Lukas Peet for Roll & Hill: Rudi

Lukas Peet for Roll & Hill: Rudi

Lukas Peet for Roll & Hill: Rudi, Double Loop

Lukas Peet for Roll & Hill: Rudi, Single Loop

Lukas Peet’s Rudi design for Roll & Hill pares down form and material to the most simple elements. With a single or double elongated loop, the pendant elegantly hangs from a knotted cord, which is brilliantly incorporated into the design of the light. The knot itself performs double duty as a functional and decorative element and leaves its construction a bit of mystery to the viewer’s first glance.

From Roll & Hill: Jewelry is the inspiration for Rudi, a series of pendant lamps named after Lukas Peet’s father. Rudi is made from bent brass tubes that hold handmade cold cathode lamps. The fixtures hang from their cords, which are knotted around the metal tubes.

Lukas Peet: website Roll & Hill: website


Matt Gagnon Studio: Knit Fort

Matt Gagnon Studio: Knit Fort – Mark Lantosca Photography

Matt Gagnon Studio: Knit Fort – Mark Lantosca photography

Matt Gagnon Studio: Knit Fort

Matt Gagnon Studio: Knit Fort

Matt Gagnon Studio: Knit Fort

Shown at The  Standard Hotel, East Village in NY as part of Sight Unseen’s “Hotel California” exhibit, Matt Gagnon Studio brings us Knit Fort, based off of the construction technique of his Squeeze Lamp series. By repeating a simple wooden shape in a seemingly-haphazard but most-likely exacting method, Gagnon brings and animated feel to an exterior/interior design that provides both shade and light and a sociable level of privacy.

From Matt Gagnon Studio: The Knit Fort is a flexible hardwood structure that can be made to fit the size and shape of your desires. The repetition of two wooden parts creates a complex textural surface. The assembly technique, similar to knitting, allows the addition or subtraction of columns responding to the site context without altering the design. Depending on the scale, the structure can be a play space, terrace sunshade, conference room dome, outdoor shower or interior/ exterior cabana.

Matt Gagnon Studio: website


Matthew Plumstead: Clip Tree

Matthew Plumstead: Clip Tree

Matthew Plumstead: Clip Tree

Matthew Plumstead: Clip Tree

Matthew Plumstead: Clip Tree

Matthew Plumstead: Clip Tree

Matthew Plumstead: Clip Tree

The Clip Tree from Matthew Plumstead made its debut at ICFF last weekend in NY. The design reinterprets the traditional coat rack’s purpose and aesthetics by adding features to collect a varying range of objects. As some of the most ornate have done in the past, Plumstead’s design creates a playful if not quirky composition, fitting for today’s modern interior.

From Matthew Plumstead: Clip Tree is a configurable valet for use in the home, office, or hotel room. Taking functional inspiration from early hall trees and coat stands, Clip Tree combines both forms resulting in a product that is designed to hold onto all of the things we carry around with us during the day. From cell phones to spring scarves, messenger bags to a child’s raincoat, Clip Tree provides a way to elegantly frame our possessions. Rubber components can be clipped into notches that run the length of each wooden post. This design allows for a flexible platform which accommodates the needs for people of all ages and sizes. And as seasons change or children grow, the clips can be rearranged to receive different objects. Assembly is very simple, requiring only an allen wrench for the floor version and screw driver for the wall version.

Matthew Plumstead: website


Marc Trotereau: WireShade

Marc Trotereau: WireShade

Marc Trotereau: WireShade

Marc Trotereau: WireShade

Marc Trotereau: WireShade

Marc Trotereau: WireShade Pendant

Marc Trotereau: WireShade Pendant

The WireShade light objects from designer Marc Trotereau take on sculptural characteristics as they wrap around corners, nestle into nooks or hang from ceilings. Their three-dimensional, pixel-like forms have a life-like quality as they suggest the illusion of growing and multiplying in their environments. As ambient forms, they become a significant part of the room with their unique placement, bold geometry and glowing presence.

From Marc Trotereau: The wireshade project is an interpretation of the making and the use of the lampshade. The traditional making of a lampshade is a flexible and relatively easy process based on brazing metal rods. Marc Trotereau decided to adapt this way of making by creating a jig, which gives the possibility to braze three metal rods together at the same time. This set up enables the production of three-dimensional cubical shapes. The structure is painted or powder coated and then covered with corrugated plastic also known as ‘Correx’. This material is flame retardant and antistatic. The morphology of the correx gives the possibility to clip it to the metal structure. Marc Trotereau developed a flexible process to create shells that can be used as lampshades for every type of wall, ceiling, and corners. The lampshade becomes a sculptural and unique object, which can adapt its shape to any type of space.

Marc Trotereau: website


Blu Dot: Hot Mesh Chair

Blu Dot: Hot Mesh Chair

Blu Dot: Hot Mesh Chair

Blu Dot: Hot Mesh Chair

Blu Dot: Hot Mesh Chair

Shown at ICFF the new Hot Mesh Chair from Blu Dot brings pattern and color into the basic dining chair. Casual and modern, the chairs are available in classic black or white, or these trending shades of yellow and blue. Their hexagonal designs decorate not only the chairs but also the surfaces onto which their shadows are cast. The all-around story is playful and whimsical, fitting for the Blu Dot brand.

Blu Dot: website & 2012 catalog


Nervous System: Hyphae

Nervous System: Hyphae

Nervous System: Hyphae

Nervous System: Hyphae

Nervous System: Hyphae

Nervous System: Hyphae

The structures of Nervous System’s  Hyphae series intricately resemble patterning inspired by science and nature. In a visual sense, we draw connections to underwater coral or decaying leaves. These referred objects’ systems follow the same principles that sustain all life: networks and pathways that distribute energy, as explained by the designers below. With the idea of transporting energy in mind, it is all too appropriate that these designs yield light.

From Nervous System: Hyphae is a collection of 3D printed artifacts constructed of rhizome-like networks. Inspired by the vein structures that carry fluids through organisms from the leaves of plants to our own circulatory systems, we created a simulation which uses physical growth principles to build sculptural, organic structures. Starting from an initial seed and a surface, we grow a hierarchical network where nodes constantly branch and merge. The densely interconnected structure is at once airy and strong. Each lamp is a completely one-of-a-kind design 3D-printed in nylon plastic. The lamps are lit by eco-friendly LED’s and cast dramatic branching shadows on the wall and ceiling.

Nervous System: website


Katie Stout: Bump In Your Rug

Katie Stout: Bump In Your Rug

Katie Stout: Bump In Your Rug

Katie Stout: Bump In Your Rug

The Standard East Village in NY hosted Noho Design District’s ”Scale” exhibit this weekend curated by Architzer, Cool Hunting and Dwell magazine. Katie Stout’s Bump In Your Rug design, seen here, uses the traditional braided rug as a material for her stool-incorporated throw rug. The playful combination incorporates decoration with functionality and comfort, all in one unique piece.

From Katie Stout: Bump In Your Rug serves as a functional illusion for the floor. An extruded wedge hybridizes rug and ottoman to create an interior landscape meant for seating, eating and story telling. Referencing New England craft and hypnotic spirals, Bump In Your Rug fuses tradition and trip in a practical piece for everyday use.

Katie Stout: website


American Design Club Presents: Raw + Unfiltered

Raw + Unfiltered / Chris Schanck: Reasonable Mirror – photography (right) Kendall Mills

The American Design Club‘s eighth curated, themed design exhibit once again showcases some of today’s most innovative talents with their latest “Raw + Unfiltered” show at Heller Gallery in New York. Kiel Mead, one of the co-founders of the club explains the thought behind the show’s theme: “The AmDC believes in an unfiltered and open process to everything we do. An unfiltered process, in our eyes, is one that leaves nothing hidden and nothing unexplored”. As the city celebrates design this week at ICFF and many satellite shows, “Raw + Unfiltered” fuses the artist’s approach with the designer’s sensibility where this question is posed: “If your process became Raw + Unfiltered, what kind of object would that yield?” Chris Schanck’s Reasonable Mirror, above, answers that question with a sensuous solution.

Raw + Unfiltered / Brittany Pool: Objects For Eating – photography Kendall Mills

Brittany Pool’s organically shaped tableware exaggerates the handmade quality of its construction. Emphasizing surface allure and imperfection of form, the Objects For Eating collection seduces the senses with voluptuous shapes, lush finishes and a richly natural color scheme.

Raw + Unfiltered / Jack Craig: PVC Series – photography Kendall Mills

Jack Craig’s re-purposed PVC Series piping is heated, bent and otherwise manipulated, leaving its industrial associations behind for a more approachable, humanized one. The resulting form, enhanced by soft rippling detailing, affords a more emotional connection to what is ordinarily perceived as a utilitarian, man-made material.

Raw + Unfiltered / Asher Israelow: Terra Chair – photography Kendall Mills

In a more literal sense of the theme, Asher Israelow’s Terra Chair shows off its natural, raw beauty through its unique patterning and untamed edges. The designer balances the organic material with linear, polished shapes that subtly carve out indications for seating.

Raw + Unfiltered / Fort Standard: Sprue Candelabra – photography Kendall Mills

The Sprue Candelabra’s unpolished, roughly finished forms aptly fit into the Raw + Unfiltered theme. Their cast figures transparently reveal any and all scars and coloration associated with their construction process.

Raw + Unfiltered / Mark Dineen: Fur Series Lamp – photography Kendall Mills

Pairing together two unexpected objects, Mark Dineen’s Fur Series Lamp mixes hints of refined, mid-century modern design elements with fur’s untamed beauty. The result aims for luxury found through both controlled and raw materials.

Raw + Unfiltered / Taylor McKenzie Veal: Bent Reed – photography Kendall Mills

Raw + Unfiltered / Taylor McKenzie Veal: Bent Reed detail – photography Kendall Mills

As many of the pieces in “Raw + Unfiltered” celebrate material exploration, Taylor McKenzie Veal meticulously constructs a structural base by means of bending and binding. The end result is surprisingly stable and sturdy, enough so to withstand the weight of its solid glass tabletop.

Raw + Unfiltered / Grain: Molten – photography Kendall Mills

Raw + Unfiltered / Grain: Molten detail – photography Kendall Mills

Molten from Grain lets material tendency reign under controlled design efforts. As molten silver puddles and conjoins, evidence of its fluid past is frozen in time letting the mystery of the material show.

Raw + Unfiltered / Object Trust: Raw Leather Table – photography Kendall Mills

Raw + Unfiltered / Object Trust: Raw Leather Table – photography Kendall Mills

Taking a DIY approach to the theme, The Raw Leather Table from Object Trust uses few and simple elements to create a modern design. Fussy it is not; bungee cord and bluntly cut leather hug the perfectly grooved table.

Raw + Unfiltered / Chris Schanck: Wrapped Armchair – photography Kendall Mills

Chris Schanck’s Wrapped Armchair reveals both its inner and outer design with a stark metal frame and what presents itself as tautly draped “upholstery”. What may appear as malleable is in fact a solid construction, which contradicts the expected association.

Raw + Unfiltered / Bec Brittain: SHY Beams Dark – photography Kendall Mills

And “Raw + Unfiltered” is not always a material interpretation. These javelin-like light beams abandon conventional standards of lighting orientation.  The SHY Beams can be arranged as desired: grouped in numbers or left to stand alone.

Raw + Unfiltered / Aria Mcmanus: Bodega Bag – photography Kendall Mills

Raw + Unfiltered / Aria Mcmanus: Bodega Bag – photography Kendall Mills

And perhaps with a bit of irony, Aria Mcmanus adds a fashionable and utilitarian element to the common plastic bag.

“Raw + Unfiltered” showcases these and 32 additional designs. It is on display now through Friday, May 25th at Heller Gallery located at 420 West 14th Street in New York. Don’t miss the chance to see some of today’s most innovative work from established designers and newcomers alike.

Kendall Mills Photography – website


Tanihata: Kumiko

Tanihata: Kumiko

Tanihata: Kumiko

Tanihata: Kumiko

Tanihata: Kumiko

Tanihata: Kumiko

Now on view at ICFF, Japanese company Tanihata exhibits their precisely crafted partitions, which employ the traditional Kumiko technique. The wooden constructions have a timeless design appeal made with incredible craftsmanship and boasting enduring quality. These structures’ fastidious designs can be scrutinized at the show where an array of patterns are on display.

From Tanihata: We make wooden partitions and lattice sliding doors with the traditional Japanese joinery technique of Kumiko, which has been in use for 1,400 years. The Kumiko technique uses no nails or other connectors which means each piece of wood must be meticulously and skillfully prepared so that all pieces fit together perfectly to achieve a distinctively pleasing aesthetic. Our products, which are available in a variety of lattice designs, are ideal for use as paritions in spacious areas such as a store or restuarnt.

Tanihata: website


Ji-In Kim: Tweet Outdoor Stool

Ji-In Kim: Tweet Outdoor Stool

Ji-In Kim: Tweet Outdoor Stool

Ji-In Kim: Tweet Outdoor Stool

Ji-In Kim: Tweet Outdoor Stool

Ji-In Kim: Tweet Outdoor Stool

Ji-In Kim: Tweet Outdoor Stool

Seen at ICFF in NY, Ji-In Kim’s Tweet Outdoor Stool combines function, symbolic iconography and poetic concept to create this unique and modern seating collection for outdoor use. Playing with shadow, the bird’s graphic silhouette is captured inside this cage-like stool, freed only when the user engages and sits upon the stool, letting the bird fly away. Tweet unites a lovely theme with appropriately modern materials, form and line work creating a truly endearing design.

From Ji-In Kim: Tweet is an outdoor stool that was designed to free the soul of a bird. As people enjoy their time outside in nature, this stool helps you to rest and relax from their busy, urban life. Tweet comes from the sound of a bird, has the form of a chair like a bird cage with the material of a welded metal. A hole is carved on the center surface on the stool in a bird shape, which creates a shadow underneath the stool of that same shape. As people sit on the stool, the bird disappears from the cage. This bird shadow is a metaphor of a freedom given to a human being from their daily lives in a certain routine.

Ji-In Kim: website


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