Author Archive
2010: Did you get your calendar yet?
Check out this tiny desktop calendar by Studio 8 Design. It’s like a stack of post-it notes but then the dates (numbers) 1 – 31 pop up with each month having its own individual color. It’s small, compact, and made by a British paper company that specializes in Italian papers called Fedrigoni.
Here’s another soild design for 2010 by Industries Stationery. The D31 Perpetual Calendar is black and simple with silkscreen numbers in white. 8.25 x 8.25 x 5.25″ thick. Get one now at www.industriesstationery.com. $195.00
Dorogaya Magnetic Calendar: You may have to speak Russian to get your hands on one of these, but if I were you why not treat yourself to some Russian classes. With this calendar you’ll never have to get another one. The months are abbreviated to three letters. It has everything you could want and it’s eternally, environmentally sound. If you have a night out or a flight to catch, just place the special chips like “Deadline,” “Flight,” “Drink of the Day,” or “Don’t Drink Day,” and more!
What’s Etsy got in store for 2010?
This letterpress calendar is all hand-drawn and hand printed. It features a selection of pretty objects that are sketched from everyday life. Size: 6 x 10.5 inches
Paper: super duper heavy French cardstock
Bound with a metal bulldog clip, including a cardboard backing material. $24.00
Le Papier Studio, LTD Botanical 2010 calendar is sophisticated with the latest botanical designs printed on a creamy textured stock with rounded edges. It comes with a satin ribbon for hanging. $22.00
Also, check out Le Papier Studio, LTD 2010 Calendar Pillow. Just the enough touch of color and clean design. $42.00
RECAP: Tribeca Loft Tour
On Sunday October 18th, Duane Park, a not-for profit organization that was founded in 1994, hosted their 10th Tribeca Loft Tour. Some of the loft buildings have been around since the mid-1800’s. Many of the buildings facades and some of the core structural elements showcased these time periods. There were converted warehouses, most of which had classical elements in the Renaissance or Romanesque style, although there were a few that had a French derived Neo-Grec aesthetic. These various architectural trends from the past can be seen in the original ceiling beams, unusual window treatments, ornate columns, and vaulted detailing. The original purposes of the buildings ranged from old spice market factories, garment industrial manufacturers, paint makers, and, even, business oriented fields, such as the old American Express headquarters.
Personally, it was a privileged and treat to visit these historically rich homes that had not attempted to cover up their past. It’s not ever day that you enter someones home and see ancient paint spattered all over the wooden floors. Enjoy!
An Artist’s Loft:
Loft completed by Dean/Wolf Architects:
Photographer, journalist, and connoisseur’s Loft featuring Valerie Carmet’s lovely mosaic tiling:
Architecture designed by Acheson Doyle Partners Architects P.C & Design, construction, and contracting by European Interior Concepts, Inc.
Artists’ C. Michael Norton & Ruth Hardinger’s Live/Work Loft:
Photography by Linden Hass
The Flower Box Loft–A Pure Gem
Chroonkit Thahong is a senior presentation code developer at R/GA who practices interior design part-time. While he’s been celebrated the most for restaurant design (including SEA in Willamsburg and the Highline in the Meat Packing District), his talent comes through clearly in a couple of gorgeous lofts.
For example, there’s “The Flowerbox,” a duplex loft in New York’s East Village, which uses subtle detailing to feature some fine, pure modern style. His clients, couple who had met at MIT, desired a minimal aesthetic; Thahong proposed invoking John Pawson’s style, thinking it would give them the look they wanted. In the living space, sleek sliding glass doors and a long hidden bookcase replaced old-fashioned molding adding functionality to the interior. The room was then infused with form, including a Living Divani wall sofa, a BDDW dining set, and Donald Judd’s sculpture work. The custom-built entertainment cabinet and the birdhouse sconce, meanwhile, both use the original developer’s floor material, while the pair of brass birds perched on the stair rail were purchased on eBay.
The space’s open feel allows each piece to stand on its own while still contributing to an overall cohesion. And as light floods in during the day, Thahong’s design ensures “The Flowerbox” functions as a calm and meditative home in which a planted mind and body can truly grow!
Photography by Udom, Represented by Cornelia Adams
Loft Tour: Mid-century Modern Meets Victorian Glamour
Charoonkit Thahong’s New York loft mixes Hollywood regency with mid-century modern overtones to create a space that celebrates good design. Some gems include the 1969 VP Globe lamp by Verner Panton, the Fortuny Moda lamp, the Knoll Tulip armless chairs and the oh-so-fun black Victorian love-seat. Thahong, an art director for R/GA, has managed to infuse warmth into the otherwise over-sized, industrial space (located in Hell’s Kitchen) adding subtle touches of glamour to finish off the look. It’s proof that life without walls doesn’t mean sticking to only one aesthetic; Thahong’s space is fit for both Charles Eames and Marie Antoinette!
Photography by Udom, represented by Corniela Adams
Loft Tour: London Calling
Enter this London loft and you might feel as if you’re ready to set sail. And its nautical feel is simply why we wanted to share it with you. From the portal windows, to the varying art pieces hanging on exposed brick walls, an undulating wooden panel ceiling, a galley entrance to the open kitchen with a retro island counter and captain bar stools, the entire space maintains a balance of spaciousness with intimacy (a definite sense when in a boat’s cabin).
With a roof that offers a beautiful aerial view of London’s financial district across the Thames, we think this loft dweller must dream they’re out on the open seas. We like how they took matters into their own hands and didn’t hold back on a specific theme. A bit whimsical, yet with a definite purpose, this London loft called out to us, because, well, we’ve never seen anything quite like it. Who wouldn’t want to be “shipwrecked” here?
Loft Tour: Old Trolley Stop, Now Live/Work
The Bergamot Station is not just an internationally renown art and cultural center, but a remodeled warehouse that now serves as a variety of things. It’s a destination where visitors can check out a myriad of galleries and also discover where some of the artists’ dwell. The Bergamot Station is bustling with design firms, film studios, a bookshop, frame store, and cafe.
In 1994, it added on an entirely new building on site: The Bergamot Artist Lofts. Pugh + Scarpa Architects created a phenomenal geometrically sound mixed-use of space. The ground level is comprised of four live/work lofts that all have a standard arrangement: two-story living/studio space with the mezzanine used predominantly for sleeping. In the early 1950’s, The Bergamot Station, formerly a historical transport stop along the now inoperative Red Car Line, served as an industrial hub for a hot water manufacturer.
Without compromising the raw industrial space, Pugh + Scarpa, preserved the rustic feel and original character of the industrial warehouse. The Bergamot Lofts have become not only the home to some artists, but a creative complex for visitors around the world to come and explore a mall of art galleries and more.
Loft Tour: Live/Work Warehouse in California
Slant Studios took an old 7,500 square foot industrial warehouse in Emeryville, CA and turned it into a true live/work loft. While preserving its industrial feel with steel assemblies, exposed wooden beams, and brick walls, the space serves as both office and living space. This is a great example of adaptive reuse; it’s clear that the owners have chosen to respect the building’s origins, using vintage materials to furnish the space with subtlety. Intervening only minimally, and confined by a tight budget, Slant Studios achieved their modern idiom – ” an open, undogmatic design process.”
shuky Design: Enrich Your Mobile Lifestyle
3/19/09
Looks like down under, Australian designer Shuk-Yee, based out of Melbourne, has developed an innovative way to create handmade, high quality laptop cases. The “Par Avion” design is simple and clever. Who ever thought of taking the standard design concept for manila envelopes and creating an innovative highbrow laptop case?
“Par Avion” cases are made of genuine leather, padded with plush fabric lining to protect your laptop. It’s designed to fit the New MacBook 13″, MacBook Air, and the New Macbook Pro 15″, but it also fits most 12 ” laptops and the 13.3 ” widescreen Lenovo ThinkPad X300.
Available in five classic colors: light camel, dark tan, black, patent red, and patent white.
shuky’s “Par Avion” can be purchased via www.baksnpacks.com.au and www.rushfaster.com.au. Prices range from $199.99 to $139.00 (Australian prices).
You can also check out the rest of shuky’s collection at www.shuky.com
Post by Linden Hass
Dry Cleaning Rubbish for Textiles?
2/9/09
It’s a challenge for designers to get a break these days with the economy in such a downward spiral. Though some smart, savvy, eco-friendly, and determined to mind the the value of the dollar, have turned to sustainable design as inspiration.
Suzanne Tick and her husband Terry Mowers are exploring innovative ways in which materials from your local dry cleaners can be used to generate a type of modern textile. By using the plastic wrap and paper, the wire, and the cardboard from the dry cleaning packaging, they’ve come up with quite a modern pattern for their loom.
Tick is also launching another new line with Knoll Textiles this year, rightly titled State of Matter. The line includes two upholstery fabrics, a drapery, and a panel fabric. Today, Tick and Towers opened up their NYC live/work space to give us (and other industry creatives) a sneak peek at the new fabrics.
So think twice before you pitch those dry cleaning bags–it’s possibly plastic never looked so beautiful as art.
Photographs and post by Linden Hass
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