Bio shoes

Dutch company OAT have designed a range of biodegradable shoes with seeds embedded in the tongues.

Award winning office design

Designed several years ago but just making the blog rounds now is this beautiful office space in Paris, by Christian Pottgiesser ArchitecturesPossibles

Dubbed "A table through the forest," Pottgiesser & co. turned a 19th-century factory into a multi-leveled wooded wonderland where trees grow through the desks, curves reign supreme over straight edges, and workstations are equipped with what look to be Plexiglas sneeze guards to prevent you from spraying germs all over your co-workers. (Please do not send me corrective e-mails, yes, I know they're "telephone bubbles.")

Stouby

Finn Juhl meets FurnID: 'Frost' by the Danish designers FurnID for Stouby

The manufacturer Stouby is one of these numberless old-established, family-run furniture companies you can find in the Danish provincial backwater. Founded in 1902 Stouby has always been specialised in upholstered furniture. Have a look at Stouby's novelties, presented at the Stockholm Furniture Fair for the first time

Tissi

The Swiss born and Berlin based designer, architect and former gallery owner Clemens Tissi developed during the last couple of years his first furniture collection, a number of cubic, very architectural appearing pieces. 'Lichtkiste' for example is a rather simple side table and floor lamp consisting of two spacial elements – one contains the light source the other one is the adjustable reflector and table top at the same time

Rhubarb by Emma

Called Rhubarb, the lamps are made from folded polypropylene and fan outwards from their bases, creating a cluster of precise but organic forms when positioned together.

Multifunctional simplicity

Another simple form that is well executed.
OCC, a cheese bell with a "new, complementary function", a compartment that can hold the products that you usually have while enjoying cheese (fruit, crackers, jams, etc ).

Handmade production

Handmade Mass Production by Folkform
Stockholm-based art and design duo Folkform were invited to create an exclusive collection for fashion brand Whyred.
The duo describes the new work as a celebration of old industrial processes and traditional manufacturing techniques.
This exhibition will show limited edition pieces, including lighting, in brass and bronze as well as a new collection of cabinets.
For their new collection Folkform collaborated with Rosengrens, a brass foundry in Limhamn, situated about 5 kilometers outside of Malmö on the south coast of Sweden. Folkform is committed to working with local manufacturers.

Low occupancy pressurised tent

Pre-war buildings have relatively tiny windows, and it's no secret why. Residents back then spent so much time in crowded public spheres, jammed shoulder-to-shoulder with their fellow citizens in marketplaces, factories, communal parks and so on, that when they got home they wanted not only to keep out the elements, but to gain some privacy from the rest of the world.

Designer Pierre Stephane Dumas' Bubble Tree pressurized tent, which he started selling last year for roughly $12,000, is like the opposite of a high-density pre-war. It's low-occupancy, provides sweeping views, affords zero privacy, and is cool as heck. And we suppose if you needed to change clothes you could smoke a couple of cigarettes first.

Beam lamp

'Beam' table lamp by Holm Giessler / halloessen, a steady and a movable light source in one lamp

Simple things may amuse simple minds but it is simplicity that really gets me going. This may resemble a form similar to a lamp by konstantin gricic but I am very impressed non the less. A fixed downlight that provides ambient lighting is an obvious and beautiful answer. With the additional task light this luminair is very thought out.

watchsession

The second post this month on watches i must be getting obsessed. Although this one is beautiful, im sure most of you agree.

Designed by young Italian designer Denis Guidone and manufactured by Italian brand Nava, the Ora Lattea watch pays homage to celestial time. The minimal white face features just three black dots: one marking the position of the hour hand; another the second hand; and a third the centre of the watch. The first two dots orbit the third like planets in the solar system while the name Ora Lattea is a play on Via Lattea, the Italian phrase for Milky Way.

Ribbon

Tom Vaughan, a machine sculpted chair made of one continuous "ribbon" of wood.

Rattan

WWF initiated the design and production of contemporary, sustainable rattan furniture together with Swedish designers, graduates from Lund University, in cooperation with local producing companies. The European Union funded programme focuses on sustainable production and processing of rattan in the Mekong region. The first results were exhibited during this year's Ambiente Fair in Frankfurt

Vege swing

Gone are the days when you stored your fruits and vegetable in a refrigerator or simply displayed the best ones on the dining table. Now it all has to be designer, unconventional and must complement the décor. Cocoon, which has been designed for your ultra-modern kitchen, is a treat to watch. Designed in an organic shape, it's used for storing fruits, cultivating li'l kitchen garden thingies and as a unique decoration for your kitchen window. Cocoon refreshing to have in the kitchen. Designer Mans Salomonsen have actually rendered quite a creativity with something as basic as fruit storage or kitchen cultivation.

Floating treds, nicely finished.

Portuguese firm A+R Arquitectos installed this staircase with floating wooden treads and a zig-zag hand rail as part of the renovation of a Portuguese house.
Called PAC House, the three-storey project has parking and the entrance on the ground floor, kitchen, dining living room and bathroom on the first floor and bedrooms at the top of the staircase.

Hour glass

Stockholm 2011: ECAL graduate Vanessa Hordies has created this bedside lamp that works like an hour glass to gradually dim the light by covering it in sand

More Tomo.

Puristic piece!

Naoto Fukasawa realised this puristic three-seater sofa for the Italian manufacturer De Padova. 'Tomo' is characterised by a clear composition of independently applied seating, arm- and backrest and an exposed supporting frame in aluminium tubing with internal steel reinforcement.

LOom

Benjamin Hubert designed 'Loom' for the Swedish lighting manufacturer ZERO. Inspired by the traditional Chinese lantern the young British designer created a series of textile pendant lights, made from a high-tech 3D-woven polyester material.

New from thonet!

Naoto Fukasawa's '130' chair for Thonet, launched last year, receives the chromatic treatment

Launched last year, Naoto Fukasawa's '130′ chair for respected German design manufacturer Thonet is fast becoming a contemporary classic.


Thonet have just extended the '130′ chair programme by introducing a range of bold colour options for the piece's upholstered elements, which create a pleasing contrast with its solid-wood frame, available in either birch or oak.

IRON DESIGN

From Iron Design Company, fireplace andirons made from one continuous piece of steel. 

Normally a horizontal iron bar upon which logs are laid for burning in an open fireplace, these andirons are looped to not only hold the firewood but "frame" it as well.

Blinding Love Pendant Lights by Periphere

From Periphere, heart shaped blown glass pendant lights designed specifically for the MADE AT HOME show in Toronto. Says designer Thien Ta Trung, "We started with the idiom: 'Home is where the heart is' as inspiration. We wanted to do something that would reflect this idea of warmth and loving feeling."

Passagen 2011 Golden-Bell

Few design brands evoke as much warmth on the part of consumers as the heritage-steeped Finnish company Artek, currently celebrating 75 years in business. Co-founded in 1935 by the hero of Scandinavian modernism Alvar Aalto, Artek has certainly earned its design stripes.

Valentines

San Francisco-based designer Steve Hoefner created this brilliant set of Valentine's Day cards for the maker in your life. Taken from the archives of the U.S. Patent Office, they're a funny twist on this holiday of chocolates and roses. Check the full set after the jump and download them directly from Hoefner's website here!http://grathio.com/2011/01/valentines-day-cards-for-the-maker-in-your-life.html

Digital trees

Elegant carpentry meets digital technology in Mexican designer Jesús 4lonso's formally striking wooden watches, which eschew unnecessary functionality for timepieces that are akin almost to sculpture

SHE is minimalist MYK

SHEWe had to investigate when we saw this intriguing fabric disk in the Greenhouse. Turns out, it is indeed a clock—the Norwegian designers of SHE Studio explaining to us that the minimalist "Myk" is intended to reduce the visual clutter of the work environment and reduce the stress commonly associated with living our lives by the clock. When we noted that it was a few hours slow they did admit that the the clock is still in concept phase—a standard clock mechanism not being strong enough to move under the taut fabric face.

Baklava

BAKLAVA

Designed by star-architects Claesson Koivisto Rune, Baklava's unique triple-layered shade is reminiscent of the thin pastry layers in the Turkish delicacy which gave rise to the name.

The structure of the shade has been designed to allow the bottom part to glow in a different colour to the main light.

Initially designed for the interior of the exclusive new Nobis Hotel, Stockholm, Baklava will look equally stunning in any commercial or domestic environment.

Baklava will be available as both table and floor lights

Massproductions

The Swedish label Massproductions founded by the designers Magnus Elebäck and Chris Martin presented some new pieces at this year's Stockholm Furniture Fair, amongst them these beautiful upholstered armchairs. 'Crown' seems to be simply composed of four upholstered panels, in fact the artful compositions, with the backrest balancing on the armrests, is based on an inner structure made of tabular stee

arne vodder and 60's danish furniture.

Arne vodder revolutionised the way furniture is designed, he did not like the protruding handle of current units and found a way of incorporating the handle into the door or drawfront itself. Through a curved form there is an organic feeling about the way you can run your hand along the surface to find a way that suits to open the piece to reveal what is inside. Created in the 60's this range of furniture is still relevent now and even more so in fashion currently, look out for this style.

Treehouse or not to treehouse.

Outlandia is an artist-led project, built in 2010 to foster links between creativity and the environment; a multi-purpose platform for the use of local and invited artists. London Fieldworks were invited by the Highland Council to make a proposal to celebrate the Year of Highland Culture that would create a lasting contemporary art legacy for the Fort William area. Outlandia is the outcome, a platform from which to consider creative responses to the environment. The proposal was inspired by London Fieldworks' previous experience working in Lochaber: whilst there is an abundance of artistic talent and creativity in the Highlands there are few dedicated contemporary arts facilities in Fort William or in the surrounding area.

Architectural task lamp

Young British designer and winner of numerous design awards Benjamin Hubert has created a highly architectural task lamp for Swedish manufacturer Örsjö, currently on show at the Stockholm Furniture Fair 2011

New business model

I have recently been involved in a business venture where we had two business models running concurrently. Model A was inhouse manufacturing while model B was outsourcing manufacture. The industry is furniture and we are trained industrial designers. Our expertise is in design and it has been a year of running both models for a conclusion to be made. We will continue operations with model b only, giving us more time to focus on what is important to our business and more importantly our values. I hope others read this and see a message that it is very important to stay focused on what you set out to achieve, we have explored an avenue that does not entirely suit who we are. Nothing is lost and everything is gained. New focus and new directions are very important always analyse what you are doing and get as many opinions as you can.

Epitome of Ikea!

I found this in a friends backyard in St Kilda, I guess it suits the decor of the dwelling but what does this say for design?
Form over function, or form over durability, I'm not sure but it sure is not timeless design. Can you see the honeycomb cardboard structure that is sandwhiched between 2 x layers of mdf? My friend told me this is only 1 year old.

Is this a bank? What will the French do next?

This is first-ever, bank concept store for BNP Paribas in Paris, created by Paris-based architect Fabrice Ausset of Zoevox.


This far-reaching concept bank is located in the historical building of 2, Place de l'Opéra.
The space is chock-full of completely wacky un-bank features, yet it also has a nice retro touch — the honeycombed ceiling, lovely mirrors — that gives it the elegance and respectability that the building's history warrants and the bank's business must convey.
 
Other than that, it is an almost 1,000 square-meter funhouse of colors, shapes, textures and forms with the goal to entice the customer to discover, interact, experiment and (gasp!) enjoy.


In ten specific zones, all regular banking functions from daily banking to stock-market info, private meetings, staff training can take place with the emphasis on breaking the age-old banking set-up where the client and the adviser (the teller, the banker) are on opposite sides.


All of this plus a temporary exhibition area dedicated to kids, a coffee bar, a  25 square-meter green, living wall set the tone for the unusual banking experience. Of course, such aspects as ergonomics, sustainability, proper lighting and the latest technology, are givens.


In addition to custom furniture and furnishings, Zoevox used furniture by Christophe Delcourt, Philippe Hurel, Paola Lenti, Christian Liaigre, India Mahdavi, Antonio Lupi (lavabo), Pierre Paulin and Philippe Starck,  and lighting by Sylvie Coquet, Adrien Gardère, Poul Henningsen, Marco Merendi, Karim Rashid and Patricia Urquiola. Now, can we all expect our neighbourhood banks to change? Tuija Seipell

beautiful joinery

The Paris based designer Inga Sempé recently completed this new chair and table for the Swedish manufacturer Gärsnäs. The chair is characterised by its flattened round timber which improves on the one hand the comfort of the back rest and enables an elegant joinery on the other hand.

COLD-CUT-by-Mathias-Hahn-3

During this year's imm cologne the German born and London based designer Mathias Hahn presented this hand made cutlery, especially designed for cold served supper which is traditionally eaten in the cultural area of Austria and Germany.

The shape of the knife and fork refer to these meals consisting of bread, cold cuts, pickles and raw vegetables.

Magnetic lamp by Serener.org for Functionals (NL)

Still a prototype but soon in production: the Dutch designer duo Jan Willem Hofma and Christoph Seyferth, together they are Serener.org, developed this magnetic multi-purpose lamp for the Dutch manufacturer Functionals.
A magnetized base allows the lamp to be placed on any iron object such as a  steel table, shelf or radiator.