Rugs at Maison&Objet

From January 21st-25th Nani Marquina and Nodus will present their new carpets at Maison&Objet Paris.

'Losanges' is the new collection designed by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec for Nani Marquina.

"We have always been captivated by the traditional Persian rug, especially by the very old kilim savoir-faire which we see as a delicate mix of rusticity and fineness. We have been lucky to see this project carried through by the craftsmen of Northern Pakistan who managed to skillfully combine thirteen colors through the geometrical rhombus shape. As well as being crafted by hand, the Afghan wool is also spun by hand, which allows for some unique color tones to be highlighted. This subtly random technique makes each lozenge slightly different and each rug, a unique piece." Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec

© studio bouroullec

The Italian rug manufactory Nodus presents the palette rug of Lachaert & d'Hanis.

Inspired by the beauty of the Italian fresco they filled their palette with soft, almost transparent colours. The concept is that if someone is interested they can order a palette rug filled with their very own emotional colours wich Nodus will translate in 266 different colours of wool. (300 x 200 cm).

© Nodus

'Roots' by Matali Crasset for Nodus is hand knotted in Nepal. The rug is waved at the beginning at one level and then carved at 4 different heights. Its border has an irregular shape: out of the round edge protrude the ends of the roots to which hand twisted cotton fringes are attached.

The diameter is 220cm. Limited edition in 20 pieces + 1 prototype all signed by Matali Crasset.

Plytube stool

Korean designer Seongyong Lee presented his Plytube stool at imm Cologne.

Plytube is a new way of tubing wood using the same principal of making paper tube but with a process to harden the wooden tube. Plytube is very light (the weight of the stool is 820g) but strong and long lasting.

It is acceptable with all kinds of tooling and finishing for wood. The diameter, thickness, colour, type of wood and even the section of the shape can be customized.

American Streamlined Design Exhibition

	Philbrook Museum of Art is opening a new exhibition 'American Streamlined Design: The World of Tomorrow' which focuses on a design era that emerged during the 1930s and 1940s, characterized by curving forms, and smooth, clean silhouettes.
Designer unknown. Mixall Jr. Portable Electric Mixer. Designed 1945–55 Stewart Program for Modern Design, gift of Eric Brill, B618

The style, which suggested speed and glamour, entered American design in the post-Depression years. It was widely applied in new forms of architecture, interior decoration and everyday household goods for the home and office.

Kem Weber. Lounge Chair. Designed 1934
The Liliane and David M. Stewart Collection, SHLSL 2003.17

This was the era when President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke of the promise of the New Deal. In the depth of the Depression, glossy streamlined products were identified with progress and economic recovery. This scientific-looking, progressive style suggested the hope of the future. "The World of Tomorrow" was the name fittingly given to the 1939 New York World's Fair, a fair that emphasized visions of a sophisticated, scientific world to come.

Harold L. Van Doren. John Gordon Rideout. Skippy-Racer Scooter. Designed c. 1933
Stewart Program for Modern Design, gift of Eric Brill, B363

American Streamlined Design presents the work of such leaders in consumer and industrial design as Raymond Loewy, Norman Bel Geddes, Henry Dreyfuss, and Walter Dorwin Teague, as well as less well-known talents, including Egmont Arens and Robert Heller.

Designer unknown. Sterling Streamline Iron. Designed c. 1930–40
Stewart Program for Modern Design, gift of Eric Brill, B420

Over 185 objects in diverse new materials, from Bakelite to stainless steel, are organized thematically around the spheres of American life in the 1930s-50s: the office and workroom, the living room, kitchen, and bath, recreation and transportation. A final section, Streamlining Now, looks at how streamlining still affects design today.

Exhibition: 
American Streamlined Design 
Philbrook Museum of Art 
Tulsa, Oklahoma 
From February 6 2011 to May 15 2011

Post Fossil exhibition at Design Museum Holon

Post Fossil: excavating 21st century creation' is a new design exhibition curated by trend-forecaster Li Edelkoort, atDesign Museum Holon, Israël.

The exhibition presents the work of over 60 international contemporary designers, illustrating how the design of the future can be inspired by the archaic aesthetics, organic materials and poetic techniques of the past.

"Edelkoort has assembled a selection of future fossils, based on the understanding that one of the best ways to study design is through the analysis of archaeological relics. In contrast to the common perception of future design as technological and interactive, 'Post Fossil' enables us to examine the future by gazing back to the past and to re-experience the primal encounter between man, matter and basic forms". Galit Gaon, chief curator of Design Museum Holon

In the wake of the global economic crisis, the period of glamorous and streamlined design for design's sake has come to an end. This exhibition seeks to review the value systems constructed over the previous century by showcasing objects by a new breed of designers creating work that challenges and overturns our conventional notions of design. The exhibiting designers are retracing the steps of human history and going back to the primitive roots of the very act of making things. They are redesigning shelter and tools as well as lifestyle, incorporating elements from nature into materials and the creation process.

The exhibition includes works from designers such as Pieke Bergmans (the Netherlands), Nacho Carbonell (Spain), Arik Levy (Israel),Tomás Libertiny (Slovakia), Peter Marigold (United Kingdom), Tanja Saeter (Norway) and Studio Job (the Netherlands) and Boaz Cohen (Israel).

Exhibition: 
Post Fossil: excavating 21st century creation
Design Museum Holon, Israël
From January 27 to April 30 2011

Ashcraft Aria headphones

Ashcraft Design created a pair of high end headphones with an eye towards using environmentally friendly materials.

The Aria headphones are a combination of recycled materials and advanced audio technology. The headband is wrapped in wood recycled from acoustic guitars of musicians located around the world, the satin spun finished earcups are made from reclaimed aluminum. The leather surrounding the earcups and the quilted leather lining the underside of the headband are reclaimed from bags, jackets and other articles of clothing from musicians located around the world. The leather is reworked and conditioned to provide a soft and comfortable fit for the user's ears. This allows for ambient noises to be blocked out while retaining a clear, crisp sound from the music within.

The Aria headphones houses 40 millimeter titanium-plated drivers tuned to deliver extreme clarity in highs and lows, enhancing yet maintaining the purity of the musicians true intention.

Ivy Shelf System

T	homas Bernstrand received the Form+1 Award for his bookshelf Ivy forSwedese at this year's Stockholm Furniture Fair.

Ivy is a stackable shelf system. The shelves can be stacked in three different ways, straight up, left or right. Stacked to the left it will lean left, stacked to the right it will lean right. When alternated it will level out. 

This year the jury for the Form+1 Award was the German design duo Osko + Deichman, with the following motivation for the prize: "Ivy is a smart and surprising product. The fact that it can lean is not only visually playful, but also a functional bonus. It is the user who decides what sort of expression the shelf has. Ivy can be put together straight, conventionally, or totally crazily".

Ettore Sottsass Enamels in Rotterdam

Kunsthal Rotterdam presents Ettore Sottsass' enamels from 1958 which together constitute a quintessential phase within the career of this Italian designer and architect. 

In the late Fifties Sottsass built up an oeuvre of works in geometrical forms of which colour is the key element. By means of lines and circles he experimented with colourful enamel on vases and on plates. Over one hundred objects and drawings by Sottsass, who is generally considered to be one of the leading members of the Memphis group, are at the basis of the revolutionary designs that became his claim to fame later on.

Enamelled copper tondo, 1958 - photo Enzo Asaia

The years in between 1957 and 1961 are crucial to Sottsass' career. He was educated at the Polytechnic University of Turin and, fully in line with his rationalist education, started to build up an oeuvre consisting of simple geometrical patterns.

Pastel on blueprint, 1958 - courtesy Museo Casa Mollino 

In 1958 he investigated the complex technical process of enamelling and explored its artistic possibilities. The vitreous nature of enamel gives a physical thickness to surfaces, irregular yet smooth and shiny, and offers the possibility to use pure and extraordinarily vivid colours.

Enamelled copper vases on wooden base, 1958 - courtesy Museo Casa Mollino

Sottsass was clearly enchanted by the material quality of enamel and attached it to wooden vases and metal plates. In the vases he designes the enamel is exalted by contrast with the natural warmth of the wooden bases.

Catalogus Gallery Il Sestante Milan 1959 1959 - courtesy Museo Casa Mollino 

The exhibition sheds light on this highly productive designing period in Sottsass' career and provides a valuable insight into the development of his oeuvre. Sottsass' is best known for designing the iconic red plastic Olivetti Valentine typewriter (1969) and the expressive Carlton bookcase (1981).