Subtle, it most definitley is not—which may explain why China’s Lotus Building by Melbourne architectural firm Studio 505 has us blinking in disbelief. This flowery suite of concert halls and meeting rooms rises, fittingly enough, from a man-made lake in the center of Wujin—a district in the southern city of — Continue reading
It’s hard to believe that Poul Henningsen’s serene PH5 Pendant Lamp for Louis Poulsen was, in fact, a reactionary design. Henningsen dramatically declared himself a ‘fatalist’ who had surrendered to manufacturers’ inability to stop fiddling with the shape and size of the incandescent light bulb, and set about creating a — Continue reading
If Indian architecture conjures up images of Islamic archways and mosaic ornamentation, French photographer Vincent Leroux’s images from the southern Indian region of Tiruvannamalai will come as an unexpected treat. There, Leroux happened upon houses composed of geometric volumes and vivid color that bear a startling resemblance to the work of — Continue reading
We couldn’t very well let Independence Day pass without calling attention to some of our favorite American-based brands and American-made products. Brooklyn’s Flavor Paper, Rochester’s Staach, Los Angeles’ Parvez Taj, Vermont’s Copeland Furniture, and Upstate New York’s Niche Modern ply their trade by keeping things close to home. Locally sourced, — Continue reading
Inventively recycled and re-purposed materials—steel, glass, shells, among others—help define the imaginative eco friendly range of lighting models from Varaluz, an American company which takes the tag line ‘design with a conscience’ seriously. Our 4th of July lighting sale features a 15% discount on our entire selection of Varaluz pendants, — Continue reading
Capitalizing on research that shows we’re just not getting enough sleep, or at least the proper kind of sleep, lighting products company Saffron, makers of the well-named Drift, think they’ve got a solution. An energy efficient LED light bulb, Drift looks ordinary enough, fits into a standard light socket, and — Continue reading
No one could ever accuse Verner Panton of having played it safe. The great Danish designer, whose S-shaped Panton Chair remains one of the more fluid profiles of the Mid-Century era, unabashedly harnessed the psychedelic colors and playful forms that defined the Pop Art-influenced visual culture of the 1960′s, and — Continue reading
Urban bike riders, take note. Milan design studio Sovrappensiero has come up with an invention designed specifically for city bicyclists who find themselves felled by pedals partial to certain footwear or particular weather conditions. Grippine is a silicone sheath which neatly slips onto any bicycle pedal (no screws or bolts — Continue reading
A hallmark of Patricia Urquiola’s work is the infusion of delicate patterns and subtle textures into otherwise restrained color schemes and clean finishes. The interiors of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Barcelona bear evidence of these esthetic devices, and nowhere more so than in the hotel’s restaurant and lounge areas—where — Continue reading
The innovative lighting solutions presented by the California design studio Cerno are an artful expression of the brand’s mission to “be accountable to our customers and our environment, by building our product to last, selecting our material pallet responsibly and using energy efficient LED technology.” Elegant, inventive forms and imaginative — Continue reading
“It is an intoxicatingly beautiful building by the most brilliant architect at the height of her office’s powers. It is as pure and sexy as Marilyn’s blown skirt.” With an assessment that effusive from one of the judges, no wonder Zaha Hadid’s Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, Azerbaijan, a wildly — Continue reading
Belgian designer Quentin de Coster has designed a suite of hardware items specially designed to do double duty in children’s rooms. A collection created for the Brussels-based hardware brand Vervloet, the TIBOU collection is meant to address kids’ natural tendency to use door handles and drawer pulls as hanging devices — Continue reading
Just when we had resigned ourselves to hurriedly downing greasy food while perched on generic wooden bar stools, along comes The Perfectionists’ Cafe, a new restaurant at London’s Heathrow airport that aims to drastically elevate the airport dining experience. “I wanted this restaurant not to feel like a compromise—as so — Continue reading
It doesn’t get more reductive than the Pendura Coat Stand by Portuguese design studio Galula, which has distilled the hang-it-all device’s design into a statuesque triangle and a few notches. Just lean the solid oak, vertically configured Pendura—available in a range of 5 pleasing colors for flair and accessorizing flexibility—against — Continue reading
Swedish clothing retailer Uniforms For The Dedicated is proposing a novel approach to recycling—with a shopping bag that graphically encourages a clothing donation with each consumer purchase. The Rag Bag is a shopping bag which, when turned inside-out, morphs into a mailing envelope, postage-paid and pre-addressed. Customers are urged to — Continue reading
French designer Pierre Charpin is the latest in a line of contemporary creatives given free reign over a single apartment designed by Le Corbusier. Apartment 50, a unit in Le Corbusier’s famous Cité radieuse apartment complex in Marseilles, France, has been preserved in its original state, given Historic Monument status, — Continue reading
A table held together with a pair of 3-D printed connectors walked away with the 2014 Interieur Awards Grand Prize, unanimously selected last month by an international jury. Held in tandem with the annual Belgian design event Biennale Interieur, the Grand Prize winner was the Keystones Table by Minale Maeda, — Continue reading
Portuguese architect Andre Chiote had channeled World Cup fever into an ongoing poster series that focuses on the architecture of the 12 stadiums in which World Cup matches are currently being played. Chiote, whose previous self-initiated graphic design projects have featured stylized images of iconic built works from around the — Continue reading
The Upstate New York design studio Miles & May has distinguished itself with a collection of handsome hand-crafted furnishings largely realized in locally sourced recycled or reclaimed timber. Environmental consciousness, however, is only one facet of the larger company objective of synthesizing, rather than separating, material from form. By allowing — Continue reading
When the 2014 Red Dot Design Awards are handed out in Essen, Germany, next month, Italian lighting brand FontanaArte will be on hand to receive accolades for its winsome Blom Table Lamp. The beautifully compact, flower-shaped Blom, with its painted aluminum petals and milky diffuser, was announced as a Red — Continue reading
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