Industry Series by Studio Job.  Using a mix of contemporary and traditional  iconography they draw on the same themes and images used for the Gospel According to Saint Job displayed in Milan last year. Tanks, grenades ,helicopters, insects and butterflies, chimneys billowing smoke, skeletons all feature in this homage to the marquetry methods of André- Charles Boulle.  Dispensing with bright colours used in the Bavarian series the inlays look like fossils of an industrial age. Laser cut pieces of white birds eye maple have been set in Indian Rosewood in a symmetrical layout. We expect symmetry in marquetry but the effect here is like the inkblot patterns of Rorschach. Its no coincidence that these pieces are a commentary on the collective psyche and our concerns with the mass destruction associated with industrialism.

The work can be seen at the Carpenters Workshop Gallery and are sold as limited edition pieces starting at over $30,000.   

Curiously it is a fashion designer rather than a furniture designer who has probably done more to promote the craft. Stella McCartney has repeatedly used marquetry and commissioned UK companies to produce work in different forms for her new stores. For her London store Aryma were commissioned to produce a contemporary angel that glides across the wall. The use of colour and complexity of the piece is an eye opener to the versatility of marquetry. 

In her Milan store, the ground floor is covered in oak parquet arranged in a multicolored pattern created by the Israeli designer Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay for Established & Sons. The store opened in February 2010 and had the official launch during Salone del Mobile last week.

Toby Winteringham’s work made with Patternity is another example of colourful geometry. Pictured above is his Shift coffee table made of sycamore with coloured veneer. Its an exciting and bold use of marquetry and a wonderful example of how a traditional craft can be spliced with contemporary graphics. Shift was launched along with the Patternity Bureau (pictured below) at Salone Satellite this month.

 Since writing this I’ve found a rather wonderful blog on marquetry http://www.miartstudioblog.com/ Do please click through and amire the work.

This post has nothing to do with post holiday blues and the dullness of those long dark winter days - no really. This is an appreciation of Blue and how designers have used this incredible colour in its various shades and hues. Blue has long been associated with quality work. Far back into the Middle Ages the cost of  Ultramarine led to its use sparingly for the finest works, and so our association of Blue with quality began. 

Whether a luminous iridescent or a flat matt pigment designers have chosen a variety of shades to launch and promote new products in the past year. Starting from the lighter brighter blue from a spring morning (its January - I’m feeling hopeful!) down to a deeper day-into-night shade  

At the beginning of the year in Stockholm Ineke Hans chose to exhibit her Fly Chair  in a beautiful matt sky blue. Produced by Arco  its simple oak frame has been matt lacquered, allowing the form of the chair to been seen in varying shades.

At the same show Ligne & Roset displayed Confluences by Philippe Nigro seen here in a range of tonal blues.   Launched at IMM Cologne the interlocking yin yang design not only allows different arrangements but also posture settings for the different users.   

Quilt by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec was launched by Established & Son at Salone del Mobile Milan. Using a shade of blue that expresses the moment that day turns to night . Appropriately enough, the day I got to see this the chair had been taken over by a lady in her twilight years who just wouldn’t move. For anyone.

At Design Miami/Basel 2009 designer Tomáš Gabzdil Libertiny of Studio Libertiny  The Bic Blue Cabinet. As the name suggests  Tomáš has used the ink from the ubiquitous Bic pen to colour his cabinet  not for him the finest most expensive natural pigment! That said though he hasn’t just coloured in an MDF cabinet and whacked on a bit of varnish. For 26,000 you get a handmade American Walnut cabinet, coated with Bic ink and hand-finished with French Polish; layer upon layer applied as you would to antique furniture. The combination of ink and polish give the cabinet an iridescence; a reminder of why this colour has been inspiring and intriguing artists for centuries. The finishing touches of gold plated hinges and Libertiny logo are hidden inside, there is no handle, it is a push to open system.

At the London Design Festival Benjamin Hubert chose blue for Splay his Coat stand for De La Espada. Seen here with all the other products this prolific new designer has launched in the last year.

And if you wanted to completely immerse yourself in blue, you could have visited the magical art installation Seizure by Roger Hiorns. Created by pumping 75,000 litres of copper sulphate into an abandoned council flat at letting the evaporating liquid form incredible blue crystals. It must have been quite some moment cracking open the seal to see if it had actually worked. Thankfully it had. Sadly the block and its crystal contents will be demolished – but then they said that last year… http://www.artangel.org.uk/

There have been so many images of the over sized cast iron dinner service and the stained glass windows I thought I’d post some images of the porcelain dinner service also shown here.

The Last Supper is truly a remarkable achievement. The production of this 12 piece dinner service marks technical development in the traditional Delftware technique where only a small amount of colours can be used. The collaboration between Studio Job and Royal Tichelaar Makkum led to the development of numerous new colours allowing a bright re-interpretation of traditional technique of Faience.

This mixing of old and new was continued into decoration of the pieces, mixing religious iconography with images of the modern day.  Each piece is hand painted and edged with 24c gold lustre

Heres two pieces that were given a make over by a Swedish charity store as an example of what can be done.  

Below: On a slightly higher budget Vernor Panton chair mixed with French antique table and Astier de Villatte tableware spotted at Designers Guild – so yeah, theres only three people left in London who can afford this mix…

Left: Heres a chest of draws made by the Berlin firm Schubladen. They use reclaimed draws to create unique pieces of various sizes. http://www.schubladen.de 

 BelowLeft: Spotted at Maison Object a vintage rocker given a radical but beautiful revamp. Below Right: Spotted at Stockholm Furniture Fair vintage chair recovered by student Elin Jensen Langaard.

Above: I love Inke Hans Flow Chair in this fabulous shade of blue.

I’m also coveting a McQ jersey top in the same shade but that’s another story…

Above: Etage table by Claesson Koivisto Rune

3 tables made of high gloss formica. The tables slide into one another allowing different layout combinations. Made by  OFFECCT

http://www.offecct.se/

Above: Frame by Marco Maran Design

I’d give you a link but the site just didn’t work!

Below:  Hangers by  danish firm Bent Hansen – Spots of colour that are functional and rather fun.

They can be attached onto any blank wall to add a bit of colour and give you somewhere to hang your coat.

http://www.benthansen.net/

Right: Stitch Chair by Adam Goodrum for Cappellinni. The chair folds away, hinges inbrightcolours are as much an aesthetic feature as functional.

Left: Stack Chest of Draws by Established & Son. Breaking with tradition the draws of this floating unit can be pushed and pulled in both directions allowing it to be positioned anywhere in the room rather than just propping up the wall.

I’ve seen a green version but not a blue…

Round created by Dissing + Weitling for the University Library Copenhagen.  Comprising three different blocks creating different landscapes in social or lounging areas.

http://www.dw.dk

Cristian Zuzunaga’s sofa , such a beautiful design his work is inspired by architecture and the urban enviroment. For more of his designs heres a link
http://www.cristianzuzunaga.com/

 Left: Ayme Fitzgerald  – Wildside Wallpaper.  Combining photography and digital manipulation Ayme produces imaginative wallpaper designs that can be embelished with flocking,  foil.  Citing  inspiration from a wide range of sources Las Vegas  to the Safari.

http://www.aymefitzgerald.co.uk/

Flow Chair by Micheal Sodeau covered in grassy pixelated textile. Produced by Swedese.

 Left - Iiro  A Ahokas textile design  for Marimekko  uses faceted stripes of colour giving a playful optical design.

Right – A2’s Cupboard – shown at Stockholm Furniture Fair 2009

It’s safe to say we’re fed up of drab beige and neutral living; could colour be the antidote to our current malais?

We’ve had a shift in perspective, looking at what we already have and adapting to our environment. We’re looking at ways to reconstruct our living space with maximum effect. Colour, whether through vintage pieces or new design, is mixed up and mashed up. It’s not the clean aesthetic of modernism, real life is more messy, more colourful, more beautiful. We live with pieces around us from different eras; different generations have added to the mix of stuff we all have in our homes. We have a new respect for colour mixing and a new attitude to splashes of colour. We’re being more playful and witty with ways of using colour.

To follow: 3 different themes featuring this colour trend coming through into interiors.

Image by  http://mwmgraphics.com/