Half rug, half sculpture, Elise Strozyk’s wooden rugs are unlike anything we’ve ever seen. They manage to overturn our concept of wood as a material – precisely as the German designer intended. By transforming wood into a sort of fabric that can be shaped and folded, an everyday experience becomes something remarkable and worthy of consideration. To create each object, a...
We like design /art that makes us cock our heads and turn round in circles, which is exactly why we so enjoy Norman Kelley’s Wrong Chairs. On display at Volume Gallery in Chicago through January 24th, Carrie Norman and Thomas Kelley revise the traditional Windsor chair. Using the American design ‘standard’, they explore and pry open what we perceive as ‘correct’ and ‘rig...
The next generation of Zaha Hadid’s Liquid Glacial table was unveiled yesterday at David Gill Galleries for an exhibition that will run until November 16th. A gravity-defying design, the table perfectly resembles a puddle of crystal clear water, frozen in time. At once fanciful and authentic, the table top is smooth and flat but reveals delicate ripples beneath the surfa...
An architect and urban planner since 1986, Edouard François is a graduate of the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris and the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées. He established his own studio in 1998 and has since been infusing the likes of France, India and Sri Lanka with his sustainability-focused projects. It’s easy to describe the flamboyant French architect ...
Paris-based architecture firm Jakob + MacFarlane specializes in making the impossible possible. Established in 1992 by partners Brendan MacFarlane and Dominique Jakob, the firm balances advanced technology with intuitive concepts to sculpt inconceivable forms and curves that have marked the landscape of France over the past 20 years with iconic buildings such as the FRAC...
Founded in 1979, the Pritzker Prize is considered one of the top distinctions in the field of architecture. Every year, a living architect is awarded the honor, and the 2014 winner is none other than Japanese architect Shigeru Ban.Known more for his temporary works of humanitarian architecture than permanent icons, Mr. Ban represents an anomaly in his field. His interest...
Patrick Norguet has traveled an enviable, atypical path in his career as an industrial designer. He has worked with some big names in fashion like Louis Vuitton, Lanvin and Dior creating scenographies, already has an iconic chair as part of MoMA’s permanent collection and has been consistently churning out furniture for the likes of Glas Italia, Poltrona, Kristalia and C...
With the Tetris House, the famous Brazilian architecture firm Studio mk27 achieved another tour de force and broke some new ground in the world of modern architecture. Mixing the classics (geometric elements materialized in a perfect mix of wood and stone, an amazing balance between organic and unnatural elements in the design), the Brazilian architects came up with a wi...
If interior design is probably not the first thing that you should look at when you choose a restaurant, we must admit that it has become the main factor in our decision-making process. The use of fresh, seasonal and local products, the quality of the service, the cleanliness (for crying out loud!)…we’re afraid that all of this comes second to design. Who cares about foo...
New trend alert! Maybe you too had the chance to notice a newcomer in the interior architecture and design arena. As most of what’s being done nowadays, it subtly mixes modern and traditional elements while opening new paths. Indeed, this “ribbing” technique – we’ll give it a name since it doesn’t seem to have one – uses modern computer design and traditional wood materi...
The movie adaptation of the E.L. James novel 50 Shades of Grey has just been released in theaters. You might be wondering what the racy flick has to do with design, but it turns out that when your character is a swanky businessman, chances are he also has a swanky apartment to match. Moviegoers will get an eyeful…of lamps from DelightFULL, a cabinet by Boca Do Lobo, a ta...
In 1964, Verner Panton’s FUN Lamp series was shown for the very first time at the Cologne Furniture Fair. The generous shape and gently reflective discs undeniably made an impression, provoking strong reactions across the board. Fifty years later, the FUN series has become a design icon and a staple of the VERPAN collection. For the fiftieth anniversary, VERPAN launche...
Sometimes, there’s nothing like a good slant. It turns a building from an ordinary rectangle into something more: a monolith, a colossus, a force of reckoning. Although far from uncommon, the slant is still rare enough to be an architectural unicorn with just a hint of gravity-defying magic. And with the increased use of solar panels, the slant is also sometimes a functi...
Bar cart, tea trolley or whatever you may call it, this fabulous rolling device can be the perfect home accoutrement. Whether it be a minimalist design or gold-plated shine, bar carts are a blank slate just waiting to be loved and accessorized. We’ve selected eight modern bar carts that we wouldn’t mind rolling around – decorated with our favorite martini, of course.
German-born, New York-based artist Markus Linnenbrink embraces color with open arms. In fact, the vast majority of his work is spent examining color and its impact. But he didn’t always throw himself wholeheartedly into the rainbow abyss. He even used to be a little frightened of color. We find this reassuring in lieu of the overwhelming sense of panic we feel when simpl...
British artist Steve Messam is known for his striking, temporary landscape installations. Most recently, the artist completed PaperBridge, a crimson footbridge made from 20,000 sheets of paper. Currently open to the public, the bridge spans a babbling brook in the Grisedale Valley of England’s Lake District. Two footpaths lead up to the bridge on either side, making it l...
In the wake of his melting facade and upside down building, British artist Alex Chinneck continues to work large-scale magic tricks with his latest installation. Titled ‘Take My Lightening but Don’t Steal My Thunder’, the piece perfectly replicates London’s iconic Covent Garden Market building, making it seem as if the upper portion of the 184-year-old structure has deta...
Last week, Basque furniture brand Alki debuted the world’s first bioplastic chair, Kuskoa Bi. The impressively smooth result of the plant-based polymer got us wondering: what other intelligent bio-composites are out there? We rounded up five chairs by five designers use some unlikely natural materials. Terroir by Nikolaj Steenfatt and Jonas Edvard Nikolaj Steenfatt...
Some partnerships just produce great things. Peanut butter and jelly. Cookies and milk. Will Bryant and Eric Trine. Their Staycation already inspired us to take a (very) long holiday, and now, we are digging the bright shapes of their Alley-Oop II collection. As a continuation of their work with Los Angeles retailer Poketo, the designers filled the gallery with improbab...
Japanese culture has taken over the world in the last few decades. Whether it is architecture, design or simply art, it is everywhere for a simple reason: it has been able to evolve quickly with time, while preserving a strong link to tradition. Looking at Hayao Miyazaki‘s movies for instance, one quickly realizes that Japanese symbolism is still very present in modern c...
As you may have noticed, our latest e-magazine has hit the virtual stands. We’re talking interiors, hotels, Scandinavian design and fabulous prefabricated houses. From the recent Pop Up House to Jean Nouvel’s prefab precursor, we selected seven noble representations of the genre. But there were many to choose from, and we couldn’t include them all, so we have created a l...
Tomorrow, Germany and Argentina will face each other in the 2014 World Cup final. The stakes are high and the pressure is on – only one can emerge victorious. In honor of this exciting day that only comes around once every four years, we decided to have our own showdown – an architecture showdown. So, who will win? Germany or Argentina? Let’s check out the line up for Ge...
Black houses hold a certain intrigue, perhaps due to the pure rarity of their existence. Black houses are the unicorns of the architecture world. That being said, we’ve managed to wrangle ten black houses that hold the intrigue for which they are known. Enjoy. Black Desert House by Oller & Pejic Architecture Oller & Pejic’s Black Desert House is located in the extr...
Berlin-based designers Essi Johanna Glomb and Rasa Weber are the young faces behind the design studio Blond & Bieber. Their innovative project, Algaemy, first made its appearance at DMY Berlin this past May and will be presented at the upcoming Dutch Design Week. Algae is an abundant and fast-growing material that has infinite potential. It has been studied as a replace...
Teamlab is a collective of Japanese designers and creative talents based in Tokyo. Their Floating Flower Garden installation, which was originally showcased at Tokyo’s Miraikan National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, was recently reassembled for Maison & Objet in Paris. Over two thousand orchids, suspended in midair, create a softly undulating canopy that int...
Your bookshelves are bursting at the seams. You frequently walk into traffic because you just can’t put down the latest bestseller. Good news, bookworms. You can now put your hobby (read: addiction) to use! Create a distinctive headboard out of old books! You probably don’t even have to stop reading while you do it. Not into DIY? Check out the headboards on ArchiExpo.
Blurring lines can be a messy business, but some do it well. Sebastian Errazuriz would be one of the skilled few. Born in Chile and based in New York, he dances between art and design like he dances between two continents. His exploratory and experimental work can be found in New York’s Museum of Art and Design, the Mint Museum, the National Museum of Fine Arts in Santia...
What happens when you regroup five young Swedish design talents under one roof? We don’t really have the words, but it’s not far from magic. CrayCollective is a Stockholm-based design collaboration consisting of five former Beckman’s College of Design students: Andreas Frienholt, Lotta Lampa, Lisa Berkert Wallard, Amanda Karsberg and Dennis Graben. Their first exhibit to...
It’s the most wonderful time of year! No, not Christmas. Halloween! Last year, we brought you the first edition of Creepy Design, and what a better way to celebrate our very favorite holiday than to bring you ten more creepy, crawly design products. (Warning: the following designs might provoke feelings of extreme discomfort.) Skin Chairs by Gigi Barker of Studio 9191...
Innovation. Experimentation. Imagination. Dutch Design Week presents a concentration of creative energy that is yet unmatched in Europe. Perhaps it stems from the Design Academy Eindhoven‘s hotbed of new talent or from the freethinking spirit of established talents like Piet Hein Eek. Whatever the source, Eindhoven’s industrial backdrop was overflowing with great design....
For the second installation of our Dutch Design Week favorites, we’ve chosen to focus on the crazy cool lighting designs that were making Eindhoven a brighter place. Enjoy! Fresnel Suspension Lamp by Dirk Vander Kooij Dirk Vander Kooij’s golden lamp could have descended from the heavens, but it’s actually made from recycled CDs and metal. The lamp gets its shape an...
After stumbling upon the colorful, sun-bleached photos of self-taught photographer Matthieu Venot, we immediately assumed that the French artist was documenting his sun-kissed beach life somewhere near Marseille, Antibes or Nice. However, it turns out that he is based in Brest! BREST! We have been to Brest, and it evokes neither sun nor color in our collective memories, ...
Young Belgian art and architecture duo Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout van Vaerenbergh of Gijs Van Vaerenbergh have created a steel labyrinth for the C-Mine Art Center in Genk, Belgium. The C-Mine Art Center is a former coal mine that has been transformed into a hub of creativity. It is at once cultural center, design center, cinema and incubator for young designers. For the n...
The Infinite Bridge by Danish architecture studio Gjøde & Povlsgaard Arkitekter invites visitors to put down their smart phone and take in a real, live panorama. Constructed as part of last month’s Sculpture by the Sea 2015 in Aarhus, Denmark, the circular bridge offers changing views of the scenic seascape to be shared and experienced with others. Johan Gjøde, partne...
Carl Kleiner’s Postures series is a collection of pictures of tulips held in various positions with wires. Documenting the surrounding world with his camera, he lets his photography serve as a medium for bringing his insightful visions to life. The fragility of the flower figures contrasts with either a black or white background, and as they hang in the air the flowers ...
The international trade fair Orgatec starts in less than two weeks. Modern Working Environments is the theme for 2014 – a theme which got us thinking. Long gone are the days of working 40 years in the same career, let alone for the same company. Modern workers are often mobile, agile and entrepreneurial. Flexible work environments are becoming standard and working from h...
