Birch ply tables and stools by designer Corin Mellor."Birch plywood furniture designed by Corin Mellor and made in England for David Mellor Design. These beautiful minimalist stools and tables are versatile and mobile, enhancing almost any architectural environment."Designer: Corin Mellor
A beautiful wood sidetable found on the website of Australian custom furniture designer Anton Gerner. Unfortunately, other than the dimensions of the table (480 X 480 X 400 mm) there isn't any detailed info on this table with regards to wood, construction, etc. This is, in our opinion, the standout piece from his Art Deco collection.
Link: Zebrano Sidetable
Designer: Anton Gerner
Isn't birch ply wonderful? We've used birch ply for lots of things that we've built: shelves, coffee tables, platform beds, the list goes on. The designers over at Szado are also hip to the wonders of birch ply and have used it to create the Spyder chair."The Spyder chair is for people who want to exercise their freedom of expression at home or the office. This curvaceous chair exudes confidence and fun. The smooth planes of wood are angled just right for a very enjoyable sit. And it tends to make people giggle."The Spyder is available in a maple, cherry, or walnut finish.
Link: SZADO
Via: Sensory Impact
"Tillamook Cheddar is a Jack Russell Terrier from Brooklyn, New York. She is widely regarded as the world’s preeminent canine artist. In her native New York City she has already had six solo exhibitions. Tillie is five years old.
In April 2002 Tillie worked with 25 humans in an incredible feat of interspecial collaboration: the COLLAROBATIONS exhibition, presented at The National Arts Club.
Last year the artist reached another milestone, the first inclusion of her work in a museum exhibition—PETROPOLIS at the New-York Historical Society."
Artist: Tillamook Cheddar
Via: Artbox Project
"Introducing Aura, a sensuous new lighting addition to the Pablo Collection by designer Fred Bould. The Aura's glowing shade appears to float freely, tethered by its gently coiled cordset tht exits out of a side portal. Aura is injection molded in clear tinted acrylic for optimal clarity and durability."
Designer: Fred Bould
Link: Pablo
Link: Nambé
A hat rack that you can use to hang just about anything. From the Mox website:"There's nearly everything you can hang on LILI. A wardrob to be used in an exceptional way. Avalible in playwood oak blached or playwood oak stains brown."Dimensions: 100x100cm (max. distance from wall 20cm)
Link: Mox.ch
Elaine Louie writes about the Nicholas Murcutt designed Box House in the today's NY Times online edition. An excerpt from the article:"...in Australia the Box House is much admired among designers, having won a commendation in 2002 from the Royal Australian Institute of Architects. And it is not even finished. For $50,000, Ms. Charles and Mr. Halstead got a roof over their head, but not a gas stove or hot water. That's Stage 2, to be completed in August for another $11,000 (all sums in this article are in American dollars). They will have to wait for Stage 3 for a toilet, to be tucked into a storage shed with solar panels on the roof. The collected electricity will permit a refrigerator, hot water and lights. Stage 3, still on the drawing board, will cost another $11,000. In the meantime, the family uses a neighbor's outhouse, which the Australians call a long drop. It is also a long haul, being more than 100 feet away."
Architect: Nicholas Murcutt
Link: NY Times
Link: NineMSN
Images: © Brett Boardman for The New York Times
"Aarnio was - and still is - one of the pioneers in using plastic in industrial design. Plastic material set the designers free to create every shape and use every color they wanted. This gave birth to objects oscillating between function and fun - but always fascinating ones."
Link: Eero Aarnio
Link: Ball Chair
Link: Bubble Chair
Link: Screw Tables
Link: Tipi
An Atlanta based firm adds more space to their client's apartment by going up.
"Our client loved the views from the roof of his loft apartment in the Castleberry Hill Historic district in downtown Atlanta. Like so many other downtown residents, he also wanted to capture some outdoor space. Living in a landlocked apartment, his best option was to go up onto the roof and create an urban oasis there."Firm: Square Feet Studio
"Barry and I put the first waterproofing coat on the foundation wall May, 25, 2004. We were hoping to finish waterproofing before framing started but it rained the rest of the week.
The treated lumber for the floor was delivered on May 28. We started framing early Saturday morning, May 29. It was a beautiful day...sunny and in the high 70's. The framing crew consisted of my brother Kevin, Christopher (a family friend), my husband Barry and I."
Link: Article
Link: LV Home Kit
Reference: LV Home - Building Update I
Reference: LV Home - Building Update II
"In collaboration with top international designer Philippe Starck, Oregon Scientific is moving the art of understanding the environment to a new level - with the introduction of a new Time and Weather Collection."
Designer: Philippe Starck
Link: Oregon Scientific
Via: ID Online
Back in March, again in April, and upcoming in June, the EPA, the IDSA Design Foundation, and J. Ottman Consulting sponsored workshops for changing perceptions of sustainable design. An excerpt from the article:"More than just evaluating products, the mission of the workshop is to demonstrate how producing green can be a win-win strategy, increasing a company's profits while positively distinguishing it from the competition. Ottman and Doering offered some simple "swift approaches" to environmental design: Use recycled materials; increase energy efficiency and substitute alternative energy when possible; reduce toxicity by using "known" and stable compounds; extend product life, moving away from disposable products by creating goods that are durable, upgradeable, and repairable; and provide the product as a service or on a lease basis where the consumer keeps the product through its useful life, and the manufacturer reclaims it for disassembly or refurbishment."Link: ID Online
Love this.
"Doorman doorstop designed by Gaby Klasmer for Memphis Milano. The doorman is part of the 'post design' series from Memphis Milano- a collection designed by students from the Royal College of Art, 1999, under the direction of Ron Arad. stainless steel, 11.5" height."
Link: Memphis-Milano
Designer: Gaby Klasmer
Link: Unica Home
We weren't around when this Gehry article was published by Newsweek, but if you missed it the first time (as we did) and you simply can't get enough Gehry, then this one is for you, Mr. I browse the Internet night and day looking for Gehry articles Man.
"If you’re hoping to persuade Frank Gehry to design something in your city, here’s one phrase you should not use: 'the Bilbao effect.' He hates it. 'When people approach me like that, I turn them down,' he tells NEWSWEEK. The architect understands that his iconoclastic design draws hundreds of thousands of admirers annually to Spain's Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, which opened in 1997. But he takes issue with the term, which was coined after cities around the world tried to emulate the museum's success by commissioning high-style architecture designed specifically to draw attention—and tourist revenues. Gehry is not comfortable with the whole phenomenon. He says his designs are meant to benefit and improve the communities where they will be built and he insists he wants to be a 'good neighbor.'"Link: Newsweek/MSNBC
"Panelite materials are translucent, lightweight, and modulate both light and vision. Providing light transmission, visual privacy, and aesthetic flexibility, they are suited to a wide range of applications including walls, ceilings, furniture, and exterior facades."
Link: Panelite
"The urban jungle that is Mexico City will soon be blessed with two oases of calm. The plan is to complement the city's new José Vasconcelos Library scheme with an adjacent botanical garden. The library itself is the work of a team of Mexican architects, Alberto Kalach, Juan Palomar, Gustavo Lipkau and Tonatiuh Martínez. Locals see it as Mexican president Vicente Fox's answer to France's Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Once finished, the library will house more than two million volumes."
Via: Wallpaper
Link: www.conaculta.gob.mx
These book shelves by Rabih Hague are available in solid oak with a natural finish. They stand 180 x 150.
"rabih hage is an interior design company specialising in contemporary design, furniture and art. The company's unique style is a mix of art and design pieces carefully chosen by Rabih el Hage (architect and interior designer). Designs by Rabih Hage sit alongside work of designers such as Christophe Côme, Mark Harvey, Johnny Swing and Christian Tortu. The company's products (exclusive in the UK) are available for trade and distribution. Many are on display at the rabih hage showroom in London."
Link: rabih hague
"The bent one is a lounge chair. And it's bent. It began as an experiment to see what can be achieved with flexiply, yet as interest grew, Morgan Cheetham began working on The Bent One. The result takes flexiply to its limit. The body of the chair is made of five layers of 3mm flexiply. The production of the chair is a little complex - a collapsable former had to be made to release the glued body. Each laminate is glued and clamped up seperately. The armrests are made of steam bent laminated timber. These are bent over a regular mould, seperate to the flexiply laminating. Once the armrests are ready, they are glued and clamped to the body section. The whole chair is sanded, sealed, and waxed to finish."
Link: Morgan Cheetham
"The Deneb Outdoor system is derived from the Deneb table. The system is comprised of a table and matching bench. The same base is used for both and they each have an Iroko solid wooden top.
The principles of Stua are embodied in this system, simplicity, timelessness and warmth. The Deneb system is suitable for indoor and outdoor use."
Iroko wood is a popular alternative to teak with a similar texture and grain.
Link: Stua
Designer: Jesus Gasca
From Swedish furniture maker Swedese comes the Bend Chair. The bend chair is available in either birch or walnut. An upholstered seat is an option.Update: We received an email from Scott Hartkopf of the Hightower Group. He wanted to let us know that the Hightower Group is the North American distributor of Swedese and if anyone is interested in purchasing a Bend chair, they stock them at their distribution center. The Hightower Group's website can be found at www.hightoweraccess.com
Link: Swedese
Designer: Mårten Claesson
While this might not really fall under the guise of Modern Lifestyle & Design, this is actually an issue that we've followed over the years and if you're an LA resident, an issue that has had an enormous impact on modern LA society. As noted on our about page, we're avid snow sports enthusiasts and during our pursuits for Sierra Nevada snow, we pass by Owens Lake several times each month. It's nice to read about the efforts the LA DWP is making to restore Owens Lake in a publication such as Metropolis.
"Today, parts of Owens Lake look like a sandy desert floor, parts are under a few inches of water tinted red from algae, and still other parts are covered with a thick salt crust. The lake is the largest stationary source of pollution in America; its amount of wind-blown dust violates EPA standards of particulate matter 20-30 times a year. The EPA’s standard is 150 micrograms per cubic meter; levels measured at the lakeshore reach 12,000.Link: MetropolisNow the DWP is trying to reverse the damage it did to Owens Lake. The Department has tapped into the aqueduct to re-direct up to a quarter of the flow back into the lakebed, and is using a combination of shallow flooding and managed vegetation to bring the water body within EPA standards. The project is scheduled to end in 2006 with 29.8 square miles treated.
A fantastic Pacific Northwest garden full of birch, locust, and fir trees, placed first in the 11th-annual Pacific Northwest Competition for Home Gardeners out of a field of 94 entrants.
"WHEN JIM AND Charlene Geiszler step onto the upper-level porch of their Shoreline home, they can sink into rattan chairs and relax in complete privacy amid a woodland setting of Japanese maples, vine maples, bamboo, decorative grasses and ferns. A gurgling waterfall in one of two modest pools disguises the rumble from the outside world, including nearby Interstate 5."
Link: Seattle Times Magazine, Pacific Northwest
Photographs: © MIKE SIEGEL
"The fishbowl home, where it's really easy to look inside, is becoming more common as buttoned-up cottages buffered with frontyards are being replaced by glass-paneled homes that press up to the property line. Meanwhile, the people peering in have become even more curious about what goes on in these houses, say behaviorists who study those on both sides of the window."
Driving around LA, we've certainly seen our share of converted Taco Bells. This site now confirms that what we've witnessed is in no way unique to LA. Imagine that.
"It is not without the bitter taste of self-awareness, specifically about the overwhelmingly crass and commercial (and, indeed, downtrodden and dreary, bleakly suburban, and economically grim) nature of the content of this site, that we at NFA embark on our quest to document bad conversions. That said, it is perhaps best that we look at this phenomenon as a delightful yet sad part of our culture's clattering landscape: it is an amusing diversion, it is an economic gestalt, it is a crime of design, it is a confusion to the would-be consumer. Let us rejoice in bad conversions and seek to amuse ourselves with them wherever possible, taking utmost pains to observe the careful, hopeless touches of their renovation and their indelible flourishes of nonsense on our landscape. Embrace blight! We have no other hope."Link: Not Fooling Anybody
Time Magazine's Style & Design issue asks the question, "How retro can you go?" They present several articles touching on America's current fascination with mid-century design, prefab homes, and Ingvar Kamprad.
Fifties style is stalking the runways, and mid-century design is making its way into every room of the house. A look at the allure of America's favorite eraAbsolutely Prefabulous
Say the words prefab housing and most people think of snap together bungalows and log cabin kits. But a new generation of architects is making prefab more fun.Ingvar Kamprad
With one little wrench, Ingvar Kamprad gave the world access to great design.
From the Seattle Times Magazine, Pacific Northwest, comes this article about a couple remodeling their 1939 home in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood.
"When you can't go sideways, go up. That was part of the solution for Dave and Heidi Boone, remodeling a 1939 house snuggled onto Queen Anne Hill. With the potential for grand views and lots of design/construction savvy — he's an upper-end residential contractor who once considered being an architect — this project had a lot going for it."
Link: Pacific Northwest (Seattle Times)
Photograph: BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER
Over at Designboom, we stumbled across this fantastic poster. It has been in production for quite some time, but we still think it's pretty cool. It features everything from early Egyptian and Chinese folding stools, to contemporary chairs by James Irvine, and just about everything in between. 196 chairs in total.
The illustrated folding chairs history poster is printed on white coated cartoon 210 gr.
dimensions:
70 x 100 cm.
27 3/4 x 39 1/2
Link: DesignBoom
Link: Easy Chairs
Link: Transformer Chairs
Link: Folding Chairs
Link: Chaise-Lounge
"Tokyo Pop is a family of seating of single-block polyethylene, made possible by a rotational plastic production technique which allows for its complex hollow form. The design, modified from its original model of paper honeycomb, maintains an organic shape consistent with an imprint of the human body. The four versions are well suited for both indoor and outdoor use and are available in an ivory similar to th ehue in rice paper, gray-green or orange. An upholstered version for indoor use is available in various shades of wool."
Designer: Tokujin Yoshioka
Link: Driade
"The Waterwall modular system is a rainwater storage solution for urban households. A slim line tank design, each unit is only 330 mm deep and yet holds 1200 litres of water. The beauty of the design lies in the ability to connect any number of tanks together. Not only does this increase storage capacity dramatically, the interconnected tanks can be used as a fence, as a dividing wall in a garden, or fit neatly in a narrow sideway. This gives even a small city yard substantial water storage capabilities."
"The Labyrint screen wall series is a room divider for many different areas. Labyrint was designed by Danish Pelikan Design in 1992.
The units may be curved or straight.
The units are composed of oblique slats in natural beech and maple. The large units may stand alone on plate feet.
Labyrint is available in two different widths, with castors, plate feet or wall mountings.
Link: Fritz Hansen
Designer: Pelikan Design