photos courtesy of patrick norguet
Design Democracy – From Cappellini to McDonalds – Patrick Norguet doesn’t discriminate. McDonalds hires one of Frances top creatives, Patrick Norguet to design an outdoor collection. In collaboration with the producer Alias and the fast-food giant McDonald’s, designer Patrick Norguet has designed a line of outdoor furniture as part of McDonald’s “Come” project. The furniture collection will equip terraces and outdoor spaces McDonald’s worldwide. [ patrick norguet ] [ alias ]
The design solution responds to the ‘COME’ objectives – to design, engineer, develop and install a specific turnkey modular furniture system. The collection consists of 28 pieces made of steel, hand-sanded concrete and Corian tables, chairs, benches, lamps, planters, litter bins and screen. The introduction of the collection will be in Bordeaux and northern France.
Patrick Norguet says:
“For this project, like each of my projects, I wanted to give great attention to the final use. Draw a quality space that fits into the time that meets the demands and requirements specific to McDonald’s. Not all completely outside or completely inside the terrace is experienced as an extension of the restaurant, a separate space for a different experience. It is also a major project for me because we were able to connect two worlds around the project, and thus develop products of high quality. The association with Alias, I was able to reach the level of demand that I wanted for this set consists of 28 objects. A family of tables, chairs, low chairs, lamps, planters, benches, litter bins and screen.”
“I’m lovin it.”
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Study after study shows that sitting all day long at a desk is bad for your health. It slows your metabolism, decreases your body’s ability to process sugars and fats, and even increases your chance of developing diabetes, blood clots or thrombosis. Men who sit for more than six hours a day have a 20% higher mortality rate, while women have a 40% higher rate – a factor, we might add, that can’t be counteracted by increasing your exercise. The only way to not die earlier, apparently, is simply not to sit down all day long anymore.
While newer offices are being designed for more flexible coworking environments that encourage movement, sometimes you just need to hunker down in one place and get a job done. The best solution designers are offering up so far is the standing desk. You can read more about how employees at companies like Mircrosoft, Google, the Mayo Clinic and the FBI are benefiting from a conversion to standing desks and walkstations (a slow moving treadmill-desk) in the Chicago Tribune‘s recent article.
Before committing you can test it out by working at an ironing board or countertop, but once you’re convinced consider springing for the Xtable, an adjustable height desk designed by Danish studio KiBiSi for furniture manufacturer Holmris. You can manually raise and lower Xtable with a hand crank; the two crossing legs operate much like an ironing board. It comes with a floor organizer for your papers and pens, though it really ought to come with a matching, adjustable height chair.
about perrin drumm
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Gum Design is an Italian studio run by designer Laura Fiaschi and architect Gabriele Pardi. Together, they have created a diverse portfolio that includes architecture, exhibition spaces, graphic design, housewares, art direction and furniture, the most recent example of which is Mastro, a beautiful work table created for the Italian furniture company De Castelli. The table isn’t available on De Castelli’s site or Fiaschi and Paridi’s, so as far as I can tell the plans are drawn but the table has yet to be built.
The work surface is made of solid iron that’s been acid-etched and bent on the sides to create slotted rails for two firwood trestles to slide in and out of. Personally, I would leave this table assembled all year long. I think it makes a great transitional piece, working as both a work and dining surface, but its space-saving design makes it ideal for temporary projects that require a little extra work space.
In an interview, Fiaschi spoke about her emotional approach to design. You definitely get the sense of the handmade, personal involvement in all of Gum Design’s objects, including Mastro.
“In all areas of creativity you can find excellent things and banal things which seem to dominate thinking in general when it is linked to the function, to the use of things; while we believe that there are other “features”. Let’s talk about emotions and feelings that can involve men and women in their everyday relationships. We think that the products can contain and reveal emotions, lead by their users by their hands towards new experiences, and create a significant relationship.”
about perrin drumm
1952 harry bertoia side chair / 1956 warren platner dining table
Beginning Friday, those in the market for a designer original can get 15% off the Knoll Space collection. More than 100 midcentury designs will be on sale, including furniture by Harry Bertoia, Isamu Noguchi, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Eero Saarinen. The sale runs through 23 September – October 3. You can check for Knoll retailers at [ knoll space ]
