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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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Last month Hackney-based Group Design launched the simple, purpose-driven 490 Desk Lamp. The base, stand and shade are laser-cut from a single piece of powder coated 1.5mm steel formed into shape by a few simple 90-degree “folds.” The minimal body is balanced by a retro fabric cable in contrasting red or silver.
The warm, glare-free light source is a low, 3 watt LED that produces about 240 lumens, equivalent to a 12V 20W halogen bulb. The light can be controlled with a touch dimmer, making the lamp suitable for the beside as well. All the parts can be completely recycled at the end of their life, though with a light that lasts 50,000 hours you might not ever need to. If you run the lamp all day long it will last for 2,083 days, or almost six years, and if you use the lamp every day for an eight hour work day, the LED will last over 17 years without needing to be replaced, making it the best £150 you’ll spend this decade.
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Hardly just Another Ceramic Candlestick, Marie Dessuant‘s playfully named candleholder set is everything most candleholders aren’t: simple, unadorned, materially warm and sophisticated and actually practical. The handle in the solid oak base recalls the candleholders of yore, in the pre-electricity days when people actually had to walk around their homes carrying candles to see where they were going. Dessuant’s design is much more pared down than those, yet has added functionality, doubling as a holder for candles and keepsakes, making it a perfect bedside companion. You can also remove the glazed stoneware lid and use it on its own while keeping the container separate to store items.
Available next week from Another Country.
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Last year Pablo Pardo and his identical twin brother, Fernando, collaborated on the elegant and infinitely functional Pixo Table Lamp, an LED lamp with an arm that tilts 180 degrees and a head that rotates the full 360. DWR has been the lamp’s primary, but not exclusive, retailer. Now, however, they’ve released a white/brass combination Pixo Table Lamp that is only available through their store or website.
The brass is a beautiful addition to the all-white model (there’s also an all-black lamp option), not just because we like shiny, pretty things, but because the brass arm creates an appealing colorblock while also mixing materials. All the original functions remain the same. The low energy, five watt LEDs last 50,000 hours and run cool with “advanced chip-board technology.” There’s a USB dock for charging your phone, and at $205 it’s also one of the most affordable task lamps we’ve seen lately.
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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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Norway, often overshadowed by the proximity of Scandinavian powerhouses like Sweden and Finland, has been producing an impressive number of promising young designers in recent years. Foremost amongst them is Magnus Pettersen, the Sarpsborg-born (yup, that’s in Norway) designer who established his studio in London after studying Product & Furniture Design at Kingston University and Industrial Design at Central Saint Martins. Still, it wasn’t until early 2011 that Pettersen designed his first product, a wildly popular table lamp that was immediately picked up by a yet-to-be-named manufacturer when it debuted at London Design Festival that year. It’s currently schedule to retail in Fall 2013.
Since then Pettersen has designed a new lamp called Beacon that takes its design cues from lighthouses. Though the connection isn’t immediately apparent, Pettersen explained how he “wanted to find a way to reflect a warm light from an energy efficient bulb, which can seem very cold.” The inspiration for his furniture series, which he took from industrial lockers, is a little more obvious. Available in ash and aluminum, the chest of drawers, sideboard, credenza, and side table are typically Scandinavian in their focus on manufacturing and simplicity of materials, yet also completely new in their use of shiny gold metal.
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I was drawn to the Mine cup even before I learned that leading Swedish designer Anna Kraitz was inspired by Meret Oppenheim’s 1936 “Object,” better known as the fur-covered tea cup. Though Kraitz’s cup isn’t as experimental or surreal or hairy as Oppenheim’s, its subtler play with form also succeeds in turning a simple bone china cup into a statement, and perhaps even a sculptural object.
Unlike its furry counterpart, Mine is full functional as a vessel for hot liquids and will deliver tea or coffee to your mouth just fine. The simple delight here is in details like the bowl-like saucer, which is much deeper than a normal saucer. The handle is the more obvious difference. It extends beyond the point that a handle usually ends, dripping down the side on one end and dipping into the cup itself on the other. The handle, which Kraitz fits into each cup “with the utmost skill,” is available in white, hand painted gold or platinum.
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