Thin Black Lines exhibition

Japanese design studio Nendo presents an exquisite collection entitled Thin Black Lines at the Saatchi Gallery in London. The exhibition is open until October 31st, so if you are around, drop by!

read more about the exhibition here: Thin Black Lines by Nendo

Modern Light bench by Piero Lissoni

Is 'slim line' a new design trend? My last post made me think... so I had a look at a furniture presented at Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan.
Surprise: I found Modern Light bench that spans 240cm. The thickness is only 12mm! It was recently designed by Piero Lissoni and manufactured by Porro. Interesting, isn't it?

Slim line furniture

Modern technologies combined with traditional crafts lead designers to new, undiscovered areas and enable to create innovative, surprising and almost-impossible furniture.

Cord-chair, designed by Japanese Nendo in 2009, is a masterpiece of craftsmen's work, each part carefully carved from wood to reveal the beauty and flawlessness of the material.

Unbelievable 15mm diameter - that is the thickness of cord-chair's legs. 15mm is also the diameter of a standard electrical cord, the origin of the chair's shape and name. Each of the legs is made of stainless steel frame (9mm) wrapped in a hard maple wood layer (3mm). The steel core is visible at the base - when the chair is lifted we can discover the secret visual reference to the chair's name.

As a follow-up to the Cord-chair, Nendo designed recently Wire-chair, a bare structure of 12mm steel rods. The chair is covered by multiple layers of powder coating and precisely hand polished to achieve immaculate surface reminding of traditional japanese lacquerware.

Surface table (2008) is a result of cooperation between designers from very different areas: furniture and racing car design. Terence Woodgate and John Barnard shared their experience and used unique properties of layered carbon fibre combined with aerospace technology to create an innovative table with very sophisticated, ultra slim silhouette. The thickness of the 3m long table top is only 2mm!

Surface chair (2009) was the next slim line furniture piece created by the design duo. The chair is made of layered carbon fibre with highly polished finish that reveals the structure of this exceptional material. Surface chair is available with optional 0,4mm leather seat pad.

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Cord chair by Nendo for Maruni (photos: Yoneo Kawabe)

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Wire chair by Nendo (photos: Masayuki Hayashi)

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Surface Table, by Terence Woodgate and John Barnard, for Established & Sons

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Surface Chair, by Terence Woodgate and John Barnard, for Established & Sons

Luminator floor lamp by Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni

The design embodies the essence of minimalism: elegant, modern beauty stripped down to pure function. I was a bit surprised to learn that Luminator lamp was created in 1954. Look at its sleek silhouette! I does not make you think about the 50s, does it? The lamp is still produced by Italian company Flos, internationally known for its iconic lighting.

Achille Castiglioni and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni were inspired by the shape of silver-domed spotlight bulbs, introduced at the Italian market in the 50s. I should feature it at Proud to be the bulb post.

The Castiglioni duo became one of the most influential figures in Italian design. Their innovative designs, including Luminator lamp, are a part of A&D Design Object collection at The Museum of Modern Art in New York.

 

Peel seat by Khodi Feiz

Peel seat is a convertible furniture series: a sofa, lounge chair and chaise lounge, upholstered in pure wool. What really caught my attention was the design thought 'made transparent', beautiful synergy between form and function, the essence of minimal elegance.

The collection was designed by Khodi Feiz, Iranian-born industrial designer working at his design studio based in Amsterdam. Feiz design studio underlines clarity as one of the main inspirations:

"...objects which are stripped down to their bare essence, not to make them boring, but to bring out their main expressive quality. Too often ‘simple’ projects are dismissed as superficial and banal; it seems the more ‘complex’ or ‘advanced’ the better. But we propose the opposite: the simpler the project the more challenging and difficult it becomes; you don’t have the guise of complication to hide behind."

www.feizdesign.com
www.councildesign.com 

Little Time clock by Rafael Morgan

Magnify? Unique design concept.
Little Time clock is a prototype for now, but I'm sure many producers are interested.

www.rafaelmorgan.com





via: Let's talk about design

Tiuku clock by Ari Kanerva

Tiuku, minimalist incarnation of grandfather clock, was created by Finnish designer Ari Kanerva (Studio arka) in 2009. I does make me think of Salvador Dali. I wonder why?

www.arikanerva.com

Led Chandelier by Group Two Design

Led Chandelier by creative studio Group Two Design from Toronto. Clean minimalist design, ultra modern yet inspired by traditional shape.

www.group-two.com

via plusmood

Fade lamp family by Matti Klenell

I admire simplicity and subtlety of Fade lamp design. It will add tasteful decorative effect to all minimalist interiors. The tiny splash of red is genius! Fade lamp family was created by talented Swedish designer Matti Klenell in 2007. Manufacturer: Bals Tokyo.

Iris Maschek's wallpapers designs. Modern baroque.

Wallpaper designs by Iris Maschek (for Rasch) are extraordinary... why did they caught my eye? Tangled lines create sublime lace patterns, and the last thing that came to my mind was that the artist played with computer generated graphics. I realized that later. The depth illusion is captivating: images on the walls become dimensional paintings. Modern baroque, but still minimalist style.

I'm mesmerized, even though I'm not the biggest fan of baroque glamour.
 
www.irismaschek.com

Panta Rhei school by interior architects i29. Poetry of architecture.

When I saw the design for the first time, it struck me how consequent it was. Here the language of architecture is simple and clear.

Panta Rhei school in Amstelveen (Netherlands) is an unique interior combining design and poetry. Renovation and extension of the Panta Rhei school was completed by Snelder Architecten, as a reflection of their idea of 'learning environments'. Open, multifunctional spaces are highly adaptable to changing educational ideas. Learning processes take place not only in classroom, but the whole school area, designed to inspire, give sense of freedom and safety.

The interior design by i29 follows all these ideas. Inspiration was the name of the school, famous ancient greek aphorism: 'panta rhei', meaning  'everything flows'. The school’s identity, reflecting philosophy of Heraclitus, led to unique interior design that opens to student's imagination, offering elements that can be used creatively.

i29 commissioned poems from the dutch poet Erikjan Harmens, and arranged their words into intriguing graphic designs on floors and walls of the school interior. The themes of the poems, like insecurity and friendship, address students personally, as they were taken from everyday school life.

The furniture designed by i29 is modular and dynamic, and can be used many different configurations. Iconic black Grcic chair, present in most of the school interiors, corresponds with graphic rhythms on the walls.

photographs: Jeroen Musch

Momentary City - CR Land Hefei Dongdajie Sales Pavilion

Momentary City - CR Land Hefei Dongdajie Sales Pavilion
designed by Vector-Architects (China)