‘Dag & Natt’ carpet collection by Petra Lundblad-Fridén for Kasthall (SE)

Earlier this year, designer Petra Lundblad-Fridén has created this series of hauntingly beautiful, inkblot-like printed carpets for the Swedish rug manufacturer Kasthall. Called ’Dag & Natt’ – Swedish for ‘Day & Night’ – the dreamlike collection stems from Lundblad-Fridén’s ‘passion for experimenting with different images and colours, and using layers to create new expression’ and encompasses four different designs inspired by the weather and sky phenomena: Haze, Thunder, Summer Dawn and Autumn Dusk.

Neu 31 by SUPERBLOCK ZT GmbH (AT)

SUPERBLOCK ZT GmbH, the Austrian architectural practice established in 2003 has realised this 840-square-meters building located on Neuwaldegger Straße 31 in Vienna. Based on a ‘concept of the overlapping spatial structure’, the house boasts a number of residential apartments as well as office units and a centrally-located 30-square-meters courtyard, and its current residents amount to ’22 working and residing persons, one dog and two cats’.

Birds Nest treehouse by Bertil Harstrom

This concept is based upon the contrast between exterior and interior. From the outside it appears as a big nest, only the scale separating it from other nests in the vicinity. Discreet windows are almost hidden by the network of branches.

Inside it’s a high standard room with modern design. A coachwork panel decorates the inner wall. There is space and beds for a family with two children. The bedroom is a separate room with sliding doors. You access the nest by a retractable staircase.

Bricking It: innovative applications of man’s most trusted material

• In the classic children’s story, three little pigs build houses to hide from a hungry wolf. The hungry wolf huffs and puffs and blows down the first little pig’s house of straw and the second little pig’s house of sticks, but the third little pig was too clever for him. The third little pig built his house out of bricks, which saved his bacon. The safety and robustness of brick remains the key to its enduring appeal, particularly for residential purposes.
• Bricks made from shaped mud dating back to 7500 BC have been found in the Tigris region of Mesopotamia and, since then, brick has helped define the built environment of many developed nations. While production methods may have changed, the capability of brick to offer reliable protection from the elements over a prolonged period has helped it retain its popularity in the building trade. ‘The main benefit of building in brickwork is longevity,’ explains Dr Ali Arasteh, Principal Structural Engineer at The Brick Development Association. ‘There is no other construction material that offers such long-lasting performance with minimal maintenance and ongoing costs.’

Hallway and Bedside Tables, Cashmere and merino hand knit framed by a solid walnut top and hand turned legs.

Experimenting with hard and soft materials and textures has been the muse for the Safety Vase series. The Safety Vase series empathises with wood and wool’s emotional and physical qualities to create a safe hideaway for one’s treasures. Knit holds connotations of safety, warmth and softness. Wood is a traditional furniture material that represents strength and longevity. The Safety Vase series explores and celebrates these qualities. It questions current furniture typologies and asks whether the emotional warmth of knit can be introduced to the hard world of wooden furniture.

A safe hideaway for those treasures that have a tendency to be misplaced has been created. The vase like form invites the user to touch and feel the softness of the wool whilst playfully hiding objects away, this furniture series is about experiencing the knit. It poses the question of why cant the first thing you touch when you wake up in the morning or come in from work be soft and comforting.

The knit is framed and contrasted by the hardness of the wood, both the minimal legs and the table top create a frame around the vase without distracting from it.

‘Rhyholzertischli’ coffee table by Adrian Wicki (CH)

Inspired by his life-long fascination with one of Europe’s longest rivers, the Rhine, the young Swiss carpenter-turned-designer Adrian Wicki has created this driftwood coffee table. Enigmatically called ‘Rhyholzertischli’, the table is composed of a smooth glass plate which is juxtaposed with the raw natural form of the base created from driftwood found on the banks of Rhine.

Chouchin' pendant light by Ionna Vautrin for Foscarini (IT)

Following her previous design for Foscarini, the young French designer Ionna Vautrin has recently created this elegant, glossy pendant light called ‘Chouchin’. Taking its name from the traditional Japanese paper lantern, the design is Vautrin’s contemporary reinterpretation of this ‘ethereal, poetic and almost magical object’. The lamp is available in three various sizes, each of them in a different earthy hue: orange, grey or olive green, and its modern form has been ‘obtained through a single blowing process.’

Simplissimo by Jean Nouvel

The Parisian Pritzker-prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel has designed this ‘fitness-inspired’ series of smart, minimalist furniture for the renowned French manufacturer Ligne Roset. Aptly called ‘Simplissimo’, the pared-down collection consists of banquette, chaise longue, fireside chair, footstool and bench, all of which are made of soft, black upholstery, which ‘hugs the curves of the metal structure and deliberately allows gathers in the four corners, which contribute to the overall aesthetic of the piece.

‘Slim Jim’ table by Roland Graf for Fredericia Furniture (DK)

With no previous intention to venture into the area of furniture design, the Austrian artist Roland Graf has realised this simple wood-and-steel table, his first piece of furniture, following a personal request from his father who needed a large dining table for his retirement party. The oversized prototype, which Graf has hand-assembled from seven pine planks and metal without the use of any nails or glue, has now been scaled down and is produced by the famous Danish manufacturer,

P-Tree by Aandeboom

The P-Trees were a great success at the Roskilde Festival 2011 in Denmark, with more than 100,000 visitors and many of them using the P-TREE more than once. For Roskilde AANDEBOOM produced 50 P-Trees in the typical Roskilde Orange color. The P-Trees were placed on 2 different spots near the main stage. By using the P-Tree the festivals problem with public peeing was significant reduced.

Jerszy Seymour - Flux

Resembling a squiggly crayon drawing and described as ‘liberating itself from the modernist grid’, Flux is the latest chair designed earlier this year by the Berlin-based Canadian designer Jerszy Seymour. Manufactured by Magis, Flux is created from two metal wires which are ‘treated as an axis with unlimited directions representing unlimited life possibility’ and the design is available in three vibrant primary colours.