Claire Moyle pairs conceptualism with design in her series of works called The Spectacle of Utilitarianism. Above is the Spotlight Utility Mat that is a mat in the form of the shadow of an object that is highly used and useful. The folding chair comes into play again when Moyle envelopes it in 1800 mini lights, indeed turning it into a spectacle, but limiting its usefulness. The Utility Lamp sees a chandelier become spot lighting a scant few inches above the floor, painted “farm equipment orange” and the Studio Seat is a stool salvaged from an art studio that has been refinished to show off the layers of oil drips. Moyle hovers between artist and designer and we are curious to see what direction she takes next.
If the Home Design Trends: Smaller, Closer, More Urban come to pass then Small Interiors is the design book for the inside of that smaller house. The official blurb concurs; “Living in small spaces is the wave of the future, as cities become more crowded and the drive to live in more ecologically friendly ways grows. Small Interiors offers a wide variety of beautifully illustrated case studies of ingeniously designed small spaces. These homes are streamlined inside and out, with dozens of never-before-seen solutions in storage plus an array of space-saving furniture and fixtures. With everything from full-color photos to full technical specifications, Small Interiors proves that good things do come in small packages.”. Small Interiors is due in February. Hardcover, 240 pages, 77 black and white illustrations, 320 color illustrations, $26.37 at Amazon.
+ MATEU ARCHITECTURE’s Coconut Grove house at Dwell Blog. “Mateu bought an unusually narrow plot shaded by towering oak and gumbo limbo trees in the Coconut Grove neighborhood.”. Watch the slideshow.
+ Zero and OrreforsKosta Boda’s Light Shadows lamp, “Bulbs are sand-blasted with a range of patterns that project onto the wall, or onto a removable flat glass shade.” at Dezeen.
+ Philippe Starck’s Cross Digi watch for Fossil, “Features a cross-shaped display where the time is read vertically while the day and date information are read on the horizontal sides of the display”. Via storm from the east.
It’s not complete yet, but this B & W house in Minneapolis by Julie Snow Architects is quite stunning. Built for Walker Art Center Design Curator Andrew Blauvelt, it has been described as a “little concrete box” with top to bottom glass at the back of the house, protected by a concrete wall and garage. The wood cladding is ipe wood, complemented by rusted steel accessories in the landscaping. All in all, this house is very zen, and we look forward to more images when it is finished.
We featured more shots of work seen at Art Basel Miami Beach during this second holiday week at Art MoCo. Spencer Finch’s colourful fluorescent installation got the week off to a festive start while ending the year with panache.
The New Year opened with sparkle - all sequins, shine and attitude.
And then the need for peace and calm overtook us and we were grateful for the Study of a Fallen Bird by A. Balasubramaniam.
Blue and red don’t always make purple. Not if Kay Rosen has anything to do with it.
And we were enthralled by Jaume Plensa’s salute to family, so apt this time of year.
furni’s been busy. It’s fitting that the company known for clocks would have at least one project in Switzerland. Nothing to do with clocks mind you, furni principal Mike Giles has a friend there, Jay, who recently bought a small mountainside barn (built in 1799!) and converted into a home. As Mike put it, Jay literally swept out the hay and started a 9-month conversion. Its now a 3-story, 1350 sq. ft house. furni supplied the wood finishing in the kitchen and some of the wood furniture. Interesting note, the kitchen floor tile is made of the original slate roof. More after the jump.
Retro clock maker furni has announced the winner of their Show Us Your Skills contest - wherein designers were invited to hack their clock. The winning entry, Emily by Greg Wolos, is a wall clock with a twist, it looks like a tabletop set but it attaches to the wall and the display shows the time so that you can read it when your head is on a pillow. Another ergo feature, you grab the unit for snooze, the buttons are on the back edge of the unit. Wolos went all out to win, he even mocked up photos so that it would fit right into the furni catalog. furni is now planning to put Emily into production for their upcoming collection and share the profits with the winner. Check out the “making of” Flickr set. More designs after the jump.
+ New work from Solv includes Lu-Be, a vinyl billboard chair in Solv’s signature style.
+ Modern Critter presents a human-friendly bent plywood cat scratcher can be hung or placed flat on the floor and is available in a wide variety of Velcro-backed carpet tile options.
+ His mother’s knitting inspired Kwangho Lee when he created the Weave Your Lighting. Rubber wires are knitted into lengths that range from 10 to 300 metres.
+ These limited edition fresh plate designs by Pierre Charpin were produced in Limoges for Craft and Bernard Chauveau.
+ Gabriela Gomes has a new collection of wool felt bags and purses at Planeta Clix.
To kick things off in 2008, here are a few of the design-related New Year cards I received on January 1st (in Japan, all New Year cards are delivered on that day). Keep in mind that 2008 is the year of the rat, according to Chinese astrology, which explains the recurring motif.
To the left, a few shades of gray from Klein Dytham Architecture (KDa), to the right, from IMG SRC/NON-GRID/S2 Factory/Tagle. The smaller card pops out and acts as an invitation ticket for an event the companies have planned at the end of the month. More after the jump.
This is where things got a little more specific and varied, but some designers didn’t ask for any changes at all. The shower as human carwash really sparked our imagination. More after the jump.
