Quadrio “Product of the Year” 2009

The Quadrio, Hotpoint-Ariston’s new 4-door fridge, was voted Product of the Year 2009 yesterday in the Large Home Appliances category of the “Gran Premio Marketing e Innovazione”. The Quadrio was voted by a panel of over 8,000 Italian consumers for its characteristics of flexibility and eco-efficiency, having two independently opening doors and two independent freezer drawers that facilitate rational storage of food.

The “Gran Premio Marketing e Innovazione” is unique in the field of product awards being the only one to be directly decided by consumers.

more details in Quadrio “Product of the Year” 2009

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Maison & Objet 2009 Offers Antodotes to Crisis

In Paris this week Maison et Objet, a major trade fair, is spotlighting new trends in home style and proposing Antidotes to the gloomy time of financial crisis - the assertive reaction to color as a remedy to the gloom, through the staging of the shelter and creativity:

"Faced with a disoriented world wavering from crisis to crisis, the home has
become, now more than ever, a safety value that leaves us dreaming of better
living. In its modest, intimate way, that place for experimenting with change
consoles us with antigloom remedies. There is no miracle solution. But all kinds
of creation, know-how and technologies, colors and whimsy, elegance and quality
of life are distilling a new positive energy."

(the Maison & Objet website)

To comfort us in a world of uncertainty, the home is revisiting its classics and fixing up the run-down charm of the known.

Plates - Design: Paola Navone for Reichenbach

Décor is finding colors to cure the ambient grayness. Shock treatment against uniformity and monotony

A rainbow of pixels on all surfaces. On the pictures: Cristian Zuzunaga dresses the creations of Christophe Delcourt

Chroma Sticker - Design: Ich & Kar for Domestic

Commode Stack - Design : Raw Edges et Shay Alkalay pour Established & Sons

Poufs Primary - Design : Arne Quinze pour Quinze for Fifteen in Milan

(photos: marieclairemaison.com)

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Kurrency - The Money Chandelier

The Los Angeles firm Stuart Karten Design suggests that instead of stowing your dollars under your mattress you should keep them in plain sight, hanging by the hundreds from its new light fixture. Kurrency is SKD’s new series of chandeliers made from genuine legal
tender.

(via Metropolis POV )

Компанията Stuart Karten Design от Лос Анжелис предлага на американците вместо да крият доларите си под матраците, да ги използват за абажур - стотици от тях са окачени на полилея Kurrency, който те са проектирали. Целта им, според собственика на компанията Stuart Karten , е да предизвикат колкото може повече разговори по темата кой ги има, кой ги контролира и как те влияят върху хората и политиката.

“In today’s economy, there is perhaps nothing so beautiful as cold
hard cash,” designer Stuart Karten says of the chandelier’s materials. “But
money is beautiful not just because of what it buys. Bills from all cultures
display intricate artwork, unique textures and, most importantly, a beautiful
translucency under light.”



“Money is an important political topic – who has it, who controls it
and what implications that has for people and policy,” Karten says. “Our
goal for this project is to inject as many voices in that conversation as we
can.”
SKD has produced a prototype of the George model and is currently
working to expand the Kurrency line.


A good try on irony, but not as good design as their real products that can be example of the way design must serve industry - i.e. our quality of life. One of them is

[re]Drive - probably the most energy efficient external hard drive available.

Това вдясно е пример за значително по-сериозните дизайнерски продукти на компанията.

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Imm Cologne is open today

The first important furniture fair of the year Imm Cologne opens today. It is there where the new trends for the year begin to shape and many producers make the debut of their new products. Have some inspiration:




Icarus JR-7560: the dreaming chairs
The Icarus model, from the Kama Sitra
Collection, was crafted as a sumptuous
reclining piece that lets one utterly drift away
to a dream world. This model does not have
hinged (fold-up) arm rests, but is equipped with
side flaps that give the arms ample support as
one is lying down. They are attached to the seat
and back by decorative stitching and are stuffed
with a pliant filling that ensures maximum
comfort. Its unique character makes the model
a distinctive reclining lounge. Icarus is a lounge
furniture piece that is sure to add value to the
sitting room.





Magically mutable:
By
separating the modules, the innovative
“Cubi-Q“ game cube contains more than ten
play options for children during those critical
first ten years of development. Even after
reaching puberty, the Cubi-Q aptly functions
as a storage box or nightstand. The play piece
measures 50 x 50 x 50 cm, and made of sealed
birch wood. The cube consists of a two-part
shell and four inside boxes. Cubi-Q is intended
to aid in the development of motor skills and
creativity; in addition, it features an organising
system that is just right for children.

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LUXE LOOK

Luxury and quality are in the details. They make the good design, too. Financial gurus say your home is your most important asset, your 'safest haven’ in times like these. The conclusion - this should be the best investment area. The products below that I came accroos are examples of all these - great design, excellent quality and luxe look:

Italian tile master Sicis introduces mosaics of Carrara marble inset with precious-metal cubes that are glamorous yet durable enough for high-traffic corridors and baths.
shown here is Basket Weave Classic Platinum, but a marble-and-gold version is also available.

(via Elle DECOR)

.



Noè Duchaufour-Lawrance / Beside You / 2008 / by CECCOTTI COLLEZIONI

Noè Duchaufour-Lawrance / Buonanotte Valentina / 2008 / by CECCOTTI COLLEZIONI

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The Paintings of Winter

I just have to share this - Italy in the Snow

Have a look at the paintings that only Nature can do! It is true that we are seeing here great urban design, but the beautiful black-and-white graphic of the snow on the trees creates a real magic.


Просто не можех да не публикувам тази снимка. Невероятна е находката на фотографа от Donna Moderna! Това страхотно съчетание от графичния черно-бял десен на снега върху тъмните голи дървета и красивите цветове на сградите зад тях е от Генуа. Можете да видите още тук: Italy in the Snow

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Koeln Furniture Fair 2009 Preview

It is interesting to have a look at the things to be seen during the first most important furniture fair for the year. One clever and elegant storage and functional solution for the modern nomads, proposed by pulpo :



Wannabe multi-collared steel tables are pushed
over a standard moving box – completing
the large city nomad’s essential piece. The
tables measure 650 by 370 by 350 mm and are
available in yellow, orange, gray, black, and
white. The powder-coated, 1.5 mm thick steel
plated tables can also be set up without the
boxes – but who would want to do that?


more will follow soon

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Recycle, Reuse, Rethink - Wood Off-cuts Furniture

Wood waste can be beautiful!

A good way to use wood waste and off-cuts

proposed by Amy Hunting - collected from

factories waste in Denmark, the pieces

were put together to form a wood patchwork

before they were made into: a chair, a book box and a series of 12 lamps.

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