When he presented his work at this year’s Art Basel, he was known as an artist, but Sehwa himself prefers the term ‘furniture artist.’ He first made a name for himself with his series of Lighting Tables that look like plain birch wood until you plug them in to reveal the pattern underneath.

His recent work, however, leans towards more craft-based, one-of-kind furniture, made entirely out of wood. The work that blew away the crowds at Art Basel are from his Steam series that includes lighting and “sittable” pieces made from bent wood.




designer: bae sehwa



about perrin drumm

you tell your architect to bunch up the windows, the passage-ways, because you want immense uncluttered / neutral wall space to hang your art. on the other hand if you don’t have a ton of art you can tell the architect you wish your home to be the art statement. the armella house is such a house.






one wonders what one wears in a house like this. all white, black, or grey ? and one also wonders if after a time the color palette needs to be changed. that said, this is indeed a beautifully conceived and festive home built in mexico, rich in local colors.

Designer: bosco gutierrez cortina
Date: 1994

Designer: d’strict


thanks randy shear

above: in 2006, miyake took his biggest leap yet. he and his two collaborators opened 21_21 design sight in a tokyo building designed by tadao ando. “we always dreamed of a space in Japan,” says miyake, who promises “new and unprecedented solutions” from his unusual venture.





above: tokyo midtown is a new development with a range of offices, parks, shopping malls, apartments, restaurants and museums. the area around roppongi is well known for its many pioneering galleries with contemporary art, architecture and design.





below: “xxst century” exhibition starting on the first anniversary of 21_21 design sight’s opening in 2007, the question arises: where are we headed, now that we live in the century once hailed as the future?





in this show, exhibition director issey miyake has done extensive research to prepare for the show, which includes a wide spectrum of japanese and international creators, all of whom address today’s many doubts and insecurities through their own individual form of creative expression. above: yasuhiro suzuki beginning of time tokyo, 2007 – 2008





above: koutarou sekiguchi it’s departure at a bright night. maebashi, 2007





above: the wind installation in issey miyake’s creative room





above: stickman by dui seid





above: “the outline” exhibition – the unseen outline of things. exhibition design by naoto fukasawa and tamotsu fujii.







above: an ‘outline’ is a contour of something. it is also the boundary that delineates an object and its surrounds. since that which surrounds an object is air, the outline of a hole in the air that is shaped like an object is the same as the outline of the object itself. the air is also a metaphor for the atmosphere around that object. this air (atmosphere) is composed of everything that exists around the object – elements such as peoples’ experiences and memories; customs and gestures; time, circumstance and sound; technology and culture; and history and trends. should even one of these elements change, and the outline of the object changes too. people share this outline of the air implicitly. my job is to determine this outline and to design something that slots right into it. ~naoto fukasawa





above: the “post fossil” exhibition brings together over 130 works of 71 participants. this collection poses the question, “how will the designers of tomorrow look to past in order to invent the future?” as it “excavates” and analyzes new creative trends in and for the 21st century, which are embodied in materials, colors, shapes, processes, themes, images, techniques, and other elements, this exhibition searches for clues necessary for the human beings to live and define their future.






above: post fossil curator li ddelkoort.


more about 21_21 design sight

Resources:
architoniciconeye
dezeen
architectural record

while researching danish light artist, olafur eliasson, we come across a home by architect tadao ando. it is the tokyo guest house — gallery of businessman takeo obayashi.

above: note the N-shaped plan placing several courtyards in the middle of the house.





Located on a quiet residential street of unremarkable homes, the private and public faces of Obayashi’s house are clearly delineated by a wall of vertical laminated-glass panes. There are no visible doors. Behind the glass wall is an enclosed corridor with doors at both ends.

This is a critical space, an interlude between the inside and outside body of the house. “The entrance corridor is similar in concept to the engawa, or veranda, of a traditional Japanese home,” says Ando. “It is like the divide between the inner world of the house and the outer world of nature. I realized that Japan is the only place where this link between exterior and interior spaces was developed into an important architectural feature.”

Along the sky-lit corridor, rhythmic, almost hypnotic, shadows form geometric patterns. “I hope that as guests enter the house they feel a sense of expectation and excitement,” says Ando.





above: ando (left) and obayashi within the entrance corridor.


Ando’s houses favor centrally placed courtyards that illuminate dark interiors with light. As the natural light changes throughout the day, night and seasons, so do the interiors. “Nature is a crucial element of my residential designs,” he says. “It’s my intention to always introduce nature to its fullest extent.”

Interestingly the courtyards are often purposely placed in a way that requires inhabitants to walk through them between the main arteries of the house. Despite the inconvenience, residents say they enjoy the rain and snow falling within their home and don’t mind carrying an umbrella or even getting wet.

In the middle of the N-shaped plan the courtyard here is a dynamic space activated by Eliasson’s 6,800+ platinum-glazed ceramic tiles, a contrast Ando’s signature spare, concrete-and-glass spaces. The tiles surfaces changing in color and intensity depending upon the conditions of light. During the day a monochromatic gray.

The tiles could symbolize the multi-faceted life of the businessman-cum-art collector.





above: the tiles during the day a monochromatic gray.





above: one of two galleries on the subterranean level of the house holds pieces from obayashi’s collection of works by young Japanese artists. from left are paintings by aya takano, naofumi maruyama, kyoko murase, hidekazu tanaka and torawo nakagawa. at left a honey-pop chair by yoshioka.





above: on the subterranean level juxtaposing the contemporary lines throughout the home is a tea ceremony room created by ko uehara that was designed after konnichian, a historic kyoto tea room.





above: for the bar, designer tokujin yoshioka created a table and bench out of slabs of optical glass. The LED piece on the wall is by tatsuo miyajima.

Obayashi commissioned a collaborative effort between artists and architect, including Danish-born light artist Olafur Eliasson, Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka and Japanese lighting architect Shozo Toyohisa, who has designed lighting for exhibitions at MoMA in New York. “When Eliasson came up with the idea of working with the courtyard using ceramic tiles, I really liked it,” says Obayashi, who was hesitant to propose the idea to Ando. “Many architects want minimal change within their design. They want to speak with their own language. In Mr. Ando’s case, his language is glass, steel frames and concrete.”


Designer: tadao ando/architect, olafur eliasson/light artist


[via architectural digest] — photography by robert mcleod

The sculpture itself is a round, nest-like structure made of very soft spun yarn. It’s called Oshibe, the Japanese word for stamen, which is what each pod, five in all, were initially inspired by.

When each egg is placed in a stamen it glows and emits “tender, ambient sound.” The combined effect when all five are in action is like birds quietly chirping in a forest. Unlike the other products as ICFF, Oshibe might not serve a specific purpose or solve a problem, but touching the nest, placing the eggs and listening to the sound they make instantly relaxes you and sets your mind at ease, which is more than can be said about even the most cutting edge designs ICFF had to offer.

Designer: tomomi sayuda

about perrin drumm

Producer: character

ROHO™ is the latest addition to the historically trusted and reputable line of BPA-free Thermos® products. Influenced by global, political, cultural and environmental issues, the new reusable stainless steel hydration bottles feature a variety of vibrant designs to reflect personal style without compromising safety. Offering safety and convenience advantages over current bottles on the market, the ROHO collection raises the bar of what is expected from a hydration bottle.

“Hydration bottles may have a trendy design on the outside, but many are still made with unsafe materials on the inside where attention to detail matters most,” said Kim Flanagan, ROHO brand manager. “The ROHO collection finally combines everything you’ve been looking for in a hydration bottle.”

Uniting innovative design and safety, the ROHO collection hydration bottles are made from 18/8 stainless steel and polypropylene, which means there is no BPA, no aluminum and no interior coating to be concerned about. The long neck shape of the bottle provides an ergonomic hand grip, while beverage capacity is still a generous 24 oz.

The initial ROHO collection will be available in 18 different designs with a variety of colors and graphics offering new ways to express individual style and personality. Each ROHO stainless steel bottle can be identified from other hydration bottles by the distinct leak-proof red flip-top lid.

The striking lid design also features a one-hand push button and an integrated carrying loop.

“The ROHO brand name was inspired by our signature red lid and our global focus,” said Flanagan. “Rojo means red in Spanish, making the brand fun, approachable and memorable.”

The ROHO collection will be available at Target stores and at Thermos.com.
Price: $14.99-$17.99.
Producer: thermos

On occasion of Milan Design Week 2010 and the 49th International Furniture Fair of Milan, ProjectB is proud to present for the first time in Italy The Art of Chess, in partnership with RS&A London, which invited some of the world’s leading contemporary artists to produce the chess sets, previously exhibited in 2009 at the Reykjavik Art Museum.

It was the interest shown by the avant garde in chess that led to the development of artistic chess sets in the first half of the twentieth century. Many were the artists who were also chess enthusiasts – from Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray to Max Ernst, Alexander Calder, André Breton, Isamu Noguchi and Raymond Roussel – and it was back in 1944 that they first joined together to celebrate the game in New York, with the exhibition The Imagery of Chess at the Julien Levy Gallery.

The exhibition in Milan will be featuring seven life-size chess sets designed by the artists Tracey Emin, Tom Friedman, Damien Hirst, Barbara Kruger, Yayoi Kusama, Alastair Mackie, and Rachel Whiteread.

projectb
chess vibes

[creamglobal] and much more via creative potties.