Bed with a collar or Cot for Adults?

 I just saw this new bed from Lago - and my first thought was: isn't that an attempt  to remind us early childhood when we all were feeling safe and cosy in our cots? Is the currant economic situation so frightening and we are so desperate to search reassuarance and hideaway from the everyday routine in our childhood memeories?
Even if it has to make us feel like hiding in a nest, as Products | DOMUS describes it,

"As cosy and comfortable as a nest, this bed is fitted with an original ring in soft foam that runs around the mattress and can be rolled and unrolled like the neck of a jumper. This element, fixed to the bed frame with a Velcro fixing, creates a visual and acoustic barrier that means you can relax and get away from the everyday routine. The ring can be set in an open, semi-closed and completely closed position."

 still I find it a too artificial way of using design as a problem-solver. A strange idea, but, who knows - it might be helpful. I am curious if this bed, named DOLCEVITA and designed by Nuša Jelenec / Lagostudio, is going to sell?Or - is it meant to be ironic? I doubt.

Have a look at Patricia Urquiola's striking new furniture designs:

Yes, The BUGS FAMILY is a whole new collection, already in the pipeline, which will be presented in January 2010. Mutina ventures into the furnishing field and enriches the Déchirer collection presenting a range of tables in limited edition: the Bugs Family by Patricia Urquiola. Four different versions and sizes come to life through a collectioninspired by the amazing world of insects. The modularity of the elements enables plays, couplings and abstract compositions which combine to create unusual and organic shapes. The BUGS FAMILY is composed by a big sized table, King Bug which can host a maximum of 9 people, and by the living tables, Lady Bug, Baby Bug and Long Bug with different sizes and reduced heights. The flexibility of the shapes and of the décor texture of the Déchirer Collection enables very articulated compositions.

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London Design Festival 2009: part one from Wallpaper

I already posted several small previews of 100% Design that , including the first Bulgarian participation there, but now you can have a more detailed look at what is going to be seen in London this coming week in the on-line Wallpaper* Magazine Gallery . Some of the projects that impressed me most:

"Genotype lighting project in Corian by Tomek Rygalek"

Max Lamb's China Granite Project is is the result of a month the designer spent in Chengnanzhuang, Hebei Province, China, stonecutting and polishing in a quarry.
I am impressed with these beautiful polished surfaces of the China Granite series - they really look like pools of water.

Jaime Hayon catches public attention with a giant ceramic chess set 'The Tournament '(top and right) ,
resident in Trafalgar Square,  where the pieces are on rollers and the game is played, with two opponents seated above the giant board, calling out to men on the ground, who move the pieces for them.

Wood trend in…everything

Once wood was the only material used for furniture, but 20th century preferred more modern materials. Now wood slowly comes back and in most unusual applications like Bathroom wood mozaics, Wooden bicycles, Wood Carpets That Can Roll Up,

wood iPod by Josh D, and Australian designer who had rebuilt an iPod casing and use an all natural material, which is nothing but wood...


wood trend is in everything !

My latest find is this Laser cut plywood lamp from Suck UK, design by Barend Hemmes (top). It is made out of laser cut wood which creates a waffle like glow. Can be hung from your ceiling or laid on its side.

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100% Design London - Some Unusual Ideas

New products to be launched at the coming next week 100% Design London:

A definitely good idea for a radiator-bench by Aeon with the pretentious name Grandeur.

A lamp made from your old chair and  knitted foam - the idea is by studio
Maezm . The name of the project is Re-Love.

New from Maison & Objet : a glowing outdoor table

VONDOM - light table Marisoal

Ideal for a drink in the night in your garden, this table has 380 white LEDs and in addition, a polyethylene rotomoulded mat on the surface - a space to fill with water and put in a nice selection of plants or to fill it with ice and leave  a bottle of champagne to stay cool, for example.

Available as table and coffee table for 2 or 4 people and lacquered version in 9 colors.

Vondom : www.vondom.com  

 

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A sculpture or a cabinet?

The Japanese company Nipponsense offers this impressive white cabinet made of stacked and juxtaposed volumes partially decorated with geometric motifs, shaded colors, abstract compositions - small monument.The cabinet has many viewpoints and different functions. Eacha cabinet for the center of the room, with essential volumes derived from sculpture and architecture. The structure is both archaic and contemporary. The openings of the drawers and doors are not visible. It looks like a side is different. The stacked volumes create alternating surfaces for things. This object might be defined as furniture with perspective.LINNEO CABINET is available also completely in natural wood, with some solid-color parts.

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Interior Design Ideas: retro kitchen with a hi-tech heart

We are happy today to live in time when high technology helps us in every area of life and especially in everyday activities in the kitchen. But in our modern world of stress and speed we find often that we are in a mood for retro style - it brings the warmth and calm of old times.


 One place where it will fit best is your kitchen. I have found some excellent examples of retro style kitchens:
Operà (left) by Marchi Cucine  is a good choice - large and spectacular it perfectly combines tradition and modernity. The doors are oak with semi-gloss coating, the large suspended hood is in steel and solid oak brushed black, with a convenient rack for pots.Contemporary looking with traditional and old world elements, especially the island with its original molded doors.

Sassi Neri by Cantori kitchens- a truly freestanding kitchen, an original alternative to fitted kitchens. It can be re-adapted to fit in any setting with individual blocks that can be placed side by side, tall units, wall units and shelves. Design: Roberto Garbugli
The counter seen from the rear features the same panels as the base units, photographed with the steel and solid wood stools and the Margutta lamps.

Here is another retro kitchen - Ambra by Gatto Cucine. A classic and dynamic design with technological and functional soul.












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MAISON&OBJECT September 2009 - New Products, Part 1

B&B Italia has once again chosen the Parisian autumn tradeshow  Maison&Objet for the presentation of its latest Outdoor collection.
The new Titikaka bench, design by Naoto Fukasawa in teak lathes with an aluminium frame, contradicts the rigid shape of traditional outdoor benches. Perhaps the waves of the Bolivian Lake inspired this ingenious piece where the surface of the seat seems to almost ripple with wonderful effect of wind over water. In fact, around the aluminium frame the lathes, which continue to the floor on both sides of the bench, have a wavy progression, creating curves that are sculptural yet truly practical for the ergonomics of the seat.

 The luxury feminine Crinoline collection 
by Patricia Urquiola now has a new round table. A perfect complement to the rest of this series, the table takes on the same curved lines of the seats as well as the interlacing polyethylene fibres. The base is made up of two connected elements that create a chalice that supports the top and is available in two versions with black-white or bronze-black finishing. The tabletop is available in either white-coloured glass in pate de verre or in white stratified HPL with a pattern milled lines radiating outwards from the centre. The latter version being designed to hold an umbrella in the centre.

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Floor on the Walls - Elegant Re-use of Materials

Frame Magazine posted photos of the new French park-café in Zürich Z Am Park that features classic elements interpreted in a modern way. Well, that is not so new, but what is new here is the approach -

due to the very low budget of the ownersParts of the former flooring, an oak-herringbone-parquet, were used to form the Bar and Couches, all contrasted by the warm grey, monochromatic space. Materials were re-used where possible; old curtains were handpicked for the shifting upholstery, and a modular vintage lamp (by Trix and Robert Haussmann, 1965), was chosen to create a glowing lighting.

'We wanted the interior to keep evolving, so instead of just placing the classic Horgenglarus Bistro-chairs in the space, we asked various artists and designers to each re-work four of them in their own way', says Christian Kaegi Aekae (designer at Ae Kae). These can be seen and used in the café during three months, after which they can be bought at an auction evening. The profit fully goes to the designers.

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