara communicates serenity). Thus this project also emphasises the importance of blending decorative art, craftsmanship and industrial design.

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Foliage by Patricia Urquiola	Bend-Sofa by Patricia Urquiola	Night & Day by Patricia Urquiola

Clear water flowing over polished pebbles: a natural and simple idea expressed in a clean and minimal way by Zeno’s design and traduced in an object w..

Milan 2011: French designer Pierre Favresse presented this collection of furniture with looping sections and bent ply at the Nouvelle Vague exhibition of new French design in Milan last week.

Called Perch, the series comprises a dining chair, rocking chair, coat rack, desk with a light in the hood and a reading chair with a shield on one side.

See also: Souviens toi que tu vas mourir by Pool at Nouvelle Vague

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Photographs are by Benjamin Le Du.

Here are sonme more details from the designer:

The Perch Collection consists of several pieces based on the same construction: a reading chair, coat rack, rocking chair, chair and desk with integrated light. With this collection I wanted to show a large family of functionalities working off the same principle.

Colour scheme harmony is also an important part of the project with each colour “coded” for a different function, or specific place.

Everything is made in birch wood with a basic cnc machine. Thanks to the School Boulle, Fabrice Chouard, Alain Mangaud Léo Perreand et Damien Herouard.

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Pivot by Raw Edges for Arco	Tabbed Chair by Scott, Rich and Victoria	Rewrite by GamFratesi for Ligne Roset

Milan 2011: London design studio Raw Edges presented this dressing table and a desk with hinged drawers for Dutch brand Arco at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan last week.

The piece is a development of the designers’ Pivot project for the brand, originally launched with a cascading two-drawer unit in 2008 (see our earlier story).

Two drawers hinge, rather than slide, out of the body of the cabinet, which is made from lacquered oak.

The desk and dressing table versions have shorter legs and either a deeper table top or recess for a mirror along the back.

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The following is from the designers:

ARCO AND YOUNG TALENT / NEW PROJECTS

Arco is launching several new products this year, and it is striking to note that a new generation of designers is increasingly playing a role in the composition of the collection. In order to further intensify its contacts with this generation of design talent, Arco is currently organising an unusual design project: ARCO OKAY – London designers do furnishings.

This collaboration with the London designers of the Okay Studio is a follow-up to the Arco 12 project which was organised in 2005 on the occasion of the company’s 100th anniversary.

Arco wishes to actively remain open to new ideas and challenged ten designers to create something in wood, based on the available production possibilities, which was totally different from the products in the existing collection.

A few years ago Arco started collaborating with a new generation of talented young designers at home and abroad. This approach is now bearing fruit. And, partly as a result, the company’s image is evolving. The solid and highly regarded collection that Arco has created over the years serves as a foundation from which the company can move forward with new élan.

Jorre van Ast took over the management of the family company on 1 January 2011. While preserving the highly acclaimed Arco style, he is adding his own striking signature as he slowly but surely expands the furniture collection that includes many bestsellers from the past. In keeping with its guiding principles, the company seeks to embrace innovation and sustainability while maintaining the same exacting quality standards and the traditional craftsmanship of the furniture maker.

Pivot Desk and Pivot Vanity design: Shay Alkalay, Raw-Edges Design Studio

The highly successful Pivot, a wall cabinet with two drawers, launched by Arco in 2008, has since been publicised and exhibited worldwide and has won various awards. The designer, Shay Alkalay, created the prototype in just three days. “No preparation, no research. It came to me just like that.” He made it shortly after completing his finals at the RCA in London, where he had been engaged in an intensive exploration of phenomena such as movement and gravity. “I didn’t ever make a real product at the Academy. I was just playing around. Pivot was the first piece of furniture to emerge from my research. It was loosely based on the mechanism of traditional sewing boxes and toolboxes.” The fact that the drawers hinge rather than slide makes it possible to open both drawers at the same time, creating a new typology.

There are now two different versions of the Pivot. Alkalay: “The Pivot is ideal if you don’t have much space, and also for things that don’t require much space. My mother-in-law thought it was the perfect make-up table. So I immediately made one for my wife Yael. It was not something I would ever have thought of. It also makes a very handy little work table with drawers – a writing desk that is just the thing for a laptop.”

The original cabinet has been made slightly lower and has been given an integrated desk top to create the Pivot Desk. The Pivot Vanity is a make-up table with a recess for a mirror in the top.

Product information: cabinet : lacquer and solid oak
top: solid oak

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Pinha by Raw Edges	The Coiling Collection by Raw Edges	Tailored Wood by Raw Edges

Switzerland’s newest design trio debuts their dead simple chair designed for taking it easy

A simple concept with an equally simple name, “Chair” has an extended backrest, designed so you can easily throw your arm over it and relax. Easily stackable and with a straightforward geometric form, on first take Chair looks like it might be one of Ikea’s more high-quality products. But, the brainchild of Arnault Weber, Camille Blin and Emmanuel Mbesse—the industrious trio behind the newly-formed A C E studio—the chair is actually produced by local artisans in Vaud, Switzerland with the designers overseeing every step. Nothing short of fully considered design, the sensible seat is the cornerstone of their Collection 1, a six-piece series of furniture made from Swiss ash that includes shelves, tables and lighting.

Weber explains the Lausanne-based project has its roots in a shared desire to “change the Swiss design scene. We really want to work together with designers from our generation and edit their work and also work with more famous designers.” A C E serves as both design studio and a platform for collaborators to sell their works.

The price for Chair is around €500, and can be ordered through the A C E website.