Translated by Silvia — Lately at the Furniture Fair in Milan we have been able to admire the urban trendy touch on one of the most famous pieces in the history of design: a piercing applied on the sensual lips of DARK LADY, the new tainted black version of the Bocca sofa.
The original model in red created by Studio 65 in Turin in 1975 in homage to Salvador Dalì has become so famous as to be included in the permanent collection of New York’s MoMA, Paris’ Louvre, Milan’s Permanent Design Collection of Italian design and Denver’s Museum of Modern Art.
Strong piece in the “I Multipli” collection of about180 pieces, Bocca is indeed one of the most famous along with Pratone, Cactus and Capitello. Made from cold-expanded polyurethane a dressed in stretchy material, Bocca and its new version DARK LADY, produced in limited edition of only 1000 pieces, are produces by Gufram, the historical Italian company which is now a part of the Charme group (with Cappellini, Poltrona Frau and Gebruder Thonet).
Strangely though… in the States, this mythical and sexy sofa is known as MARILYN, a love seat, so-called by Eleanore Stendig from Stendig, Inc. in New York, the first importer of Bocca on American soil. The reference is clear!
More images in the cut below.
Translated by Silvia — Surfing around the Internet yesterday looking for solutions for sustainable furnishings, we fell upon FLEXIBLE LOVE. We immediately liked the name and, indeed, it sums up in two words the philosophy which hides behind this project. It is, in fact, a fantastic example of social, ecological and philanthropic design that manages to mix concrete utility and love for the environment and for others.
It is born from a very simple but effective concept: a flexible chair that uses fully the structural properties of honeycomb, applied to the working of an accordion. An incredible result of extensibility, resistance and rigidity, considering that the material used is nothing more than… paper!
A myriad of used sheets of paper that are recuperated, recycled and reused in a completely new way by the new Taiwanese designer Chishen Chiu for an extendible chair that can also be compact and multiform to host anywhere from 1 to 16 people! A group of good friends, a soccer team, a school class…
Take a look at the 2 videos and the images you will find below and in the cut.
Translated by Silvia — The creativity of the so-called “Reuse Design” lately is forever more appreciate from an earth-friendly and “NON Useless” design point of view, but more importantly even of “RE-useful”.
Here is for you a selection of interesting projects born from the creativity of sensible designers looking for ecologically sustainable solutions, selection which goes to show the fact that reusing is an effective solution and can also be aesthetic. 12 propositions which come, in the most part, from discarded objects, rethought and modelled into a new existence, for a renewed and original desirability.
A source of inspiration and encouragement for our daily recycling.
Translated by Silvia — Here’s a new episode of extremely creative Street Marketing courtesy of the biggest Swedish Furniture giant: after having revolutionized the benches, telephone booths and bus stops in New York (see link below) this time the strategic novelty was thought out to penetrate the Country of the Rising Sun and involves nothing less than a monorail train, completely redone inside and out to travel in perfect IKEA style, spreading the latest colourful collection of fabrics and furnishings of the Swedish house for the launch of the new Japanese store.
The train will circulate until May 16th and connects Kobe in Japan to the man-made Port Island on which the new dealer, inaugurated on April 14th, was constructed. It is most certainly a clamorous advertising strategy, totally in sync with the Swedish giant’s idea that all revolves around home, the most important place in the world. IKEA wants to communicate that through the furnishing giant, home can be recreated anywhere, even on a moving train. Indeed, one cannot negate that its products transmit a strong sense of domesticity and that its democratic design is really a contemporary phenomenon of indisputable success.
Translated by Silvia – The objective that designer Oskar Daniel fixed for himself was to create a “wall of sound” to enjoy the soundtrack of a good movie and his favourite music: he got exceptional results.
The young Swedish talent (class of 1983) conceived HIVE, a compact and modular sound system made up of hexagonal panels for acoustic diffusion, decidedly geometric and inspired by bee’s nests.
Translated by Silvia — ATYPYK will be present at Milan’s Design Week and will leave, as usual, an ironically rule-breaking and originally desecrating sign of its passage.
From this provocative studio based in Paris, we have already been able to appreciate Wooferang, Moon Carpet, the Bon Apetit! Tie, and now also the Clean Fast Race gloves, gloves made of (pink!) rubber for the new generations always in a hurry to complete domestic tasks. There are also the Kamasutra Condoms, with glow-in-the-dark packaging and the 64 erotic positions from which to take inspiration; Python tape, the sticky tape decorated in python print, to seal with style and the Break Up Handkerchief, the handkerchief to be used in case of love tragedies….
Translated by Silvia – A young and fresh duo, Puah Kim Sing and How Sim, industrial designers for Dremu Design, a newly created studio that’s been active for less than a year. Already 3 important awards received at the latest edition of the Furniture Design Awards in Singapore (FDA 2008): Most Honorable Mention for Mimo & Simi Bar stools, a pleasant couple of stools made of ABS, surmounted by hairpieces made of expanded EVA foam for a fun Playmobil look. Two Young Designer Merit Awards for the 2 seats TORS Chair and HAGE Chair. The last one, of which you can see an image above, is a wooden armchair with essentially balanced lines, made of a single rectangular sheet of plywood, at the centre of which was made an “H” shaped cut, and later curved and modelled for an interesting aesthetic result and robust but light frame, playing with the tension of the material used.
Translated by Silvia – Do you want to be a photo-reporter “by chance”? Here is an interesting contest opened by LG Electronics Italia in collaboration with the magazine Max in the context of this year’s Milan Furniture fair dedicated to all visitors who are photography lovers, amateurs, try-outs or simply voyeurs who find themselves in the right place at the right time with a camera in hand.
A personal and entertaining way to promote your own experience of locations, people and events of the manifestation which is now on. The best shots will indeed be published on Max’s June issue and rewarded with rich LG products: a 22” M228WB-BZ TV screen with digital TV to the first classified, a blu-ray/HD-DVD BE06LU10 external burner for the second in the classification and an external DVD GSA-E50N burner to the third most interesting shot.
The goal of this contest is to capture the best of Milan’s Design Week directly through the eyes of the audience during the most awaited event in world design evidently strewn with juicy appointments, inaugurations, aperitifs and parties which will become interesting photographic sets: famous names from all over the world will mingle with the Italians and foreigners who will have united around the novelties from companies and creators from around the world.
To participate in the photo contest, on April 16th will be activated the Dammi Spaziosite with the rules, the prizes and the participation modalities.
Do not, therefore, forget your camera at home or in the car, parked far away from the fair, and do not forget to send your photos by and no later than April 25th. The winner could be you.
Translated by Silvia — The Orange22 studio says yes and strikes again.Founded in the year 2000 by Dario Antonioni in Los Angeles, this Californian laboratory of creativity immediately gained itself some illustrious clients and recognition. Last year, it launched Botanist, a collection of indoor and outdoor furniture, the first of which is tainted pink with the “Pink Limited Edition” in favour of the battle against breast cancer (all images under the cut). The latest issue is “Blank Canvas”, a social design project in which 8 world famous designers were involved for the first edition, from Milton Glaser (the creator of the iconic logo “I heart NY”) to the omnipresent Karim Rashid, from Ives Behar (an idol of ours) to the Italian duo of Massimo and Lella Vignelli.
You will find the images of the Botanist collections and more information in the cut below.
Translated by Silvia — Modern and essential design were put into use for this wrist-watch on which the lines of time run through chromatic and technological paths, giving a determined style to the more researched feminine look.
ORB Bracelet Watch is born from the creativity of the very your Serbian designer: Djordje Zivanovic (Djo:Djo DSGN). He is an industrial design student in Turin’s IAAD, and his watch is available in 2 versions: clear black or white plastic, while the 3 linear displays give the time with the maximum precision made available by digital technology with the hour, minutes and seconds, and can take on different colors according to the software. On the side, an important button to adjust the time easily during our journeys from one time-zone to another.
To be worn, admired, consulted… Nice!
The project is on contest at the moment at the 2008 Signity Watch Design Competition. Other pictures in the cut below.
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