stool 60 | alvar aalto | artek | 1933 | click > enlarge
The 1930s marked a breakthrough decade for Alvar Aalto both as an architect and a designer. Stool 60 was first introduced to the international public at the Wood Only exhibition in London in November 1933, to rave reviews – making 2013 Stool 60’s 80th anniversary. The simple, stackable and durable wooden stool represented a new approach to furniture design, and a continuation of the brand of modernism initiated by Bauhaus. The use of wood instead of bent steel was revolutionary at the time. Aalto spent years developing the L-shaped leg at the Korhonen furniture factory. The development of Stool 60 also took several years. Aalto kept testing different technical solutions together with the experts of the factory. The result of their collaboration is a durable and modern technical solution that later on led to the creation of many other classic designs.
stool 60 | mike meiré | artek | 2012
In 1935, just a few days before the founding of Artek, the Municipal Library in Vyborg opened and Stool 60 was used for the first time in a public building. Stool 60 represents a crystallization of the values of Artek concerning the importance of technology, art and ethics. Stool 60 is the number one seller of Artek products and one of the most famous design products of the world.
Throughout 2013, Artek will introduce a series of stools, designed by well-known architects and designers, commemorating the anniversary. This month, we are featuring the stools by Mike Meiré (seen above).
Learn how these colorful stools are put together in this short video:
stool 60 | alvar aalto | artek | 1933
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Netherlands-based furniture designer Frederik Roijé was apparently inspired by tiered rice fields he saw during his travels for his new Tablefields. Manufactured in Holland from a single sheet of folded metal, Tablefields reminds us of the classic nesting tables made iconic by Bauhaus designers Breuer and Albers. We’re seeing more and more designers starting to craft the metal parts of their products from single sheets, and are loving how the constraints of the energy and cost effective manufacturing process have pushed designers into new directions.
Tablefield’s three-tiered top is mirrored with three lacquered ash legs. It’s available in four colors and we can’t decide which one we like best, classic black or white or one of the two pastel color choices, though we’re leaning towards the machine green.
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Mexican design studio Pentagono has just released Nodo, a brand new line of fiberglass furniture that takes a simple, rectangular form and increases its strength and stability by adding thread-like fiberglass connections. The placement doesn’t matter as much as the quantity of them, so the more random points of connection the stronger the bookcase (or other piece of furniture) becomes.
According to Pentagono, the collection is inspired by the idea that “the entire universe is shaped from multiple connections that are arranged according to their capacity to give structure.” We like how an empty bookcase, when viewed from a distance, has no clear shape – you can’t tell which of the fiberglass threads are in the foreground or background, but once you add a couple of books it takes shape. Still, we agree with Design Milk that this collection looks like a pain to dust.
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Last year UK furniture designer Nick Rawcliffe released his cast aluminum Ribbon stool in a limited edition run of 100. Available in a brushed or polished finish, the form, which is inspired by charity ribbons, is almost more sculpture than stool. They sold out, but now UK distributor Deadgood has released an upholstered, slightly more affordable version of Ribbon stool made from recycled plastic, foam and fabric in a “cutting edge” production method that involves a “rotational molding process.” The form is then upholstered in beautiful, high quality Kvadrat Divina 3 & 2 fabrics. Cloaking the sleek, silver version of the stool in bright, friendly colors makes the design much more universal and appropriate for galleries as well as in the home.
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The latest product designed by the Nordic furniture studio | click > enlarge
KnudsenBergHindenes is thankfully a lot easier to pronounce than their name. Plank, which debuted last month and was just awarded “Best Product” at Interør & Bolig Furniture Fair in Grieghallen, Norway, is a solid wood sofa bench inspired by the “massive broad floorboards” from Dinesen Douglas, which specializes in extra wide flooring products.
The back and seat are made from a single piece of solid spruce with clean, seamless interlocking joinery (the image below shows how the back fits easily into the seat). Plank is made from Douglas Fir, a wood known for for producing long, broad planks. “We wanted to use the plank in all its impressive grandeur,” said founding partner Steinar Hindenes. “We aspired to create a floating seat that gives a sense of weightlessness.”
Dinesen must have been impressed, because even though Plank is still a prototype, the company sponsored the studio’s project, which allowed them to show it at 100% Norway during London Design Festival. They’ve also developed a version with an integrated, inset side table in neon yellow.
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Inspired by the human – let’s call it a tendency, not a failing – to lose objects in the creases of our sofas, Tokyo-based architect Daisuke Motogi created Lost in Sofa, a comfy armchair that embraces that tendency with slits designed specifically to hold objects like notebooks and slips of papers. It can also be used to display flowers or postcards, and its flat cubes can support mugs of coffee. No, it won’t help you hold onto loose change, but I love how the problem of losing items in couches got Motogi thinking about the functionality of couches in general, and ultimately led to this design. Start saving your pennies, because although shipping is free Lost in Sofa costs $1,225.
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One day when I have a couple thousand quid lying around I’ll treat myself to one of Young & Norgate‘s buy-it-for-life home furnishings. The small design group makes all of their products by hand (“we make, not manufacture”) in their Devon workshop, using high quality, high price materials. THey hand select FSC certified timber from local suppliers and source premium leathers tanned and dyed in Scotland, while their iron work is done in New York.
Each pice in their pared down collection is made to order and is one of a limited edition of 100. Since each item is made for a particular buyer, you can specify details like the type of wood, the finish or the color of the leather. No project is too big or too small, “from umbrella stands to custom made libraries.”
With my penchant for writerly paraphernalia, I fancy the Animate Writing Desk. It has a slim profile and a tray sunken into the pullout drawer, which is lined with red leather (or color of your choice). I love details like the contrasting wood finish on the drawer pulls and the outer panels, giving it a kind of racing stripe on either side. And while I’m at it I might as well spring for the coordinating Animate Bedside Table, with contrasting American Black Walnut and bright formica. I know, formica! It’s great to see unexpected materials used in high quality craftsmanship, especially in retro baby blue. Take a behind-the-scenes tour of their workshop.
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Say the words molded plywood together and we immediately think of the classic Eames chair. Though its seat is molded to accommodate our posterior and is by no means uncomfortable, its sit-abilty is vastly improved by a cushion. However, emerging designer Hyeonil Jeong was able to take the same materials and create a seat that flexes to provide a cushier seat.
Jeong does use one material that the Eames, to my knowledge, never did: bungee cord. While his Caterpillar Stool has a more or less traditional frame, the seat is made from slats of CNC-cut molded plywood woven together with bungee cord, which acts like a shock absorber when you sit down on it.
“No matter how stiff each piece is, flexible relation makes an smooth flow. Its elastic connection allows an organic surface movement despite the rigidity of ply-wood material.”
I love how the seat, when unoccupied, arches upwards with all the slats fitting nicely into place and running smoothly alongside one another. But when you sit down the seat flexes to support you and the slats shift, forming a jagged layer underneath. I’ve been noticing a trend towards woven elements in furniture in general this year, but I’ve never come across a product that strings pieces of wood together to give the material a whole new functionality.
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I love it when form mimics function. In this case Swiss design duo Bernhard Burkard has come up with a clever iteration on the patio chair with Curt, a deck chair that works by leaning it against a wall, giving it a profile as relaxed as the sitter’s. The frame is made from local ash or beech wood, one end of which is treated with an anti-slip coating that provides stability. It may look precarious, but Bernhard Burkard assures us that it’s completely safe and perfectly functional. The simplicity also makes it a prime candidate for some color play. The untreated wood and white cloth are quite nice, but Curt could really pop with some bright yellow or aqua fabric and a contrasting painted frame.
Curt is made at Altra, a workshop in Schaffhausen, Switzerland that employs people with mental or physical disabilities. You can buy the chair directly from the designers for $260.
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stool 60 | alvar aalto | artek | 1933 | click > enlarge
stool 60 | mike meiré | artek | 2012
stool 60 | alvar aalto | artek | 1933
