Jaime Hayon’s Multileg Table for BD Barcelona Four different wonderfully weighty wood turned legs made of Alderwood.

Boca Do Lobo’s Royal Dining Table transforms from  traditional  chippendale legs at one end then blasted into a vectorised future at the other. The vector pattern continues across the table top mixing old and new pattern with very high traditional quality.

As you can imagine there were plenty of fabulous legs at Milan this year.

Floris Schoonderbeek’s Axechair Chair uses a traditional axe handle from Swedish axe maker Gränsfors as its legs.  Set into a cast iron chair base it  maintains the connection with the axe.

Thomas Schnur Rubber Table is inspired by the humble sink plunger and made entirely of rubber. You could stick the whole table onto the wall… but then it wouldn’t really be a table. It might me of more use outside on an uneven surface as each of the rubbery legs are bendable.

The final set of super legs from Milan I’ve shown before but are worth looking at again and were from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

I’m looking forward to seeing the final set of legs in the flesh at next months London Design Festival

Bambi Table by Norwegian designer Caroline Olsson is an adjustable two-height table with legs that fold back underneath, the joints inspired by the movement of the knee joint. The table will debut at 100% Design as part of the 100% Norway stand from September 22 to 25, 2011.
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DickVan Hoff has emphasised the use of joints in his The Beams series comprising a chair (pictured here) and sideboard. I have to profess a particular love for this incredibly comfortable chair having sat in it rather a lot during the London Design Festival. I was a little wary at first;  its quite a sturdy statement. Having sat on it, walked around it, prodded and stroked it, I love it.   Its rather ironic that having enjoyed the chair I should read this statement on his work.  “Vanhoffontwerpen keenly focus on how a product works, the intuitive movements of the user and the enjoyment of use. Functionality, quality and the relationship between the product and the user are of paramount importance. A chair will always sit well when it is Vanhoffontwerpen. Functionality is more important than aesthetics, but that does not mean form follows function. The designs are icons that capture your heart, often robust in shape, yet reflecting subtle detailing. . .”

Keel Furniture by Oscar Narud has broken with conventional furniture typologies. Using detachable legs inspired by the drop down keels used for small sailing boats.The piece continues a series of furniture Narud has developed recently, inspired by the simple construction of traditional Norwegian furniture. The addition of the keel motif, taken from boat building, refreshes the tradition. Again like Van Hoff’s work these are sturdy pieces, the application of the joinery emphasis this.  Despite their sturdy features they are relatively easy to disassemble, to move or (should you ever need to)repair.

1-2-3 Sit by Thinkk Studio is a flat pack, easy as to assemble stool – as easy as 123 hence the name!  The steel seat has a dovetail joint that neatly slides into the Oak legs. The use of the different materials is high lighted by contrast in colour, the light Oak and the sheen of the black powder coated steel.

Chunky Joinery by Mathias Hahn (like OscarNarud another member of Okay Studio) and shown at their London Design Festival Presentation. Each designer produced a piece exploring the concept of the ‘Visitor’ . Mathias a set of occasional furniture that can be used in different situations. His sturdy piece can be used as a stool, side table, foot rest, I guess you could use it as a step it looks sturdy enough to take a fair bit of weight! 

Royal College of Art graduate Felix De Pass created Boundary Desk with the key storage elements slotting into the aluminium frame. I particularly like his bold use of colour to emphasis the different  shelves. The individual pieces, the draws, cable management and and also a privacy (not shown here) slot into the frame, which can also be made to the users required size. 

Ronan & Erwan Bouroullechave created a bathroom range for Axor that takes into account our own organising needs/ foibles.  The collection is not constrained by a rigid set of fixtures. With over 70 pieces in the collection the individual can build up the pieces as they need. Shown here separate shelves integrated into the basin allow the tap to be positioned where you like and additional shelves can be arranged freely.

In the kitchen Gitta Gschwendtner’s Drawer Kitchen for Italian brand Schiffini appears to be a stack of random boxes. Its only round the business side of the island uit where you would actually work that you understand the function of the piece. And it has been designed to be a functional piece although personally, I have my reservations. Yes it does function but it could also drive you crazy. I’m sure that those with the budget to buy it wouldn’t have the nightmare job of cleaning it. Imagine all those food bits that’ will get stuck. I’d also imagine that it would make a superb – if a little dangerous climbing “challenge” for toddlers. I’ve come over all practical; but to me the test of a good design is its seamless integration into your life. I  find this too confrontational, I do love designs that visually smacks you in the face but not one that you’d just keep smacking into. I have to say though this is a concept rather than a production piece.

AF Designs created Elementi Cabinet, a sculptural handcrafted piece that’s is at the same time wholly functional.  Panels have been covered in copper  that have been aged and treated in different ways to build up a mosaic. Two panels open to reveal cupboards and others are drawers, its a bit of a trick to discover how each panel opens. Its a beautiful piece that, with its use of material could sit as happily in a period house as  in a modern.

Modern architecture has often accused of  stacking  people on top of each other in a soulless little boxes. So it is a little ironic that this Hotel project by WAM architects in Zaandam Holland really has stacked a number of “houses” on top of each other. As yet there are no interior shots but its due for completion this Autumn. I would soooo love to stay there but I have a sneaky feeling its a little out of the way for Dutch Design Week. *runs off to check map of Holland*

I guess to me Design Democracy means the way in which we can all participate in the process of design – and it’s something the internet has empowered us to do. We vote for design via companies like Threadless or through Behance .We read and comment direct to designers via online magazines like Dezeen (and you can bet that even the hard shell that encases the ego of many an architect/designer has been a little dented by some of the caustic comments on there – but hey that’s Democracy). We go direct to designers and vote with our cash via ecommerce - it’s so easy to set up shop and get noticed whether through a portal such as Mydeco or for the home based makers on Etsy. And such is our interest in design; the design shows now welcome the non trade visitors with open arms- after all they are customers too.

And finally as individuals we participate in design through writing our own thoughts and ideas through our blogs.  If anything the Mydeco competition has put a little spark in the small but growing UK Design blog community and shown the breadth of thought and ideas on the subject. If you could vote for my blog that would be lovely but feel free to vote for one or two of the others as well – the great thing about this Democracy is you get more than one vote!

Enjoy the blogs and Vote!  – It’s not like you have to physically drag yourself out to a polling booth or anything.

Normal service will resume soon-ish

Float by Benjamin Hubert for Unique Copenhagen. The lamps are hand-turned out of Portuguese agglomerate cork blocks, the waste bits from the production of wine stoppers. Even the high volume of waste from creating the lamps can be converted back into blocks and turned again.  The cork emits a wonderfully warm glow when lit and the simplicity of the shape suits the agglomerated pattern of the material. http://www.benjaminhubert.co.uk

Cobu  Suspension Lamp by Giorgio Biscaro “I have always been fascinated by cork. It’s obtained from a plant whose life is not interrupted by this extraction, and this for me would be sufficient to declare it a great material. Moreover, cork has great qualities of insulation and mechanical resistance, so I thought it could be perfect for a lamp. The cork base in fact, sustain a glass screen, trough which the cables descend. The light is not direct, but is deflected by the ceiling and the colour of the cork warms this light in a special way. I played with different shapes and finishes, so you will find clear glass, smoked glass and varnished glass to choose from. I tried to endow this lamp with a strong sense of deja-vu, like recollection of bottle glasses, because I wanted it to be a warm, friendly, reassuring object.” http://www.seemantic.com/

 Plug by Tomas Kral is a range of products that transform the image of a simple cork bottle stopper. The principle of PLUG. The work is around the connection between glass as a hard and compact material and the cork, perfect porous material.The glass parts were done using free glass blowing. The cork parts were made out of the sheets of agglomerated cork which were milled using CNC. The corks parts used the marks from the CNC milling tool as a part of theirs construction. The idea is to build 3D objects by milling using 2D drawings. The objects function are simple. Side table, lamps, boxes, bowls. The idea was to put more attention on the connection between glass and the cork. 

Cork range by Hetta There’s nothing particularly radical about the range its just a  well done contemporary update . Simple graphic prints on tableware, its a no brain-er. Ahh the simplest of ideas ….one of those  why didn’t I do that… www..hetta.se 

Incidentally, to my shame I wrote this post accompanied by a screw top bottle of red….

Do we have too much….stuff? Are our wardrobes bursting at the seams, all manner of clothing bits and bobs tumbling out? I have to confess, I would love to say I have everything neat and ordered, shoes boxed and labelled, but … no, in my dreams! 

Muscle by Giorgio Biscaro is a storage unit that shamelessly flaunts your happiness with organised chaos. The metal top and bottom are joined by elastic threads that you stretch to push your belongings in. There are no doors or sides to hide and contain your mess.   

 ”You can fill the inner part of the container as you like it, even more than what the bases can accept, because even if protruding, objects won’t fall thanks to the elastic wall, recalling a bulging biceps.” For more of Giorgio’s work  www.seemantic.com

 Soft Wardrobe by Katharina Ludwig

Katharina wardrobe does at least allow you to hide the extent of your untidiness  

“The soft wardrobe is supported and shaped by the strength and volume of the things put inside.
Its walls are not hard and supporting, but  soft like the clothes and flexible. They react in a certain way to the content and the way you fill the wardrobe.. Like this it changes its character according to the filling and becomes more alive.” For more of Kathy’s work http://www.kathyludwig.com/

Zak n2 Shelving by Casimir Meubelen.

Ahh the plastic bag…it can be stuffed with a whole host of things and they conveniently expand as we cram more and more in. With this everyday object in mind Casimir have built on the concept – literally. The bags have a sturdy oak frame and the plastic has been replaced with leather, which is perhaps not quite as stretchy but at least it won’t suddenly split and spill the contents across the floor.

Not on the storage theme but certainly a design that’s bursting out at you is Puff and Flock’s Spiky shower curtain. Rather than look at ways to contain the spoils of our over consumption, Elisabeth Buecher looked at how to discourages us from consuming too much. Her work explores the environmental issues of over consumption of water and is aimed at provoking debate rather than a serious product proposal.

The shower curtain allows the user 4 minutes to shower before gradually bursting out at you and leaving you no space left to shower in. So you stop.

Its interesting that since hearing about this design, each time I shower I’ve started to think “how long have I been in here?…. must stop…must stop…”   www.puffandflock.com

 Knitting along with other traditional crafts has enjoyed a revival in the past few years. We’ve rediscovered the art of making and experimented with materials old and new to create a whole different product

From a childhood spent in part in the Korean countryside Kwangho revisits the traditional craft of knitting and knots that he remembers from his youth.

For this range of lighting he was inspired by his mothers knitting and saw a pile of electrical cable as yarn and proceeded to knit a light, using varied lengths to create the different effects. Some wouldn’t look out of place wound round your neck like a scarf – not advisable though. Others appear wildly brush-like with the knitted loops extended out to trail onto the floor. 

In a further development Kwangho has knitted a sofa out of  garden hose. “I like to look for materials the same way I’m walking around the grocery store, thinking about what to make for dinner. And there is always a change in the end from what you start out thinking you’ll be making, which is quite charming. I just love finding materials, working on them and seeing where it takes me”

http://www.kwangholee.com/

Soojin Kang ‘s work  A Continuous Chain crosses the boundaries of art fashion and design, items can be worn or placed in the home. Her work is the antithesis of fast fashion and the problems associated with disposable design. Soojin  asks us to consider our basic needs and what we already possess and to use these materials wisely and beautifully. Using craft techniques and a combination of antique and raw materials to create the work is the logical means of expressing this. The craft traditions convey a considered thought process and have always seen the value in reusing and repurposing.

Olof Nordenson has encased a group of lights in what looks like mohair – but it could just be the light source picking up the finer bits of fluff! Five knitted braids extend down from the ceiling concealing the wires. As the braid is stretched the the wool gives the light a wonderful luminous texture. Olof has used a combination of hand and machine knitting.

www.olofnordenson.com

 Noose Light by Ana Maria Stewart-Pasescu is the culmination of a design challenge set by Phillipe Starck. Just a simple cable looped and knotted it could be seen as a representation of life and death. Its the choice and quality of material that really makes this design work. The chunky black cable, brass light fitting and the glowing element work so well together.

Here are some beautiful products that give the illusion of floating. Perhaps the weight of the worlds problems feel a little too much, we’d like to float off or at least rise above them.

Blown by Nendo

Looking like bubbles about to lift off into the air, these lanterns were inspired by the traditional Japanese chochin lanterns. Created for Tokyo Fibre 09 Senseware the material they used is ‘Smash’ a long-fiber non woven polyester.  The properties of Smash allowed Nendo to shape it like blown glass into a seamless lantern. This technique allowed them to use the imperfections and mutations of glassblowing to create a product that is far from the standardized forms created by mass production. The translucent quality of the fibre add to the feeling that these lanterns may gently float off at any moment. But they won’t. The base is weighted and contains an insulated chamber to prevent the fibre loosing its shape from the heat of the lamp.

http://www.nendo.jp/en/

The Ghost of a Chair by Valentina GonzalezWohlers

Valentina describes her chair as “An apparition from death revealed to the living as a nebulous image – no chair, only its memory, its disembodied spirit captured and frozen in time.”  Inspired by Starck’s Louis XV Ghost chair mixed with the old custom of draping furniture in a white sheet when it is not in use, Valentina has created a floating apparition of a chair.

www.valentinagw.com 

Floating Garden by Benjamin Graindorge & Duende Studio  

An ingenious idea that saves you a couple of jobs in one go. It’s a recycling system based on hydroponics and though the piece looks highly decorative its designed to help out with the mundane tasks of water changes and watering your plants.   The aquarium water is filtered through a natural process of sand and plants it mimics in miniature the symbiotic relationship that exists in nature.

Ovangkol by Reiko Kaneko

Made from Ovangkol a tropical African hardwood the weighty tabletop appears to be floating in the air. Reiko has cast crystal clear resin onto the table legs to create the illusion. I would love to see further developments on this idea.  

http://www.reikokaneko.co.uk/table.php