Hasta La Ideas

The project LACESCAPE TABLE interweaves the threads of technology and tradition. It was devised by Croatian women lace-makers, and produced by robots…

Milan 2014: delicate patterns on this furniture and accessories collection have been created by sandblasting away the soft rings of timber lengths from a single fir tree (+ slideshow).

Dutch designer Lex Pott and online platform and design label New Window have collaborated to produce the wooden Diptych series. To create the patterns on each piece, the team removed the lighter softer rings created while the tree grows during summer by sandblasting and blowing away the material to leave thin gaps.

“In this way this project represents the DNA of a tree,” New Window founder Woes van Haaften told Dezeen. “You can read the climate in the tree because if the gap is big, it was a rich summer because the tree could grow. If it is small then it was a rough winter because it needed all the energy to stay alive.”

The designers used a particular Douglas Fir tree planted in the Dutch Veluwe forest around 1960 and cut down in 2013. Rubber stickers were added to the wood to act as guides during the sandblasting process.

The collection includes a room divider and totem, which both feature vertical patterns.

Cabinets feature a mix of vertical and horizontal patterns in either circular or rectangular shapes on the front of sliding panels. Diptych also includes smaller objects including a set of combs and matches.

“The title Diptych refers to the juxtaposition within each object of geometric and organic shapes, open and closed parts, control and freedom,” said New Window.

To accentuate the grain, the objects are finished using a combination of oil and wax.

Woes van Haaften started New Window in 2013 as an online blog that aims to give an insight into the specialist knowledge of various designers by inviting them to document the process of their work online for public consumption.

The collection was presented in the Ventura Lambrate district at Milan last week and has been collected in a book published by Frame Publishers.

Here is some more information from the designers:

Diptych – New Window × Lex Pott

Every object from the Diptych series comes from the same Douglas fir, therefore carrying the “1”, branded on each product.

This particular tree was planted on the Dutch grounds of the Veluwe around 1960 and cut down in 2013. All the processing of the material took place in the Netherlands, making this a project deserving of the title Made in the Netherlands.

The title Diptych refers to the juxtaposition within each object of geometric and organic shapes, open and closed parts, control and freedom. The patterns are created by covering parts of the objects with rubber stickers during the sandblasting process.

You can see the life of the tree in the wood: good summers give a wide annual ring, harsh winters a thin one. By sandblasting you blow away the soft rings of summer, leaving a wide gap.

Within the wood there are different colours: heartwood has a reddish hue, sap-wood is more yellow. To accentuate the wood markings, the objects are finished with a combination of oil and wax.

The post Lex Pott and New Window sandblast tree rings
to pattern furniture collection appeared first on Dezeen.

Milan 2014: fluid compositions of coloured glaze cover the ceramic tops of these metal-framed tables by German designer Elisa Strozyk (+ slideshow).

Strozyk created the table tops by covering them with different liquid glazes, which were then mixed together by rotating each piece and blowing air across the surface.

This technique makes the glazes “pool and mix together”, creating “traces of fluid movement and smoke-like patterns, which are solidified in the heat of the kiln,” said Strozyk.

Shades of grey, blue, brown and white swirl and blend together on the table tops, which have a reflective glass-like finish to them created by the glaze.

“Glazing clay is one of the oldest techniques to decorate products of everyday life,” said the designer. “The process of firing transforms the liquid suspension of metal oxides and powdered minerals into various glass-like surface-finishes.”

Strozyk also carved criss-crossing lines into the glaze on the surface of one table, allowing the ceramic base to show through the rust-coloured shades decorating the top.

The round ceramic tops sit on simple metal frames, which come in copper and steel and are available in three different sizes.

The tables were shown as part of the Berlin Design Selection in the Ventura Lambrate district of Milan last week.

Photographs are by Studio Been.

The post Swirling patterns top tables
by Elisa Strozyk appeared first on Dezeen.

Milan 2014: London studio Doshi Levien has designed an armchair for Danish brand Hay with a curving high-backed seat that resembles a traditional Japanese fan.

The Uchiwa chair by Doshi Levien takes its name and its rounded shape from a rigid hand-held fan, which is made from a circular piece of paper attached to a bamboo handle.

The chair’s moulded polyurethane shell is upholstered in either soft down with a quilted cover for use in domestic interiors or more durable moulded foam for the contract market.

Designer Jonathan Levien told Dezeen that Hay gave the studio an open brief to create a comfortable armchair, with the condition that it should also be affordable.

“In a sense it was as free as any other project in creative terms, only we had to make a piece with economy of production in mind,” said Levien.

The designers spent seven months developing the product – focussing on refining the upholstery process to reduce the amount of stitching required and achieve the required affordability.

“Most of the work in an upholstered piece goes into the stitching, so we found a way to minimise this while coming up with an expressive gesture through clever pattern cutting,” Levien explained.

The chair’s shell is injection moulded in a rounded shape ,with folds on the rear adding structure and creating sharp lines that contrast with the soft upholstery of the seat.

The expansive shell is supported by a compact oak frame that matches the curve on the underside of the seat and is also available in a stained grey finish.

An accompanying foot stool has also been developed and Doshi Levien is working with Hay to expand the Uchiwa collection by introducing a low back version of the chair.

Uchiwa was presented by Hay at their space during last week’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile. Doshi Levien also exhibited projects for several other manufacturers, including a collection of patterned rugs that reference tribal Indian embroidery, a cabinet resembling a multicoloured patchwork and a lounge chair with a woolly headrest.

The post Doshi Levien bases Uchiwa armchair for Hay
on a traditional Japanese fan appeared first on Dezeen.

Each year during Milan Design Week we look forward to checking in on brands whose work we continuously admire. Normann Copenhagen is always an inspiring stop, and during our visit to Salone del Mobile in 2013, newcomer ,…

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