A handblown fish bowl with its own underwater mountain range. A 2011 Red Dot Design Award winner in the Tableware division.
“Perceived in an innovative way, the Fishscape fish bowl wants to offer the viewer a creative alternative to the familiar sight of a conventional home aquarium. The delicate and elegant-looking glass bowl is available in different versions with surprisingly elaborate underwater landscapes. The organic-looking bulges differ in their precisely shaped details. They make the glass bottom seem to rise from the water like a mountain. A delightful play of light and shadow harmoniously completes the overall impression.”
Available at A+R
The Furniture Society is hosting its first Fine Art Auction at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show March 17-20, 2011, at Pier 94 in New York City. The Live Auction features works by recipients of the Society’s Award of Distinction, among them: Sam Maloof Studio, Garry Knox Bennett, Wendell Castle, Michael Fortune, Vladimir Kagan, John Makepeace, , Judy McKie & Tommy Simpson.
Shown here is one of the auction items, Low Back Chair by Sam Maloof Studio. Sam Maloof was noted for his simple, practical designs of the 1950’s. Maloof worked in Southern California for nearly 60 years and was a true artisan that turned out simple, useful designs made one at a time. Always humble, Maloof referred to himself as a woodworker, despite the fact that he was recoginzed as a pioneer in his field. His work was the subject of a retrospective at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 2001 and he was the first craftsman to receive a MacArthur Foundation grant. Maloof’s pieces were joined without hardware; they were composed entirely of wood. Maloof passed away in 2009, but while he was alive, he generously shared his know-how with others even publishing a “how-to” book in 1983.
B Flat Sofa by Leolux
The rounded base of the B Flat sofa back allows easy spot-on adjustment. B Flat is a Red Dot design award winner.
Based in Venlo, Netherlands, Leolux beginings can be traced back to 1948 when Jan and Tom Sanders purchased a small factory that was producing traditional furniture. The brothers decided to take a different direction and focus on the more modern aesthetic of Danish and Italian design – Leolux is born. In the 1970’s the company makes use of technical innovations that allow them to introduce the first electrically adjustable seating. Today, Leolux produces modern, high quality furniture designs with a distinctive character.
Available through Mobili Mobel
Knoll Classics are 15% 0ff at Context from February 28th through March 6th. Choose iconic designs by Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Florence Knoll, Mies van der Rohe, Warren Platner, Jens Risom and Marcel Breuer @ Context
Think Pink: Color authority Pantone has named Honeysuckle as the color of the year for 2011. I don’t think of HoneySuckle as pink, but sure enough it is. You can bet that Pantone’s 18-2120 TCX will be seen everwhere. A bright, optomistic hue, it has been described as “…the lipstick our mother’s wore…” which, depending on your age, could conjure up varying images. Want to incorporate the “it”color into your design, check out the pinks at Fabricseen.
On February 25, 2010. Milton Glaser was presented with the National Medal of Arts Award by President Obama. At the presentaion, the President spoke of a common yearning for beauty, truth and connection and the people who help shape that legacy.
“…The creators, imaginers, entertainers… helping each of us understand the human experience and recognize that common humanity…”.
Epigram Lanterns by Milton Glaser, part of the Botanist Series.
Grid It! For you purse
We don’t usually write about things like this, but Grid-It! really caught our attention. Designed by Orange 22 (the guys who brought you the Botanist Collection) these elasticized wonders allow you to take a big step toward organizing your purse, art or school supplies, (countless)electronic gadgets… whatever. Really very inexpensive and alarmingly practical. A Red Dot Award Winner.
How about that Google – featuring the work of Swedish Designer Josef Frank. Almost 50 years old when he fled Nazism in Austria for Sweden, where he became one of that nation’s most important designers. As a young man he was part of the modernism movement in Vienna. However, his brand of modernism was not in line with the likes of Le Corbusier. He favored a freer artistic aesthetic. Frank began working at Svenskt Tenn in 1934 and went on to produce over 2,000 furniture sketches and 160 textile designs.
Wooden Pilliow is handmade by American minimalist William Earle, whose work is included in the collection of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum – great design does happen State-Side. Wooden Pillow is 21″square and 7″ high and now only $400, to your door. Doesn’t get much better than that!
Ring in the new year by raising a new glass – and make sure its worth raising. Here are some we like, starting with the Inside Out Series by Alissa Melk-Teichroew. The idea of iconic forms like the martini glass and champagne flute are turned inside out, encasing the form. The double wall of the glass keeps your drink ice cold and the interior shape is unveiled as its being filled. Both available at Stitch Chicago.
The Float Collection by Molo suspend the champagne in an elegant but minimal form. The enitre collection is available through twentieth, Los Angeles.
Finally, the Aarne Glass Collection by one of the pioneers of the Finnish glass tradition, Goran Hongell. Aarne is mouth blown glassware which was awareded a gold medal at the 1954 Milan Triennale and is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. The Aarne Champagne is a great way to ring in 2010.