September 28, 2012

Re-engineered Acapulco Chair for the 21st Century

The Acapulco Chair is one of the most celebrated chair designs of the 20th Century. It is an anonymous design that emerged in the 1950’s in Hollywood’s favorite beach destination: Acapulco, Mexico.
The design enjoyed continuous success for almost five decades – being a designer’s favorite for its clean lines and comfort. It was manufactured by several artisanal workshops in Mexico, slowly disappearing from the market at the turn of the 21st Century. After several design improvements, the chair is once again available with Electrostatic powder-coated steel frame and recycled UV filtered PVC woven cord shell, which makes it ideal for indoor and outdoor use.




September 27, 2012

TANDEM ROCKER BY GIEUN YOON

Korean designer Gieun Yoon has designed a contemporary rocking chair for two inspired by a bird's nest. The chair was initially developed based on research into intimacy issues for mature couples, but the result is equally applicable to all partners, mature or not. 

"The Tandem Rocker, a snuggler, has been designed for use at home and brings people physically closer. Users quickly discover they must coordinate their movements for the chair to rock and this encourages emotional harmony." Tandem will be show at Designersblock 2012 during the London Design Festival.



September 24, 2012

The Making of the KRINK x Modernica Chair by James Shorrock

"KRINK recently teamed up with furniture manufacturer Modernica to produce a special edition of five chairs. Starting with Modernica’s fiberglass side shell chair, the graffiti artist added his signature drippy style with each chair receiving a slightly different tag. Watch the video to see how these special chairs took shape, starting with the manufacturing process through to the final paint job. Additionally the chairs can be purchased here for $950 USD but act quick as there are just a few remaining at the time of posting."
 

 

September 21, 2012

Projeto Branca-Lisboa’ s Furniture Collection

Marco Sousa Santo, graduate in Product Design from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon is a multifaceted designer working across various project and design management areas. Currently the Lisbon-based designer uses this city as the inspirational basis for Projeto Branca-Lisboa, developing furniture collections in collaboration with many producers and manufacturers in the north of the country.



RANCA’s main objective is to create a product collection where each piece is the result of an experimental approach, supported by detailed research into the aesthetic and structural qualities of the materials, as well as the most appropriate production methods. BRANCA LISBOA takes pride in working with high quality craft producers, combining their handmade skills with the latest digital production tools.

BRANCA products represent design diligence, as each one is the result of ongoing dialogue and experiments between the craftsman and the designer. Designs are only launched once function, quality, ergonomics, structural integrity, finish and appearance come together as a whole.
By uniting Portuguese craftsmanship traditions with contemporary aesthetics, BRANCA aims to reignite the bygone era when products were developed with patience, expertise, knowledge and integrity, aiming to truly reach the level of a high-end international product brand.

As the co-founder of Proto Design and Experimenta Design , Marco Sousa Santos was one of the leading figures in the new Portuguese Design movement which changed the face of design culture in Portugal.

At the Proto Design studio and later at Experimenta Design, Marco Sousa Santos instigated exhibitions and product collections with Portuguese designers, promoting a new generation of designers on the international circuit, well documented in magazines such as Domus, Interni and Intramuros, among others.
During this period, Marco Sousa Santos also curated major exhibitions of Portuguese Design organised by Aicep, CPD, the British Council, the Lisbon Design Museum and in 2003 and 2004, he was Design Director of the In’nova design fair in Lisbon, organised by AIP/FIL (The Portuguese Industrial Association and International Fair of Lisbon).


September 20, 2012

Petit h by Hermès

The latest collection from Hermès breathes new life into artistic objects and discarded materials salvaged from the historic brand's workshops
The original concept of petit h is to bring together artists, artisans and unused materials in one workshop to foster unrestrained creativity. The workshop becomes a formidable laboratory of ideas, and of experimentation where everything can be re-imagined, including the use of uneven dyes on crocodile skin, or the union of unrelated materials, such as dumbbells and leather.

September 17, 2012

LONDON BABY MIMICRY CHAIRS BY NENDO

Sneak a peek to the London Design Festival which celebrates its 10th year. The beginning is on September 14. Take a look at one remarkable installation from Mimicry Chairs at the V&A. Rendering © Nendo. Discover the best shows as the week goes on on Dezeen







September 16, 2012

NEXT GENERATION WINDSON CHAIR BY MATTHEW HILTON FOR KATIE WALKER FURNITURE

Next generation Windsor chair, reinvented in new dynamic shape. It`s a classic British Windsor chair, perhaps the most typical icon of English furniture. At first the chair was painted in green and used as a garden seat. Over the years a country chair evolved in sophisticated one.
"I grew up with the chairs in my parents’ house in the 1960s. I always liked their elegance and began to appreciate other characteristics when I trained as a furniture designer. The shape is very efficient, using every part of a log, and strength is achieved with little material. Visually, it has a pleasing lightness because the splayed legs and fanning spindles create plenty of space within the structure.” says the British designer Matthew Hilton.


September 15, 2012

LOVE ME TENDER CHAIR BY DIDIER FAUSTINO

Originally created in 2000, this new version of the Love Me Tender chair will be available in brushed steel and limited in 100 copies only. The design brand Super-ette is producing this interesting product which is created by the architect Didier Faustino. He said that the chair is so dangerous, that it requires tenderness and gentleness to be handled.




September 14, 2012

RÖHSSKA CHAIR BY CLAESSON KOIVISTO RUNE

We see a clean and beautiful chair from Claesson Koivisto Ruhe. He designed the chair for the celebration of the Swedish Design Museum.  The Röhsska Museum of Design and Decorative Arts in Gothenburg is Sweden's  only museum for design, fashion and handcrafts. The chair is used in the renovated cafe in the museum.
"The Röhsska chair is perhaps the chair we've designed, so far, that has given us the greatest satisfaction. Of course, it follows a Scandinavian modern tradition of wooden chair design but is, in our minds, distinctly contemporary in shape and proportions. Some 60 years (combined) of our design experience has gone into sculpting this chair", says Mårten Claesson of Claesson Koivisto Rune. 
"Part of the satisfaction has been taking on a design that is stripped from conceptual aspects into strictly being about comfort, tactility and beauty. We feel that it is timeless". The chair is 100% wood and 100% made in Sweden by furniture company, Swedese. 
The chairs at the Röhsska have a special detail that doesn't appear in the production versions. Each chair has two holes, placed at random, taken from the museum's logo. (Symbolizing the Swedish letter Ö in Röhsska.) In addition, Swedese has donated 10 signed, unique 'Ö-hole' chairs which will be sold for 10,000 kronor each, the entire sum of which goes to the Swedese Foundation which will promote the quality and competence of the design museum. 





RE-IMAGINED FURNITURE BY NINA TOLSTRUP


Studio mama's Re-Imagined Furniture collection takes existing, discarded furniture and re-imagines it.
"Re-Imagine is a project born out of questioning our resourcefulness and our attitudes towards waste." says Tolstrup.

Studiomama will showing Re-Imagined at the 19 Greek Street Gallery House during the 2012 London Design Festival.
Textiles by David David design, photos by Studiomama.








September 13, 2012

Sunflower chair by He Mu and Zhiang Qian

This innovation Sunflower chair is created by He Mu and Zhiang Qian. They designed the chair for a competition Design for Sitting Grand Prix in Guangzhou, China. And they won the Redtory Design Award. The chair provides high level of comfort and the possibility to relax in more than one position. Around the seat there is a shelving system which is very easy to reach and it is very easy to grab your favorite magazine or book.



September 12, 2012

Swing Table by Duffy London

Christopher Duffy created hanging action chairs with walnut table and powder-coated steel frame which is available in bespoke finishes and sizes for the British design brand Duffy London. Eight chairs with a clean minimal look meets a walnut natural table with four-poster and a faceted lampshade. One enjoyable contemporary design for your home.







September 11, 2012

Elegant Chair by Simone Viola Design


September 10, 2012

MESH CHAIR BY CHRIS KABEL

Looking so good! 
The chair is made of single material for both frames and upholstery with curves and welds providing structural strength. Made in the workshop of Martin van Oel,  Mesh chair is part of the collection of Architecture and Design at MoMA in New York.








Bodge Bench by Gitta Gschwendtnerfor the Stepney Green Design Collectionin

East London designer Gitta Gschwendtner is going to make a one-off three-seater version of her Bodge Bench as the first piece chosen for the Stepney Green Design Collection curated by Dezeen.






September 5, 2012

Layer Chair by Jorrit Taekema

Dutch designer Jorrit Taekema has created the Layer Chair to represent his views on the future of the production of furniture that will use new sustainable materials.
For the Layer Chair, he used a composition consisting of coconut fibers and natural latex.




Coconut Like Chair

"An iconic masterpiece can be instantly defined by its relevance in the modern world. George Nelson's creation of the Coconut chair is exactly that and more. Firstly, to examine its shape is to take a decadently padded triangle and push a body-hugging concave hollow right in the very center. Sound hard and uncomfortable? Think again, remember the definition of masterpiece. Our modern world demands classic, clean lines combined with comfort and functionality which the Coconut chair delightfully fulfills. This particular style of seating intrinsically invites you to climb in and rest a while. It’s nearly 4 feet wing-span is as roomy as the most traditional of recliners, yet savvy enough to impress your most discerning guests. Besides which, there's nothing else on the planet that even comes close to this combination of usefulness, comfort, and hands down artistic appreciation of the organic world. If Life's a Beach, get a Coconut!

This coconut chair reproduction called the Papaya chair, is completely true to George Nelson's original design, materials, and detailing. With the unique shell design, he accomplished his goal of providing comfortable and attractive lounge seating that allows free movement so that users can enjoy this chair in just about any position they choose.

George Nelson became an architect by accident, while stepping into the architecture building to get out of the rain at Yale. By the time he'd graduated and found himself the winner of the Rome Prize, he was well indoctrinated, and after a stint in an architectural firm, his writing became the centerpiece of his art. Well into the 1940's, he wrote. When he wrote and answered the question "What's inside a wall?" suggesting evacuating the structure to replace it with storage, the chairman of a well-known furniture company read of Nelson's storage wall. He was interested in bringing the innovative mind of the young designer into the firm. There followed a partnership that propelled Nelson into furniture design, almost against his will. However, he became intrigued enough to begin experimenting with form. The Nelson coconut chair came about when he was studying organic shapes as design possibilities, and in 1954 and it was introduced, along with another Nelson design, the "Flying Duck" chair in 1955. Looking at the coconut chair does not remind one of a bastion of comfort. First, you are tempted to ask, as he did, what's inside? It has no cushions to recommend its embrace and seems stilted as it sits on its tripod foundation. The sharp corners and spindly sprouts are supposed to reprise the coconut as though a piece has been broken out of the whole and convinced to grow legs. The upholstery is black leather and a little foreboding. Suffice it to say that the Nelson coconut chair did not win any awards then, nor would it today. George Nelson is remembered for his writing eloquence and far-flung influence on the design standards of craftsmen who were then attempting to advance the modern movement. He was also venerated for being the guiding force behind the august furniture company that hired him for that purpose. He held the post of Director of Design for the company. He was responsible for keeping the bar raised and in so doing, kept the company in the lead of its niche for many years. His coconut chair had little to do with it. The George Nelson coconut chair may be held in high esteem by those who enjoy the modern furniture style as an art form, and that would be true of this piece. It has its, um, points. However, the George Nelson coconut chair does not compare to the George Nelson comments that have served as road maps in the vernacular of modern design."