Dutchman Contracting specializes in custom rennovations and new construction.
Dutchman Contracting, Inc.
8 Lookout Pass
Putnam Valley, NY 10579
845-621-5180 Main Office
212-226-4340 Manhattan Office
tvandeveerdonk@dutchmancontracting.com
www.dutchmancontracting.com
Thanks for the tip Stephen
Check out the Paola Lenti Floor Sample Sale at Karkula, great stuff at great prices.
From Stew Design Workshop, Petal Chair is dainty as an individual piece but in its full glory combined with others, back to back – a flower. Each Petal is almost 4 feet high and 33″ deep, so a little larger than you might imagine. Made from Baltic Birchwood with water based glue and finshes by the Boston based Stew. Petal is also available in FSC Certified wood.
There is a great article in the Wall Street Journal today by Witold Rybczynski entitled When Buildings Try Too Hard which explores the phenomenon in which architecture is purposefully conceived as an icon as oppossed to earning the status when it becomes “…a popularly recognized symbol of something larger than itself…”. Rybczynski cites examples of buildings that have earned their status: Frank Gehry’s Bilbao Guggenheim and those that have failed: Frank Gehry’s Experience Music Project in Seattle. So maybe nobody has a lock on iconic architecture (or design of any kind for that matter). If the goal was revised to accomplish good design, in the natural course of things, we might end up with more successful built environment overall.
Witold Rybczynski is an interesting guy, to say the least. Educated as an architect in Canada (although I can’t determine the extent of his time in practice), award-winning architectural critic and author, he is currently a Professor of Urbanism at the prestigious Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. His writings are particularly interesting because they speak in very clear terms to a broad audience – no architect-speak.
So what will you see at Touch? First up, Mermaid Earrings – Designed by Mana Bernandes, you can feel good about earrings made from recycled bottles and bamboo toothpicks, embellished with a beautiful pearl. Or how about Egg Vase by Patricia Naves – a recycled egg container repurposed as a pretty little bud vase. Finally, Agua Table by Domingos Totora - things are not always what they seem – those are not stones you see supporting the glass top, rather recycled Kraft paper with natural pigments. Just a sampling of what you’ll see at Touch.
Los Angeles showroom Touch opened last night and I have to say it felt like the real thing. The well curated and thoughtful collection supports the mission of bringing to market beautiful, environmentally and socially responsible, handmade products. The space is spare and the designs are well displayed in a friendly gallery atmosphere. Many of the designs are from Brazil, Portugal and Argentina. Touch should definitely be on your radar – from jewelry to tabletop to furniture, a real jewel. Touch – 11914 Washington Blvd, Los Angeles (on Washington just East of Inglewood Blvd).
FTF Design Studio is offering a healthy discount – 25% off furniture orders placed before December 1st, 2008. They have some beautiful pieces, its worth a look.
Suspension 01 Light can easily move between residential and workplace application with its graceful curves. The piece is made entirely stateside in California. I’m guessing that not only reduces lead time, but probably makes customization a breeze.
Suspension 01 is designed by Tim Richartz and is fabricated of steel and brass with available custom colors and finishes. The body is almost 4 feet long and 4″deep. It houses a 120 volts in a twin base porcelain socket. It is suspended from adjustable cables.
Tim Richartz is not only an alumn of Pratt Institute but currently teaches the Senior Furniture Design Studio there. His more than twenty years of design experience is with a wide range of companies including Herman Miller, ICF and Bernhardt, to name a few. Currently, Tim is working with Blank Blank to develop a personally branded design collection.
This Point Loma home by San Diego based deFreitas Architects features a clean, white, modernist aesthetic. In the foreground, the iconic Sinus Chair designed in 1976 by Reinhold Adolf and Hans-jurgen Schropfer for Cor. Also featured is Sticks by Hsu-Li and Stefan Kaiser for Extremis – it can be used as an art object or as a room divider. Design by Mixture, San Diego. Photo by Harrison Photographic.
