Land+Living
Land+Living
October 2006

FRONT : Sketch Furniture
DesignBOT, Designers — October 27, 2006 Posted by Adriean
Good on the first take


Swedish design group FRONT are continuing their fine form with their latest project Sketch Furniture.
Is it possible to let a first sketch become an object, to design directly onto space?

The four FRONT members have developed a method to materialise free hand sketches. They make it possible by using a unique method where two advanced techniques are combined.

Pen strokes made in the air are recorded with Motion Capture and become 3D digital files; these are then materialised through Rapid Prototyping into real pieces of furniture.
The ladies of FRONT will be doing a live demonstration of this process over at Tokyo Design Week (October 31st to November 5th).

More images and video after the jump.

Link: FRONT
Continue reading » 19 comments
Charlie Davidson
DesignBOT, Designers, Lighting — October 15, 2006 Posted by Adriean
Bringing darkness to 06


I know it's only mid-October, but i'd say it's time to start talking about what made our heads turn the most during 2006.

Hands down for me is designer Charlie Davidson's ominous lighting creation, Black-light. Fabricated from layers of black foil, this gem is like watching an explosion put on pause. You almost want to just stand there and make up your own sound effects while staring at this sculptural beauty.

Though we still have a couple of months left in the year to be impressed, i'm pretty confident this will still be tops for me.

Link: Charlie Davidson
Permalink 7 comments
Jennifer Newman
DesignBOT, Designers, Furniture, Outdoor — October 15, 2006 Posted by Adriean
Keeping the outdoors simple


I'm a sucker for all things clean, simple and full of pop. So it was a no-brainer when I came accross a collection of outdoor garden furniture by designer Jennifer Newman.

Shortlisted for the 2006 Grand Designs Magazine Award, Newman's products are constructed of welded aluminum that is available in a wide array of powdercoat finishes. She also notes that the aluminum allows for the pieces to be refinished in the future once you grow tired of your initial color selection.

So there really is no excuse not to go with the pink now!

Link: Jennifer Newman
Permalink 2 comments
Design Interns
DesignBOT — October 12, 2006 Posted by Adriean
HGTV brings the sweat !


Design Interns is the latest reality based design program hitting airwaves this season on HGTV. The show features 12 'brilliant' young talents competing against one another to win a job at renowned Toronto design outfit Cecconi Simone inc.

Design tasks thus far have included condo planning, retail fixture prototyping, company identity and a multi-use shopping bag. All of which has resulted in 4 of the contestants being eliminated so far.

All in all I have to say I get abit queesy watching the show due to the fact that i've worked in similar environments and to be honest, hated it. The emotionless stares and cold interaction from Elaine Cecconi and Anna Simone are all too familiar to most up and comers in the design world. Just watching these two pros dismantle young egos in their standard issue black attire is enough to make me wake in the middle of the night crying. Brother, these gals mean business and are not afraid to draw Intern blood to get the job done !

As for the Interns themselves, it's pretty well what you'd expect. Most consider themselves accomplished designers looking for that "chance to shine and prove you all wrong" route which is actually quite funny when you know that Cecconi and Simone are in the boardroom waiting to feast upon these wide eyed souls. Pure Shakespeare !

Bottom line it really is a great show that gives the viewer a taste of what it's like to work for a high tempo design outfit. The hours are long, deadlines are unrealistic and you swear your boss is a practicing Sith Lord. Though I myself couldn't hack the pace, I have to give my props to those in the grind who are hopefully still in it for the love of design.

Link: Design Interns / HGTV
Link: Cecconi Simone inc.
Permalink 10 comments
A.D. Architecture Days
Events — October 10, 2006 Posted by James
Three-city design event hosted by Architectural Digest
When I think of Architectural Digest, I don't tend to think of architecture... and I know I'm not alone. However the publishers appear to be taking some steps to remedy this with a series of events in October and November in three U.S. cities: New York, Los Angeles and Miami.

Events include lectures, tours, receptions in amazing spaces, film screenings etc., which "celebrate the power of architecture and its ever-increasing influence."

While not a ground breaking departure from their focus on interiors and main-stream design, there are some promising events scattered in the mix.

Link: Architecture Days
Permalink