Polish design 1955-1968

News for all design travellers heading to Poland: an interesting exhibition starts tomorrow at The National Museum in Warsaw. Entitled "We want to be modern", the exhibition presents Polish design from the Modernism period between the regime thaw of 1955 and the social reforms brought in 1968. Featured ceramics, glass, textiles and furniture express new design thought of the time, slowly liberating from socialist realism. Beautiful everyday objects from the vast museum collection were almost unknown in Western Europe. I think the chairs are genius!

Surrealistic menagerie: François-Xavier Lalanne

“Everyone can recognize animals... You don’t have to explain what they are or mean.” Ancient Egyptian and Greek gods, Celtic Mythology, medieval bestiary, Indian totems... animal symbolism has been engrained in all cultures and religions. We are mesmerised over and over again.

Lalanne's whimsical sculptures achieve record prices at art auctions. His work became very popular in 1976, when French singer and songwriter Serge Gainsbourg published his album with the title and cover inspired directly by one of the sculptures - "The man with the head of a cabbage".

Inspired by Brancusi, Ernst, Man Ray and Duchamp, Lalanne created his own brand of surrealism, inhabited by herds of sheep, iron rhinoceroses, dinosaurs and baboons. His work was also influenced by ancient Egyptian and Assyrian art, seen everyday at the Louvre, where he worked as an attendant for a short period. 

Lalanne's works are almost impossible to classify, balancing somewhere on the border between fine art and design. They were created with childlike joy and surreal sense of humour, and I think this is why we find them so intriguing...

images via: The Selvedge Yard

Casa Honoré: graphic elegance

Annick and Bertrand bought an old print shop in 2000. Within only nine months the renovation was completed. Gradually, the run-down house in Marseilles was transformed into a harmonious, beautiful family residence. Annick, as a designer, has chosen a tasteful, contrasting, graphic colour palette. Consistently through the whole house, large surfaces were painted in white, black and grey.

To preserve the authenticity of the place, the couple chose materials reminiscent of the vibrant industry that once existed here: door and window frames of steel, asphalt-painted walls, sand-blasted windows, polished concrete and small bricks from Toulouse.

When the children moved out, Annick and Bertrand opened Casa Honoré: a luxurious Bed & Breakfast mini-hotel with four cosy bedrooms. All the interiors feel unique and intimate, absolutely nothing in here was determined or standardized. The house was furnished with vintage pieces bought at antique shops and some of the furniture was designed by Annick herself. Natural materials, charming details and beautifully arranged plants create soothing, relaxing atmosphere. 

photography: Jean-Marc Wullschleger via: Vårt Nya Hem

Styling inspiration: birdcages

I'm hunting for a vintage birdcage... we decided to invite a feathery friend to our home. Do you have any tips where to get an old, nice birdcage or a new one, but vintage-looking?

...or maybe a birdcage lamp?

...or totally crazy and unreal: real victorian wooden birdcage?

images: 1,2,3,4,5

Mobile chandeliers by Michael Anastassiades

Fascinating kinetic lamps... somewhere between art and industrial design. A sculpture or a chandelier? Mobile chandeliers by Michael Anastassiades were exhibited at V&A Museun in Lodon.

www.michaelanastassiades.com

Nostalgic sepia

Raw and simple, furnished with basic objects, nothing unnecessary... the kind of house where children run into the kitchen straight in their muddy shoes... and it's ok. Where my Grandmother makes her famous home-made pasta. Where everything is real and sincere.

photography: Bernard Touillon and Nicolas Mathéus, via: Beulahdécor

Elephant ceramics by Michele Michael

Humble, unpretentious beauty that simply can not be not noticed. Organic texture of  homespun linen, opaque glazing...  handmade porcelain with unique, earthy feel, designed by Michele Michael, a home design editor and stylist.