From Julie and Francesca:
We forgot to mention the free-flowing champagne (Moet & Chandon) and the music (Nosi) at the ICFF opening day. Or the chefs simmering risotto on the Italian aisle, or the chocolate sculptures of chairs being passed out. Or the fact that we saw Parker Posey pawing through stacks of fabric samples. More interesting, actually, were the electronic innovations.
Below: From Vancouver–based Bocci, the 22 Series electrical plug, which is inset into the wall and skim-coated over, leaving just the circular plug area. No sketchy plastic cover required. Just pure plug-in. Available at Arkitektura in Situ in San Francisco.
Below: To give credit where credit is due, Materialicious first posted the Wall Cleat—”for mooring the many ropes of technology.” There it was at the ICFF, the outlet cover designed by Brooklyn-based Karl Zahn for OBoiler.
Below: Based in Baldwin Park, California, outside LA, the unassuming team behind Koncept lighting has come out with a line of stunning LED lighting; both the Z-Bar Desk Lamp
(below for $170) and the I-Tower High Power Floor Lamp ($200). Both at YLighting.
Below: There was a fair amount of buzz around the Geneva Lab booth. Available at Design Within Reach, the Piano-Lacquered Wooden Sound Boxes are available in red, white, and black and are outfitted with a CD player, FM tuner, and iPod dock. The large size is $849.
Below: We all fell hard for Nicolo Taliani’s lighting: the fabric cord retracts into the lamp at will. Available in white, black, red, and orange.
May 19th, 2008
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- Steal This Look: Cecile Manz Caravaggio Pendant
- Lighting: Gus Designs Group Vintage Swing Arm Lamp
- Steal This Look: Black Lights
- Lighting: Wästberg
- Outdoors: Stockholm Fixture
From Julie and Francesca:
A report of our first visit to the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, the annual design fest featuring exhibitors from all over the world, held in the not especially compelling Jacob Javits Center (despite the fact that it’s an I.M Pei project):
Alight from taxi in the drizzle, wander around a bit, getting our bearings. Transparent acrylic furniture from Kartell, some nice new pieces from Blu Dot, an encounter with a retro-styled Smeg refrigerator (we love Smeg). Gorgeous bath fixtures from Lefroy Brooks (inspect the Kafka series, currently only available for commercial applications, but soon to be available to all). Suddenly, we spot a rather amateurish table setup, with tiles strewn about (presided over by one Orlando Boyne) and recognize a Neisha Crosland beaded stripe pattern acid-etched on a square of limestone. Turns out British outfit De Ferranti is working with Crosland to produce a new line of subtly patterned tiles for floors and walls; another way to get more Crosland in your life, always a goal.
Below: Neisha Crosland tile by De Ferranti.
Below: Another Brit whose work we admire, Jocelyn Warner, showed a gorgeous array of Flora wallpaper: magnolias rendered in moody shades of dark gray and silver.
Below: Next, amid all the tiresomely arch and ironic damask wallpaper that seems to be the main UK export these days, we spot Kevin Dean’s unselfconscious watercolors, silkscreened on heavy paper, utterly artless and artful at the same time, depicting roses and bucolic country scenes.
As we approached the Lladro booth, we spotted a larger-than-life Marcel Wanders inspecting the Niagra chandelier and other objets (Lladro recently released a new line by Spanish wunderkind Jaime Hayon). Wanders is the famed Dutch designer behind Moooi; he designs for Capellini, Bisazza, B&B Italia, and more. We were transfixed by the spectacle of the 6-foot-4-inches Wanders, who was clad in a slim black suit, pink neon Pumas (see Wanders@Puma), and a chunky pearl choker with a single diamante bead.
Below L: Marcel Wanders. Below R: Knot Chair by Marcel Wanders at Unica Home.
Below: Wanders’ Alice wallpaper for British firm Graham & Brown.
Tomorrow: Parker Posey sighting, Nosi Music, and more design visits.
May 19th, 2008
Related posts:
- Windows, Floors & Walls: Ann Sacks Paccha Tiles
- Windows, Floors, and Walls: Popham Design
- 10 Easy Pieces: Haunted House
- Children’s Rooms: Celia Birtwell Fabric
- Fabrics & Linens: Lucy Rose
From Janet:
A perennial favorite, NYC-based textiles company Hable Construction, is hosting its annual spring sample sale from Wednesday, May 21 to Friday, May 23, from 11 am to 7 pm each day at their design studio at 195 Chrystie Street (between Stanton and Rivington) in New York. Their trademark totes, bedding, storage items, kids accessories, and pillows will be on offer for 40 to 70 percent off. Another bonus: trade-only fabrics will be available at a discount.
May 19th, 2008
Related posts:
- Hable Construction Fabric
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From Julie:
We recently came across the new Amsterdam apartment of the mysterious Minimalist Flickr Guy from the Netherlands. He’s got a turntable, we don’t. He has no sentimental clutter. He painted the beautiful old wood floors high gloss white (”before anyone comments on how painting wood floors is such a crime, my decision is made,” he says). He has a Vernon Panton Topan Suspension light, a hard-to-love brown shag rug by FM Janssen, and a Euro airport-esque Lotus lounge chair, by Dutch designer Rob Parry (a former student of Gerrit Rietveld) reissued by Bränd Furniture. Also an Eames wire-base table and an Eames-like armchair. See his old Amsterdam apartment at Flickr, which we first spotted on the excellent Reference Library.
May 19th, 2008
Related posts:
- House Call: Amsterdam Office
- House Call: Brooklyn Heights Remodel
- Outdoors: Wood Slat Chaises
- House Call: Ladbroke Grove White House
- Outdoors: Shower Enclosures
