2Modern Design Talk - Modern Furniture & Design Blog

Bamboo Light

Using the form of bamboo trunks as inspiration, this design is the postmodern version of a Zen garden, that works as lamp and as interior division. The design has an aluminum base that holds the trunks, which are formed by a repeated module, made of translucent flexible acrylic, that works as screen. Each trunk is held to the base through a hidden metallic structure that holds to the modules and the electrical system. The trunks are slightly flexible, creating harmonic movements in contact with the wind, allowing the hit of the trunks that generates a soft percussion as background music. Link

Urban Gnomes for your Garden

Vitamin Living are featuring some pretty cool little garden gnomes, that would look great in any environment, inside or out! Inspired by London's wide ranging expanse of street art, these little guys stand 21cm tall and are made of fine bone chine in the UK.

Not quite your traditional folklore gnome, but super sweet all the same! I love that street art is able to cross into modern design.

Contemporary Crochet

Just when I was beginning to get over my phobia of display plates, it appears that all things knitted, weaved and crocheted are making a resurgence too. Not that it hasn't been a long time coming, celebrities have been flashing around their knitting needles for quite a while, and even your grandma was in on the craze before you were.

So it's no surprise that earlier this month at the Stockholm Furniture Fair, it was the unlikely union of tubular steel and weaved textiles (clothed polyurethane foam to be precise) that grabbed the attention of many. The design of new architecture/design trio Imaginary Office, the Pleats-Pleats Sofa is an unexpected combination of precision steel and squishy handicrafts.

Outdoor furniture is in on the craze too. These crocheted poufs from Ineke Visser are made from UV resistant polyester yarn that is reportedly as soft as cotton. Perhaps even less expected than weaves and tubular steel however, these pouf covers are designed to be pulled over rubber tyres. In the event that this isn't an ingenious means of reusing car tyres, Ineke has also designed crocheted pot plant covers to even out the green scorecard.

This latest trend for handicraft/homeware hybrids wouldn't come as any surprise to Rotterdam-based Christien Meindertsma, who has been creating hand knitted poufs under the banner of FLOCKS for the last few years. Christien collaborates with knitters, spinners, farmers and felters from around the world to create her bespoke range of knitwear, and although she focuses primarily on fashion, her hand felted, hand knitted poufs are practically a classic. Yes, a classic pouf. You heard it here first.

I know what you're thinking. Hand knitted? Those must be some BIG knitting needles she's got there.

And you're absolutely right. Grandmas and A-Grade knitting celebrities alike would be hard pressed to fight back feelings of severe knitting needle envy. 

So get your hands on a weaved sofa, a knitted pouf and a crocheted pot plant, and while you're at it, hang your favourite plates on your walls too! Everything old is new again, and Grandma would be proud.

Modern Porch Swing

 

This one will stop you in your tracks. The artist-designers certainly deliver to the tag line "modern furniture that hasn't forgotten where it's come from. " The founders of Woodia La Piccolo, Jermey Sisto, Eric Michael Cole and Bruno Acalinas share a love of functional art and a dedication to fine craftsmanship and eco-friendly materials. This modern porch swing is constructed using Forest Stewardship Certifed reclaimed teak and stainless steel components.  Stay tuned for an entire line of unique home, office and commerical space furniture.

 

Seeding the City

It's hard to imagine now, in the dead of winter, the return of summer, but it will come and once again, those of us who live in cities will find ourselves sweltering in our urban heat islands. Unlike the suburbs or those areas that still retain a large amount of green space, our cities are mostly concrete, glass, asphalt, and steel. Our tall buildings create artificial canyons in which the warm air never escapes, the asphalt absorbs the heat, and the glass walls reflect sunlight back and forth like a hall of mirrors. The result is that the temperature of our cities rises at faster rate then the surrounding, less densely built areas. And so every summer, those of us who live in large cities, fight the heat by cranking up our air conditioners. But the hot exhaust from our air conditioning systems increases the temperature outside, exacerbating the urban heat effect. On top of all this, we waste a tremendous amount of energy, running the millions of air conditioners that cool our cities. So what to do?

The artist, Eve Mosher, addresses the climate problems of our urban environment in her latest project "Seeding the City", which combines social networking, green roofs, and urban mapping. "Seeding the City" is a public art project that gives individuals small green roof modules (special self-contained low planter boxes with native plants or sedum) to plant on their roofs. Each location is marked with a roof top flag and a ground level street flag. At the same time an on-line virtual map is created to mark the growing network of tiny green plots as they spread virally across the city. This is a work of art that exists as an on-going social collaboration, rather than a static object.

And yet, given the scale of this project, its biggest impact will not be on the physical climate, but rather the social climate, opening minds to the idea of green roofs as an effective strategy for improving our urban environment.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

2009 will certainly go down as a very memorable one, to say the least. I think there will be a lot of reflection on what exactly transpired over this past year. There is no need to rehash it all, the Media does a great job at keeping us up to date with every detail possible.

I guess the one thing that I can decipher from all of this is this...if you are in a position of power, and your decisions impact several people, then make sure that you are acting with other people's best interest in mind. Make sure that your integrity is in check and that you are as concerned with other people's well-being as your own.

CEO's, Politicians, Hedge Fund Managers (Ponzi Scheme Operators), Teachers, Parents, etc...we all inherently know right from wrong. We all know when we are looking to 'just get ours', regardless of the end result of our actions on others.

I am sure I am preaching to the choir...as most of the people that are the root cause of some of these current global concerns will likely never read this, let alone have it sink in. Maybe if we start giving more attention to the people that are doing good things for people, doing the right or selfless thing when no one is even watching, then things will start to change in a positive direction. I hope that good behavior is rewarded and bad behavior isn't in 2009. That is my wish.

I sincerely hope that all of you out there have a very Happy, Healthy (and Conscious) New Year!

Greg

Concrete and Glass

Just when I thought my obsession with indoor plants couldn't get any more disturbing, along came Obleeek Objects. These lovely planters are designed by Leo Estevez and boast a customized concrete blend that is 40% lighter than standard concrete, not to mention a silky smooth finish.

These little guys are also right at home in the great outdoors as well, with a weather resistant sealant and versatile good looks to boot!

Each object has its own unique color and patina as a result of the natural variations in the blend of portland cement and volcanic ash, not to mention the refreshing fact that every item is hand poured.

The selling point for me however is the Concrete and Glass series that combines the smooth concrete finish with hand blown glass inserts. The soft pastels of the satin polish just beg to be kept out on display.

The very thought of an ultra modern birdbath has me rewriting my Christmas wish list as we speak. See more at Obleeek Objects and be sure to keep an eye on these newcomers in 2009!

EDITT Tower

The EDITT Tower (Ecological Design In The Tropics) is set to be built in downtown Singapore. It's design integrates a gray water system, central recycling, passive heating and cooling and solar panels. Half of the surface area of the building will be covered in local, organic vegetation. If that isn't enough, sewage from the building's inhabitants will be converted into biogas. Go Poo Power!

Greenwashing

What is greenwashing? Greenwashing is the creation or promotion of a products or ideals that exhibit environmentally sound qualities without actually performing at a less consumptive level. For example, the illusion of buying bamboo chairs imported from Vietnam over oak chairs from your native state. Yes, bamboo is a very renewable resource, but once the deforestation and glue toxins and shipping fuels and packaging are considered, its much better to just buy local furniture that doesn't require so much processing. Read a similar article on the greenwashing of the Chinese Olympic Gardens here.

Beijing's Olympic Garden

In preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics Beijing has festooned the grounds with lush sculptures portraying a greener version of China than we’re used to seeing. But artful topiary design is no replacement for creating a cleaner city at its height of pollution. Read the full article.