Hasta La Ideas

Milan 2013: Venetian designer Luca Nichetto presented a lamp with the height, size and luminosity of a TV in Milan last week.

Luca Nichetto describes the lamp for Italian brand Foscarini as “a new light typology which emits oblique light,” explaining how it throws light sideways to create a focal point in a room.

He called his creation Stewie after the cartoon baby in American television show Family Guy, referencing its “enormous egghead and spindly body.” He says: “This extremely friendly shape… becomes a kind of little person about the house.”

The piece is made of expanded polyethylene, covered with fabric normally used in the sportswear industry to reflect light around the cavity and create a soft glow.

Foscarini presented Stewie at Euroluce lighting trade fair alongside the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, where other lamp launches included pendant lamps by Zaha Hadid for Slamp and Konstantin Grcic’s reworking of Achille Castiglioni’s iconic Parentesi lamp.

Meanwhile in the city centre, Luca Nichetto unveiled a collection of furniture created in collaboration with Japanese designer Nendo.

See all our stories about Luca Nichetto »
See all our stories about design at Milan 2013 »

Here’s some more information from Foscarini:

An original take on the floor lamp, which develops horizontally and has stolen its name from a cartoon character.
Stewie, a Luca Nichetto design, is the new element for the house of today, brand-new, unconventional and friendly. It breaks the mould, choosing a light source that skims the ground, large sizes and a light, soft and flexible material.

To get the desired result, we selected a heat-shaped, expanded polyethylene covered by a particular fabric with the properties of a prism, adopting the same technology as used in the sporting world or for travel accessories. This particular combination of materials conveys a warm, soft aspect and lends itself perfectly to the idea, which gave birth to Stewie. Being heat-shaped, gives in fact maximum freedom to obtain the good-sized concave shape planned to reflect the light with a certain soft effect.

Stewie stands out for the visual impact of its shape, its size and the unusual light it emits. Even when off, it retains its theatrical characteristics and the distinctive personality which it brings to each environment: cutting across boundaries in use and unmistakable in shape, it is perfectly at ease, whether in the bedroom or the living areas as well as in communal spaces: use it in compositions to create comfortable lounge areas.

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for Foscarini appeared first on Dezeen.

Cologne 2013: Italian designer Luca Nichetto has created a lounge chair with a folding backrest for Finnish design brand One Nordic.

Luca Nichetto added concealed hinges to the backrest of the Hai chair so that it can fold down in transit, in line with One Nordic’s philosophy of cost-effective shipping.

The chair was shown at trade fair imm cologne last week as part of an installation by Nichetto imagining the house of the future.

One Nordic will also present the chair in three colour options at the Stockholm Furniture Fair in February.

One Nordic launched at last year’s Stockholm Design Week with an inaugural collection by Swedish studio Form Us With Love, followed by products including a stool held up by three curved legs inspired by skateboards.

See all designs by Luca Nichetto »
See all products from imm cologne 2013 »

Here’s some more details from One Nordic:

Hai by Luca Nichetto

One Nordic Furniture Company is proud to present a new lounge chair in a series of launches this spring. Hai sets the tone as the perfect combination of Italian inventiveness and Nordic functionality, designed by Luca Nichetto. The lounge chair was first shown at IMM Cologne where Nichetto, as “Guest of Honour” created his own vision of the perfect house – in the extensive expo “Das Haus”.

“Hai is a combination of functional requirements and stylistic values. The brief was to create an object of great quality and strong personality, while meeting the requirements related to packaging derived from the world of online sales,” says Nichetto.

Nichetto is the first non-Nordic designer to collaborate with One Nordic and the collaboration opens up for an interesting interpretation of Nordic design. Born in Venice, Nichetto has strengths in both classical and contemporary Italian references. However, fascinated about Nordic form, Nichetto opened his second studio in Stockholm in 2011, combining his Italian innovative heritage with his fascination for Nordic functionality. “Designing the Hai chair, I wanted to create a new product with historical reference. A product with Italian touch but with a typical Nordic way of sitting”, says Nichetto.

“We knew that Luca was perfect for this project, he has deep understanding for Nordic design. Having spend a considerable amount of time in Sweden he has the ability combine his Italian Heritage with Nordic functionality and form,” says Joel Roos.

Following the One Nordic philosophy of designing for effective shipping, the Hai chair is a welcoming character with a foldable backrest, using less space and less energy when transported. The concept for Hai is focused on a simple yet strong feature, a well-made lounge chair challenging the flexibility of online furniture retail.

The concealed hinges in the backrest enable the lounge chair to be transported at almost half the chairs original size and assembled without tools. The effective solution is a hidden well-designed value, remaining until the chair needs to be moved or transported again. “We want to challenge the status quo of online furniture retail by producing something as complex as a lounge chair adapted with an effective transport solution and easy assembly”, says Joel Roos Founder of One Nordic Furniture Company.

The chair will be available in three colours. Price and final colours collections will be presented at the Stockholm Furniture Fair on the 5-9th February along with the first launch of the full One Nordic Furniture Collection.

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for One Nordic appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen Wire: Venetian designer Luca Nichetto is to create an installation representing his ideal home for the Das Haus installation at trade fair imm cologne in January.

The first Das Haus was created by London designers Doshi Levien for this year’s event and you can see what they came up with in our earlier story.

The next imm cologne takes place from 14 to 20 January 2013.

See all our stories about Luca Nichetto »
See all our coverage of this year’s imm cologne »

Here’s some more information from the organisers:

After its successful premiere in 2012, “Das Haus – Interiors on Stage” is set to continue at the imm cologne 2013. In Luca Nichetto’s “Haus”, everything revolves around a centrally located living room that is intended to become the centre of a sustainable way of living that integrates nature.

The premiere of the new design installation format at the imm cologne was a huge success for both the trade fair and the designers. As guests of honour, designer couple Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien had the unique opportunity to blaze a trail for the future development of the series with their interpretation of this innovative new assignment. And that is precisely what they did: in their hands, “Das Haus – Interiors on Stage” became a crowd-puller that fully justified its location in the midst of Pure Village, the trade fair’s lively forum for interior design. In particular, the new conceptual approach of adopting a less abstract stance than previous formats and instead aiming to furnish the artificial architectural framework in lifelike fashion was welcomed across the board.

“Of course ‘Das Haus’ is about tendencies in current product and interior design as well,” says the imm cologne’s Creative Director Dick Spierenburg, summing up the public interest in a nutshell, “but what really makes this format so interesting for visitors and the public is that it is filtered through the personality of the guest designer.”

This time round, the guest designer is from Venice: Luca Nichetto, who comes from the famous island of Murano and has been strongly influenced by the glasswork of its craftsmen, sees himself as an autodidact. He is famous for doing things his own way. And so he has remained loyal to Veneto and the region’s infrastructure of design producers and subcontractors, a network that is rapidly gaining international significance. In 2006 he founded his own design studio in Venice’s Mestre Harbour, opening a second studio in Stockholm in 2011. His company develops designs for everything from sofas, chairs, office furniture, lamps and carpets all the way to glasses, vases and kitchen accessories. He is widely regarded as one of the most sought-after young designers in Italy and collaborates with a multitude of international brands, including Bosa, Casamania, Cassina, De Padova, Established & Sons, Foscarini, Fratelli Guzzini, Glass, Globo, Italesse, Kristalia, La Chance, MG Lab, Moroso, Offecct, Salviati, Skitsch and Tacchini. It is, he says, his experiences with the design culture that permeates everyday life in Sweden that motivate him to combine the modern, functional and democratic design philosophy of Scandinavia with the emotional, flamboyant tradition of Italy, which is geared towards craftsmanship just as much as it is towards speed. As in 2012, the imm cologne has thus selected a representative of the younger generation of designers who nevertheless has sufficient experience to largely furnish even an extensive living space installation like “Das Haus” with his own products.

With his plans for “Das Haus”, Luca Nichetto wants to pursue his growing interest in sustainable design. What particularly appeals to him about the project is the possibility of conducting a holistic experiment that goes far beyond the scope of pure product design. “Nature is often regarded as a combination of different elements located outside. Occasionally nature is there just to accomplish decorative functions, thus losing its vital essence and characteristics. When I think about the development of our contemporary human lifestyle, keeping in mind the objects I’ve designed, I imagine a house with a central ‘living room’ like a beating heart,” reveals Nichetto. He compares “Das Haus” with a small planet where the living room becomes as important as the Amazon Rainforest is for the earth: “A green lung that helps us live”. His “Haus” will thus become a study of the relationship between the macrocosm and the microcosm – an idea that draws its inspiration from a short film by Ray and Charles Eames entitled “Powers of 10”. “All the rooms will be linked to this ‘Green Heart’, which will transform my house into a totally eco-friendly container, with natural features incorporated into the high standard of living that ‘Das Haus’ provides for its inhabitants.”

At the next imm cologne in January 2013 Pure Village, where “Das Haus” is located, will be changing floors and moving to Hall 3.1, along with the D3 Design talents exhibition and the lecture forum “The Stage”. Pure Village was launched in 2010 as a conceptual and spatial extension of the Pure segment. With its systematically planned trade fair architecture and extended interior design offering, it has proved an ideal addition to the large-scale brand presentations in Hall 11. Under the title Pure, the imm cologne brings together presentations by brand-name manufacturers from a wide variety of segments who feel a special commitment to design. Anybody who wants to get an idea of the latest original interior design ideas and avant-garde designs from the wide spectrum on offer at the imm cologne will find what he is looking for here. The great demand for premium exhibition space calls for targeted expansion of the Pure format. The imm cologne 2013 will therefore see the addition of a third Pure element: Pure Editions, a platform for creative brands with visionary products and product concepts.
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at imm cologne 2013 appeared first on Dezeen.

Stockholm 2011: designers including Claesson Koivisto Rune, Front, Jean-Marie Massaud and Luca Nichetto presented furniture for incorporating plants into office spaces for Swedish brand Offecct at Stockholm Furniture Fair this month.

Top: Green Trays by Claesson Koivisto Rune
Above: Green Pedestals by Front

Called Oasis, the collection of planters, troughs and tables provide a system to facilitate planning vegetation for interior environments.

Above: Green Islands by Jean-Marie Massaud

Front’s design creates a pedestal for greenery with slim metal legs, while Claesson Koivisto Rune created galvanised steel trays elevated on legs.

Above: Green Pads by Luca Nichetto

Jean-Marie Massaud’s Green Islands incorporate plants into seating, and Luca Nichetto created a plant stand from interconnected dishes.

Above: Grip Vase by Satyendra Pakhale

More design for  plants »

Above: Window Planter by Claesson Koivisto Rune

Stockholm Furniture Fair took place 8-12 February. See all our coverage of the event »

The information below is from Offect:

OFFECCT launches a new concept called OASIS at the Stockholm Furniture Fair 2011. OASIS is an assortment of design products, which together with flowers and plants enhances and adds value to the work environment, not least through an improved indoor air quality. OASIS also offers possibilities to architects who are interested in adding green elements into their projects.

The focus of OASIS is to add value through a planned use of vegetation in public interiors, and not on the plants themselves. Research has shown that a deliberate use of vegetation in interiors will bring a number of advantages, including an improved indoor environment, an improved air quality, less noise and reduced stress. Green interiors also improve motivation and efficiency at the workplace, resulting in employees and customers feeling more at ease.

“OASIS is one of OFFECCT’s strategically most important investments in recent years. It’s not about the vegetation in itself, but on the added value that green environments creates. In line with our longstanding commitment to creating sustainable design, it was an obvious step to take creating conditions for better indoor climate and a creative work environment, says Kurt Tingdal, CEO, OFFECCT.

The first products coming out of the OASIS concept are designed by four of OFFECCT’s renowned designers.

“We are delighted that the first products resulting from our investment in the OASIS concept was designed by Front, Luca Nichetto, Claesson Koivisto Rune and Jean-Marie Massaud, says Kurt Tingdal.

Green Trays. Designer: Claesson Koivisto Rune.

Claesson Koivisto Rune’s contribution to the concept is Green Trays. Green Trays can be described as a large tray of galvanized steel for the placement of vegetation, and is manufactured in three different sizes.

“In our efforts to develop Green Trays it became clear that there are too few aesthetic and practical pieces of furniture that presents plants in an attractive manner in public interiors, says Eero Koivisto, Claesson Koivisto Rune.

“Our ambition was to design a product that provides space for vegetation in a way so that it becomes possible to integrate greenery in interiors, Eero Koivisto

Green Pedestals. Designer: Front

Green Pedestals enhances the plants with its elegant legs. Green Pedestals can be used as a room element, that for example functions as a room divider or creates a sort of an oasis. Some variants have dimensions that fits perfectly at the side of a desk, other fits in height next to a seat or a window. It is possible to add a seat or a table top to the round models, and by placing them in a row or in a group they form a sort of a bench that is surrounded by greenery.“We were inspired by traditional pedestals. We think that the pedestal is a fantastic piece of furniture that needs a revival. With slim legs that are slightly irregular Green Pedestals receives a kind of a personality” says Sofia Lagerkvist, Front.

Green Islands. Designer: Jean-Marie Massaud.

French designer Jean-Marie Massaud’s contribution the concept is Green Islands. Green Islands can be described as kind of a divan with space for vegetation, and by integrating a higher plant inside Green Islands, a relaxing feeling of sitting as under a tree is created. The key is that the vegetation is part of the furniture. Green Islands can be described as an island – or a kind of a refuge – that when placed in a public interior invite you to a moment of contemplation or a quiet conversation. Green Islands comes in two variants – one circular
and one square.

Green Pads. Designer: Luca Nichetto.

Luca Nichetto – one of Italy’s most promising designers – was inspired by the architecture in the 1950s when he took on the task of producing a product for the OASIS project. In the 1950s, vegetation was an integral part of architecture. As Luca began the development work he put a number of flowers in flowerpots on flowerpot saucers of different sizes next to each other. Then he removed the flowers and the flowerpots but kept the flowerpot saucers on the floor. These flowerpot saucers of various sizes formed a sort of pattern which was then reworked by Luca resulting in the piece of green furniture that has been named Green Pads.

“When I saw the pattern formed by the flowerpot saucers, I thought of Monet’s paintings in Giverny, and I find it hard to imagine a better starting point when designing a product for the OASIS project, says Luca Nichetto.

By combining a number of Green Pads next to each other, a feeling of a single object of greenery is created.

See also:

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Crystal Collection by Pour les Alpes	Harvest by Asif Khan	Rainforest by Patrick Nadeau

In Milan next month Venetian designer Luca Nichetto will present a chair painted to look like the surface is already wearing away. (more…)