This neat little thing screams good sense. Envisioned by Swedish designer Jonas Forsman for Creatables, the Old News newspaper collector allows you to store your periodicals in style while they are waiting to be recycled. The piece itself is made from recycled sport felt, which is right up the same eco street. So, instead of chaotic piling you can now engage in some environmentally conscious accumulating. This does sound better.
Source: The Designer Pad
The Stockholm Furniture Fair 2011 is in full swing, and the first news are coming in. Yesterday the world beheld the winner of the Forms+1 Award for the best product at this year’s exhibition. The award went to Thomas Bernstrand for his stackable storage system, called Ivy. This unusual piece, produced by the Swedish company Swedese, consists of five stackable components that can be arranged in three ways: straight-up, leaning to one side, or alternating. The last two choices allow to play with the object, creating fun and dynamic shelving. But even in a traditional, straight-up version it looks rather interesting. And because the Ivy system is stackable, you can customize it, divite it in two, or take it apart completely with ease.
One cannot be truly design-oriented today without considering the ecological aspect of the object. This piece, for example, in addition to being a thing of visual delight, can make us feel good about the production methods. Made out of 100% recycled (and recyclable) leather, o-Re-gami lampshade, designed by Matali Crasset for Regenesi, made quite an appearance at the latest Maison & Objet in Paris. Here is how the designer conveys his vision: ‘In France, interest in post-consumer products is not new but it is difficult to find companies with a genuine will to act and find a new production logic. Regenesi represents this approach and my design revolves around playing with basic things; you start with a sheet and then proceed from two dimensions to three, generating origami shapes… Then, by slightly changing the fold, the shape can offer a different function.’ And like every genius idea it sounds and looks so simple – an unexpected material, some folding and perforating, and the magic is done. Why no one else had thought of that…
Acoustable is a coffee table/sound system, created by two Belgian designers Jérôme Spriet and Wolfgang Bregentzer. The table consists of a base and a top with an advanced acoustic system resting in between. Here is how the designers describe the concept: ‘The project Acoustable is born out of a reflection on music and ways of listening to it. As the digital revolution has made music more widely available, mobile and compact, so a good quality dock is essential. The idea of an object which combines good acoustics with user-friendly ergonomics arises from these considerations. The coffee table at the center of the room becomes the sound system and the power terminal. There are no visible technical elements, only the player and a remote which can both be stored in a built in pocket.’ So there you have it – the table with one more good reason to gather around.
Source: Freshome
Alain Monnens, the guy who designed the Flip lamp we like, came up with something interesting again. His new creation for tossB is called 25DEGREES. This unusual light fixture is made out of quadratic aluminium tubes, cut at a 25 degree angle. When mount on a wall or a ceiling, the lamp creates projection of light on the surface. This effect really comes to life when you position several 25DEGREES fixtures side by side. 360˚ rotatable, they can create multiple patterns of light on your wall or ceiling. 25DEGREES lamp is available in white, black and grey paint or brushed aluminum.
One great man once said that it is the useless things that make life worth living. This inspired design object does not add a lot of functional goodness to the interior, but I want it anyway. Traffic Jam coat hanger, created by serbian designer Vukašin Vukobratović was one of 11 winning projects of the 2011 ‘Young Balkan Designers’ competition. And you can clearly see why. The beauty and humor of this thing are irresistible. To be fair, the signage is interchangeable and can provide an actual direction to human masses in schools, hotels, offices and other public places. And for us, shoebox dwelling creatures, it can become a much needed eye candy.
Source: Designboom
The fewer pieces of furniture we have, the more they have to matter. This item, for example, is not going to stand in the corner unnoticed. Designed by Pierre Brichet, the Marie-Sophie chair is definitely made to create a visual impact. Manufactured out of steel trellis and leather, the piece seems to be suspended in the air. The clever geometry of the base creates a negative space around the seat and showcases the elegant simplicity of the object. The Marie-Sophie chair is currently displayed at the Coming Soon Galerie in Paris.
This little folding chair was created by the Finish born and Paris based designer Elisa Honkanen, who proved once again that even inexpensive, utilitarian and temporary things can add delight to our lives. Hasta chair consists of two components – folding tripod and a cotton cover, which resembles kids ‘tell the fortune’ paper game. The beauty of the piece comes from its lightness and naive, even childlike simplicity. But in fact, to achieve the effect, the designer had to experiment a lot with textures and proportions. The piece is currently on show at the Making Of exhibition in Paris.
More news from the Cologne 2011. This unusual piece earned its creator Hanna Emelie Ernsting the second place in this year’s [D3] Talents Competition. Moody couch got its name for its ability to take and retain many shapes. The transformation is achieved thanks to the extended textile cover, which can be draped around the base in many different ways. A high quality cotton upholstery is reinforced by wadding, making the material more luxurious and also able to hold the desired form. Thus, the object can respond to changes in environment and user’s emotional state. The designer calls this concept – ‘form follows moods.’ By detaching cover from the base and giving it freedom, Ernsting created a piece of furniture that is as flexible as fabric. A couch that can wrap around you after a long day – who would not like that…
Source: Dezeen
This elegant lightweight piece designed by Léonard Kadid, who gave us a notion of a lamp we need to co-create. Yes, you read me correctly. The lamp does not exist without our input, for it has no base. We are invited to provide our own base in a form of a book. Which is fun as well as pragmatic, because this concept eliminates unnecessary manufacturing costs. Made out of a single piece of plywood bent in two places, Bookmark Lamp is as minimalistic as can be. And since the choice of a book is up to us – interactive too.
