Established & Sons have produced and ombré version of the Bouroullec’s Quilt chair.

At Milan Salone del Mobile Moroso showed a very controlled Ombré sofa that graduated from a light to dark pink. Incredibly confusing for the camera to shot.

Flip Flap Fold by textile designer Margrethe Odgaard. The dye seeps across the folds of the fabric enhancing the effect of the delicate origami folds

Textile designer  Josefine Wiel Fredén produces some beautiful fabric that has less control than the previous examples. The dye is allowed a little more of a free run. Huge patches of indigo and scarlet dyes have been manipulated just enough to create a repeat pattern; but not enough to feel mechanical produced. Each bolt of fabric is unique.

Alexa Lixfeld’s Cashmere throw uses the old method of tying the fabric to prevent the dye taking in those areas.

Underfull Tablecloth by Kristine Bjaadal At first glance the tablecloth appears to be an ordinary damask tablecloth. Its only when the cloth has been used and abused that the pattern really forms. “Some stains , like red wine, are hard to clean, but since they will be formed as figures, the tablecloth will not look stained. The figures will form a pale, shadowy pattern that will grow as the tablecloth is used over time. This creates stories and can contribute to giving the tablecloth a sentimental value.”

Homosapiens by Marie Garnier for Edition Nouveaux Objets is a kitchen tool for sharpening crushing and grinding.Early man would have been very happy with one of these and me too!

The Butcher, The Cook, The Diner by Hadar Snir is a set of knives that you could imagine making light work of skinning any mammal. They’re probably more likely to be used mezzaluna style on herbs  – or maybe that’s just me. I spotted them at Milan this year them and really hope they go into production

Hex Opener by Iacoli & McAlister. A simple chunk of brass to lever off a bottle top. That is all.

I don’t know how many thousands of years man has been making wine but House Wine by Sabine Marcelis is a beautiful way of bringing the process back into the home. All the pieces needed for home brewing are contained in the draw below the bottle.

If beer is more your thing Craft a Brew have created a wonderfully simple no-tech way to make your own beer. I love the way the craft trend has moved onto booze!

Any way I must be off….I’m cultivating my own sourdough..yes primitive bread making.

Precious mineral and metal resources have hit all time highs in terms of raw material prices. We may be in a banking crisis but the need for raw material isn’t showing any signs of a slow down. Big investors see safety in moving money into precious metals. The price and demand for copper in the UK has seen the organised theft of millions of pounds of cabling and even the Tube has been stopped by audacious thefts. It doesn’t end with copper; oil and coal have huge values. They also have unlikely aesthetic appeal too.Numerous designers have used copper of the past couple of years and it will continue to be a  popular material if only for is beautiful unique colour and shiney properties. But there is also a beauty in raw natural states.

At the London Design Festival Faye Toogoode showed a range of pieces  at Phillips de Pury that examine iridescence using oil as a medium.

Trapped Sphere is a piece that suspends oil in a solid resin block allowing the viewer to examine its beautiful iridescence. Its a work that objectifies this precious material and imprisons it. Its a dangerous material in so many ways; a pollutant and the cause of so many wars. We all know it as a valuable commodity but we rarely see it in its natural state. Captured in the sphere its a reminder of how the world is still so reliant on it.

Element Table made of sheets of  steel with the iridescent patina of oil metal

Lex Pott allows the metal to take on its natural colours. His experiments are shown in the first image on this post “When an element like copper is found in nature it has
a green colour. Iron has an orange / brown  colour when being found inside the earth. Oxidized metal surfaces create colours that provide information about a material. The pallete is a reaction with the base material.
Therefore the coloured surfaces have an organic growth
of colour and not every colour is possible on every surface. Colouring metals requires accurate recipes. This project shows the results of a research on metals and their true colours; a direct relationship between colour, material and information.”

Lex created a series of panels showing this organic growth across different metals in his work True Colours

Lex has gone on to apply the same process in True Colours Shelf

Minimalux Ballpoint  is made of an almost indestructible solid brass. the unplated shell allows the metal to develop its own patina. “The basic ballpoint pen, or ‘Biro’ as it has become known, has been a useful accessory to our daily lives for many years. Its familiar, cheap plastic casing is synonymous with the product but also its disposability”.

Sort of Coal is  a product that acts as a water and air purifyer  but is actually White Charcoal so not coal! White Charcoal has a higher carbon content than Black Charcoal and has no dust or residue.  Made using the same techniques and processes that have been used for centuries. In this ancient Japanese method pieces of wood are baked in hand-built clay kilns, slowly at first and then at extremely high temperatures with restricted oxygen. This allows carbon to be captured in the wood, a process called pyrolysis.

Oddly enough for years I’ve had a large lump of Lancashire coal sitting on a shelf near to me. I found it in the cellar at home; we never had a coal fire so it must have been there for decades. It moved around with me as a reminder of home and because its surprisingly beautiful, with iridescent seams. I just thought it was pretty, now I’d like to think its been purifying the air around me too! (probably not)

Sonya Winner’s After Matisse rug is inspired by the paper cut outs of the painter. Blocks of colour are overlapped like floating pieces in a kaleidoscope; the thick New Zealand wool pile is hand carved to give variations in depth. Its a beautiful piece that I had the chance to stroke at Super Design so I can personally vouch for its vibrancy and soft touch. You can also read an interview with Sonya on Pop Art Rock Girls blog

Plaid Bench by Raw Edges for Dilmos

“Each of the designs can stand alone however, Raw Edges has made the three benches in such a way that they interlock into one another horizontally and vertically, creating a large rectangular platform forming a vibrant plaid pattern.”

Boca do Lobo’s Pixel Cabinet features 1088 individual triangles of lacquered wood. The pieces have been overlay ed with gold and silver leaf and translucent lacquer applied to give the cabinet a lustrous shimmering finish.

Bashko Trybek’s Color Wheel Clock  “A Color Wheel clock provides a new per­spect­ive on the way of com­mu­nic­at­ing time. This idea refers to the Sun — the first, primt­ive clock in nature, reflect­ing the passing of time. The Sun emits light, a spec­trum of col­ours vis­ible while going through a prism. This phe­nom­ena was an inspir­a­tion for design­ing the face of the clock. Read­ing the time from the color wheel clock is simple: red stands for noon, the wheels from biggest to smal­lest stand, respect­ively, for hours, minutes and seconds.” I found it a bit tricky to read at first but pop back to his webistie and you’ll see an online real time version.

Bright vibrant colours have also been used in a couple of Hotel refits that have opened up this year. In Paris Matali Crasset has designed the interior for Hi Matic

The hotel contains 42 flexible cabins that allow the visitor to use the space as a home from home. With 100% internet access a memory foam bed that serves a sofa during the day the cabin is designed to change with with your needs througout the day. Each cabin features bright panels of colour with translucent panels allowing the light to filter through.

In Barcelona the Hotel Mimic aims to further enhance your mood with a shot of colour. As designer Xavier Claramunt says “Colours provide a dose of optimism: vibrant colours are capable of lifting the morale as a palette of dull greys is to make it sink. Colours will not raise the economy but they can brighten your mood”

The V&A ran breakfast talks at the Sackler Centre and the first talk  of the festival for me was Kiki van Eijke and Joost van Bleiswijk interviewed by Surface Magazine. The talk covered their careers to date from the graduation and early Milan shows up to their new textile collection for Bernhardt Design,which was launched at the festival.

Despite their close connection and showing their work together they sketch out ideas independently before discussing and developing projects. Kiki talking about a room divider and chair shown in Milan a couple of years back.  “A lot of people think that the construction, the metal part is Joost’s design but its not; I was drawing it.  Its just… I think somehow superficial that people think  “oh its metal it must be Joost” but it doesn’t work like that’ Joost “We always see the same films, we have  same books I think you can see a sort of wave across the things that we do, it has the same feel “

For the Bernhardt project Joost explained that the project was initially given a working title of “Fun Fight with Fabric” reflecting the conflicting opinions that went into this collaboration.

Joost wasn’t really used to doing patterns so he escaped from the computer making structures from pieces of metal or wood and Kiki would add on to the piece either with stitching or on the computer to develop the designs. I really liked the playful “Fun Fight with Fabric” title and how it describes the process; but from a commercial stand point Workshop best conveys the actual outcome.

The sofa was initally made from themselves but became a part of the project when it became clear it was a great way to show the breath of the collection they had created.  “We liked the fact you have a number of different textiles on 1 sofa in different colours ….there are 40 textiles, 5 different textures, 8 designs, and they can all be combined.”

It was also interesting to hear about their new studio in Eindhoven and how space can have an influence on what and how they develop products. The huge new studio was originally a Phillips paper factory building and its scale has an impact on how they can design. At 1200sq metres and 11 meters high,the scale allows many different uses in one space, it also acts as a showroom for pieces that are not out on display or haven’t been sold. It suits Kiki’s play on proportion that runs through her work and the industrial architectural feel to Joost’s.

Kiki also revealed a collaboration with Haagen Dazs for a Christmas cake made of ice cream. Its  not gone through the final tasting test yet but I can’t wait to see what it will be like  – no pictures were seen so I guess we’ll just have to wait for Christmas!

Nendo created an installation for Established & Son’s in their London showroom for this years London Design Festival.

The installation was inspired by looking back at nostalgic images of London fog; with the “fog” appearing to emerge from the wall to engulf pieces from the current collection . Created from thousands of pieces of transparent paper depicting random maps of London the fog engulfs the full height of the cavernous showroom.

At first I thought it rather funny that London’s reputation for fog has lingered for so long. It was a man made phenomena created from pumping out so much coal smoke from power stations. I live near to the carcass of one of these power stations; Battersea Power Station and another has been turned into Tate Modern.  Both are well loved landmarks despite the fact its noxious fumes probably killed thousands of Londoners!

So just as I was thinking “how odd, we never have fog now….” this morning Battersea Power Station was covered in the soft fluffy harmless fog that Nendo envisaged!

The Victoria & Albert Museum holds an amazing collection of works from across all fields within Design and the Visual Arts; and for the London Design Festival it is showing 12 installations across the site. I had a preview of the pieces yesterday and its certainly a “must visit” on the design trail. If you’re not able to get into London for the Festival here’s a look at some of the pieces on show.

The Cromwell Road entrance has undergone a dramatic transformation with the installation of a 12m diameter timber wave cascading down the steps.  Architects AL_A (winner of the V&A’s recent international competition to design a new courtyard and exhibition galleries) collaborated with structural engineers Arup in the creation of Timber Frame, a striking three-dimensional spiral made from oil-treated American Red Oak. This material is usually used in the construction of furniture and its the first time it has been used structurally and on such a large scale.  Ultra thin laminates have been glued together and bent to create the tightly curved shapes.

The second dramatic piece is by design duo Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec collaborating with Kvadrat(if you click the link they have a lovely stop animation preview). Textile Field takes over the entire gallery that holds the Raphael Cartoons and gives the visitor an entirely new  angle to view Raphael’s work.  The gentle undulations of the fabric pieces allow you to lay back and look up at the huge canvases. Its a wonderfully playful piece, the springy foam lets you bounce along as you decide which art work to lie infront of. I’d just love to know how they chose the colour pallette I’d like to think they pulledcolours from the Raphael’s.

Beyond the Valley also created an interactive piece, inviting visitors to try out digital design. The iPad ‘Granimator’ gives you an assortment of patterns and wallpaper designs that you can remix in your own interpretation. You design can then be uploaded on to a website for all to view. Surrounding you in the room are digitally remixed pieces by Beyond the Valley.

The other installations are dotted across the gallery for you to seek out. And I personally like the way they encourage you to  hunt down pieces sited next to works in the collection that you may not have noticed before. Its a vast collection and you can be tempted to only go for things you already like; its refreshing to be sent into rooms you might walk past.

New York design gallerist and curatorMurray Moss’s collaboration with Belgium-based  Materialise takes you on such a journey. Industrial Revolution 2.0: How the Material World Will Newly Materialise used cutting edge laser and digital technologies to build 3D objects.  Angel is a wearable piece that has been placed in a spot that has been unoccupied for years. It references the classical statues that line the stairwell where the empty plinth in sited.

The dress, again wearable, pulls you to a phenomenal rococo fireplace that despite numerous visits I’ve never seen before!

I was lucky enough to chat to Murray after the tour and I’m gutted that I didn’t record everything he said. What I will take with me is the idea that museums can be seen as radical spaces; they contain the cutting edge work of their time. Its a great mind shift, you can all to often look at a museum or gallery as a place for old things but if you shift your thoughts and look at objects as radical and new it gives you a greater insight.

Do have a look at the V&A programe of events they have some great talks and activities going on across the Festival.

Obsessions Privee,  curated by Elizabeth Le Riche, looked at the way we transform all manner of objects into precious collections. The accumulation of material no matter how precious, weird, or banal can take on emotional value when they have been accumulated together. We can become curators in our own home – appropriating material to find our own expression. Its an idea the works as well in the home as it does for visually merchandising product in store. The household brushes pictured above seem so much more interesting and appealing laid out in multicoloured glory in the display cabinet.

My favourites in this section came from Emanuela Crotti’s presentation. In her space Crotti  gathered together work by artists and designers who’d created unique handmade collections some  from found objects.

Schwarm by RaR for Thomas Eyck, was born out of a fascination for the diversity in natural fauna. 

Pictured below Butterflies Serise by Joseph Warren at Image Surgery. Created from vintage street plans,atlas sheets and maps.

Klaas Kuiken Collection Bottles. Klaas drew inspiration from mass production bottles and developed  his own glass blowing techniques to create irregularities in an item that is ordinarily uniform.

Couplicite by Vincent Gregoire and Nellyrodi looked at how the coupled life has become the aspirational lifestyle. An antidote to a individualistic me myself and I way of life. Couples are seen as balancing harmonizing and a stabilizing force in an unstable world. By couples they’re not just talking about wedded bliss! Creative couples might be brothers such as the Bouroullec’s or life partners such as Gilbert & George. Vincent & Nellyrodi quote sums it up nicely “Happiness is found in coupledom and not only in love emotions. Creativity is increasingly important to pairs working as units of design and production. In all creative fields, there are innumerable works created by duos for whom by combination of talents, the complementarity of views and a sense of cultural diversity give rise to innovative gestures.”

The products in here focused on togetherness, they may have been mergerd together like a love seat to become one or they’re a complementary pairing.

Bench Chair by Thomas Schnur.

Foret Illuminee by Ionna Vautrin

Anyway this is just a taste of the inspiration areas at Maison – there will be more in other posts on the product trends from across the halls.

Its their first venture into creating a Home store and its a huge step up from the conventional DIY warehouse. I’m using this comparison because they offer paint by Dulux, a number of DIY tools, flooring and a gardening section. The first thing noticed was the light – it was natural and flooded deep into the store. It made viewing the Dulux paints so much easier, how on earth you’re supposed to look at colours under artificial light? No so here.

The garden section was also a huge difference from the usual dull garden centre choices – I was particularly impressed with this section mainly because of the plants. They were selected to fit into room sets which makes sense; we think of gardens as additional rooms so why not select plants in this way.

Moving back inside the home here is a pick of a range products from Next. I think you can see they’ve taken inspiration from designers. Theres a bit of a Jaime Hayon look to the Bardot coffee table, (pictured above) a bit of Moooi in the bunny light (1st image).  Its rather like when you see a fashion magazine that shows you the couture piece and then the affordable retail version.  All in all its an interesting customer focused concept, deliberately designed to take some of the frustration out of shopping for the Home. Its not a huge IKEA bunker that leads you down a long path to find the bay that doesn’t contain the 1 item you came for.

Other major UK retailers have also changed their tactics in selling to interior enthusiasts. John Lewis have collaborated with Ercol to produce limited edition furniture. And Marks & Spencer have brought in designer Marcel Wanders to breath new life into their home area. We may have lost one design institution in Habitat but there are others lining up to reinvigorate the market.

Pictured below Kane Light

Inga Sempe’s Ruche bed for Ligne Roset was a last minute change. “I thought this was going to be blue!” she said as she bounced onto the bed shown at  Maison et Objet. A quick change  had been made to a softer feminine nude tone for the room set. As you can see from the image Inga left the bed unmade!

Also at Maison Object the Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec display had their Slow Chair for Magis in brighter ice cream pink.

The theme continued into Milan where any number of chairs appeared in fleshy tones through to deep raspberry.

Bouroullec’s Quilt chair for Established & Son was updated in a faded pink.

Stefan Diez Houdini Chair mixed pink with dark leather.

Floris Schoonderbeek’s Axe chair also has a pink version.

Patricia Urquiola’s Klara Chair for Moroso was amongt many pink pieces on the Moroso stand.

Comet Chair Gunilla Allard for Lammhults comes in a range of pinks from soft light through to raspberry.

Maarten Baas used very fleshy tone of pink for his Clay range at Spazio Rosana Orlandi

Home accessories have also had the pink treatment Established & Son’s new Serve tray is edged in raspberry.

For textiles pink is an accent. Seen here Sebastain Wrong’s Zig Zag rug for Established & Sons, and finally Studio Makkink & Bey for Hay Studio who’s rug also appeared on the Vitra stand.
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