Design Intervention - Modern/Contemporary Design and Architecture

Here are two very interesting furniture pieces:

The form of the Tian02 Table is so simple and logical, it is a wonder it has not been done before. The table-legs are made of four cuts trough the table top which are bent downwards. Its silhouette looks calming and unpretentious, not exciting and spectacular. With very manageable dimensions, the tian02 is perfectly suitable for living spaces of all sizes and shapes. Besides the pictured dark stained walnut surface several other wooden surfaces of tian02 are available from Andacht INTERIEUR -

(from Andacht INTERIEUR)

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The discovery Cabinets are produced as a door or drawer unit system, both of which use the intriguing laminated peeled corner detail as an aesthetic and functional feature. The drawer system uses the peel detail to reveal a splash of the colored internal drawer carcass.

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(from Richard Shed)

Readers of my other scrapheap, known to a few as Random Meanderings, will know that I have a predilection for fireplaces. I don’t know why this is. Perhaps because it’s a simple, functional design element that offers such great possibilities in both its form and its function.

Here are two lovelies: The first is from ddcnyc.com and the second is from Fires Galore, and they are both clean and rich at the same time.

This lounge chair, seen at men.style.com looks like a cross between a chair, a grill spatula, and a radiator. Apparently you can hook it up to your hot water system and it’s a heated lounger. Just don’t sit too long - you don’t look good with those grill lines.

Designer: Sabine Müller and Andreas Quednau of SMAQ, New York

I subscribe to a lot of design and architecture related news feeds. I also get a lot of electronic newsletter and weekly sales pitches in my email every week. Lately I’ve started playing a game when I get the email from Design Within Reach. Their email shows a featured product, talks a bit about it and its designer, and offers a link to go “shop for it.”

The game I play is this: Try to guess the retail price before the web page loads.

For example, this week the featured product is the Cross Credenza. Here is some descriptive text from the web site: Solid natural oak frame and body; birch plywood drawer inserts; oak veneer top and fronts over particleboard; Blum soft-closing hardware.

So take a guess, based on the materials described above. My guess was $1500.

Retail price was $3600. Surprisingly, it’s in stock and ready to ship.

This piece would have been so much more wonderful if it were teak, or maple, or some other SOLID wood… The look is decidedly mid-century, but I don’t think oak was the right choice, certainly not as veneer.

This always makes me laugh. I’ve come to understand a thing or two about Design Within Reach - they aren’t meaning to be “financially” within reach, but they do mean that great original designs (not knock-offs) are within reach, all in one place. And THAT’S something they are VERY good at. There are lots of great original designs there to ogle.

(Design Within Reach)

Louis Kahn’s Esherick house located just outside of Philadelphia will be auctioned off to the highest bidder on May 18th. The house stands as one of the most important houses realized by Kahn throughout his career, and is the first residence to illustrate his mature architectural ideals. The house will be offered in Wright’s Important Design sale with an estimate of $2-3 million.

(from Design Addict, where there are more pictures.)

Alexander Gorlin Architects has a WONDERFUL online portfolio of project photos. If you’re like me, this is like crack cocaine. Can’t get enough of the photo-y goodness! I heard of this firm in connection to a 20,000 square foot Mediterranean-style project underway in Houston for NBA player Juwan Howard.

The first two photos are of a project in Genessee, Colorado

The second two are from Santa Fe, NM.

From their website: The firm was established in 1987 after Mr. Gorlin returned from a Rome Prize Fellowship at the American Academy in Rome. A graduate of the Cooper Union School of Architecture and The Yale School of Architecture, where he taught as a critic from 1980-92, Mr. Gorlin became a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 2005.

The firm has won numerous awards, most notably AIA Design Awards for House in the Rocky Mountains, Ruskin Place townhouse, and North Shore Hebrew Academy. In 2005, Architectural Digest recognized Mr. Gorlin as one of the country’s 30 Deans of Design.

(from Gorlin Architects)

Below are some nice photos of bedroom designs by Italian furniture maker Tomasella. Some very nice interior design choices, and some very nice materials choices in the (albeit likely fake) surrounding areas as well. I’m a fan of varied surface materials choices, and there are some nice ones here: concrete, brick, whitewash drywall/plaster, warm woods mixed with cool colors, etc. See if you agree.

From their website: Tomasella Industria Mobili is a company that spreads out over 100,0000 m2. Always staying at the forefront of technological and creative innovation, and perfectly in tune with the tastes of our times, Tomasella has led Italian furniture, both classic and modern, for the daytime or night-time area, to write an important chapter in its history.

(from Tomasella Compas via freshome)

How about a cooktop that uses the efficiency of natural gas, along with the convenience of a solid surface top? The Izona CookSurface allows your culinary creativity to flourish at a whole new level, combining the superior performance of gas cooking with the convenience of an easy-clean ceramic cooktop. The CookSurface incorporates three sets of hidden pan supports for different sizes of pans within the ceramic surface. When not in use, the burners sit virtually flush with the sheer ceramic surface, giving you large and easy-to-clean work surface.

(from Izona via The Applaincist)

This is some excellent Industrial Design. I used to work for a music hardware company, and I have an appreciation for milled aluminum, and this is some of that. Couple the great design with the ease of USB and a programmable driver, and you have a great product. Not to mention gorgeous.

From the web site: PowerMate functions beautifully as a convenient volume knob and mute button for music listening on your PC or Mac. But that’s just the beginning of PowerMate’s possibilities. Edit movies just like the pros with PowerMate functioning as your very own Jog/Shuttle wheel. PowerMate makes editing anything from home movies to your next demo a breeze. It even comes preset to work with iMovie, FinalCut Pro and GarageBand right out of the box!

But the real power of PowerMate is its programmable driver. You can quickly and easily program it to execute any Key Command, in any application.

(via GriffinTechnology.com)

The Panta Rhei is triangular seating for two by Florian Gypser that can also be configured into a public seating island by putting three together.

Many design and architecture schools use furniture in general, and chairs specifically, to hone students’ sensitivity toward ergonomics, visual appeal, utility, and personal style. There are lots of very famous architects who designed the furniture for the homes they designed. Most notable among those is likely Frank Lloyd Wright.
(via gypser.com )