Now that the iconic restaurant’s impending demise is only weeks away, its furniture, tableware, and custom-made Knoll furniture will be included in the 500 lots headed for auction next month on July 26. News had surfaced last summer when Seagram Building owner Aby Rosen did not renew the lease for the quintessential Midtown “power lunch” spot for the last decades of the 20th century since it opened in 1959. — 6sqft.com
Additional background on this news can be found here: Landmarked Four Seasons restaurant must not be changed, NYC landmarks commission rules View full entry
"For us it's a prototype. For us, a prototype means it will have another life,”
“Right now, our summer house operates at a scale of something maybe like furniture or something like a small building, but a prototype is something that has a resonance, it's something that lives beyond its four months here, that will occur on a different scale, in a different place.”
— Archinect
Barkow Leibinger's Summer House is constructed with four structural bands made from plywood and timber. The piece is grounded by a bench, then strengthened by three central curves with a double layered free flowing cantilevered roof. The duo known for their research-led process and playful... View full entry
Hidden for decades until today, the extensive collection of Vitra—one of the most influential names in modern furniture design—is now on public display in a brand new building designed by Herzog & de Meuron: Schaudepot.As the latest addition to the Vitra campus, Schaudepot’s front yard... View full entry
It’s that time of year when London's design district opens its doors to the public for Clerkenwell Design Week and shows the rest of London and the design industry what it has to offer. An impressive showcase of distinct and accomplished talent the three-day event spans; furniture and product... View full entry
In conjunction with this years Clerkenwell Design Week, we are giving away two free tickets to Reimagining a design icon: The transformation of the Commonwealth Institute into the new Design Museum talk as part of Conversations at Clerkenwell. The new Design Museum will reopen its doors on the... View full entry
Shelve your "bigger than a breadbox" jokes—literally. The BrickBox, a storage unit made from marine grade birch plywood, can be used a shelf, a room-divider, or even as porous furniture.Each unit has cut-out handles and nylon connectors that can lock into the grooves of other units without the... View full entry
Are you currently working on a furniture project that you're yearning to showcase? Or maybe you're an architect who wants to challenge your skills in a different design discipline. Now's your chance to submit your ideas to the 2016 VMODERN Furniture Design Competition! Created by eVolo Magazine... View full entry
postmodernism can be summed up in a single word: Memphis.
Although architectural incarnations such as Graves’s Portland Building in Oregon and Philip Johnson’s Chippendale-topped AT&T Building (now the Sony Tower) in New York generated heated discussion, it was the spectacle of Memphis objects that catapulted postmodern design into the public eye. [...]
postmodern designs, most often from Memphis affiliated names, are gaining market momentum
— blouinartinfo.com
The cycle continues.Related on Archinect:8 Reasons You Will Also Like Postmodern Architecture In 2016Can Helmut Jahn's Thompson Center be saved?Postmodern No 1 Poultry divides architects in debate over recent heritageMore is more: the gaudy genius of the late Deborah SussmanPortland Building still... View full entry
London’s inaugural Design Biennale is set to open at Somerset House this September, based around the idea of Utopia to coincide with the venue’s year-long events programme.
The biennale is headed up by London Design Festival director Ben Evans, biennale director Christopher Turner, former editor of Icon, and London Design Festival co-founder Sir John Sorrell. More than 30 countries are taking part in the event.
— itsnicethat.com
Representing the UK will be the design duo Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby best known for designing the London 2012 Olympic Games Torch and their work with Vitra. Their installation will be curated by London's Victoria and Albert Museum. View full entry
Kahn’s material irreverence and cheeky sense of humor have already amassed him a following, with commissions from luxury clients like Dior. [...]
Kahn’s creations, which range from inflated chandeliers to slouching concrete side tables, bring to mind the playfully haphazard aesthetic of ’90s Nickelodeon cartoons
— nytimes.com
Looking for more ... nontraditional furniture? Check out: A misting mirror, a chair that shoots fireworks, and other material experiments by Soft BaroqueScreen/Print #40: Alexandra Lange's "Power Positions" from Dirty Furniture, issue #2Between art and design: rethinking function with Hand Job... View full entry
The "Mom" chair is a kid-sized acrylic seat with an opening on top where kids can drop their toys. It makes the dreaded toy clean-up exceedingly simple—and looks damn good to boot—but the true genius is in its transparency. Unlike opaque storage systems, toys can be easily spotted and dug out from within its clear walls. — Fast Co Design
Anyone who has lived through the chaos of a child playing (the point of which can seem to be to maximally distribute their toys across a given floor area) will appreciate this inventive, highly functional design by Carlo Contin:For more of Furniture February: "Very refined; it’s like a jewel"... View full entry
To demonstrate an alternate application of their "parking assist" technology, Nissan has outfitted a herd of office chairs to find their own way back to their desks. With a single clap, the chairs swivel and move into position, like the obedient office drones that they are – watch below:Of... View full entry
A joint venture with star Brazilian furniture designer Jader Almeida is bringing a new dimension to the luxury furnishings brand Artefacto. For Paulo Bacchi, the 47-year-old Brazilian CEO of Artefacto USA and brand advisor to Artefacto Brazil, the curvy seats, low round wood tables, minimalist lighting fixtures, and other iconic designs of the 35-year-old Almeida add a young, cosmopolitan flair to his company and its stylish, sustainably sourced, mansion-worthy wares. — Ocean Drive
Jader Almeida is a Brazilian designer born in the state of Santa Catarina in 1981, where he still maintains his office. Educated as an architect, Almeida has made a name for himself in the world of furniture design, garnering numerous awards.In this interview, Almeida talks alongside Paulo Bacci... View full entry
In line with this month's "Furniture" theme, I speak with Galen Cranz, an architecture professor at UC Berkeley specializing in body-conscious design. Cranz is trained in the "Alexander Technique" – a method for "correcting" the body's poor habits of movement, that can limit self-awareness in... View full entry
Fittingly for Furniture February, Alvar Aalto would have turned 118 this month, which has prompted Archinect to celebrate his paradigm-defining designs. We're not the only ones: the existing Alvar Aalto Museum and the Museum of Central Finland will be getting an extension (the winners of the... View full entry
