Posts from — June 2011

I am in the market for a new sofa, so I was doing a little window shopping when I came across these stunning possibilities.

Favn

“Design needs to solve the problem and be long lasting - off-course. But it is important to remember that my design is made for humans - to be used by humans. I believe that design should provoke emotions. Design should make you feel good. Create happiness.” Jamie Hayon

Jamie Hayon’s new sofa- FAVN does all of the above. FAVN – the Danish translation for embrace, is the result of an experimental dialogue between Fritz Hansen& Hayon. “FAVN is picking up from the long tradition of Arne Jacobsenin the sense that I wanted to create a form that was based on a shell, like the Egg™ and the Swan™ which looks equally beautiful from all angles.” Hayón continues.

“I wanted the sofa to be based on a shell. A shell being hard on the outside, soft and welcoming on the inside. I wanted to create a form that embraces you, something really organic – that’s why we named it FAVN.” There is something very Mad Men about this sofa.

Personally, while I love the sofa, I find myself drawn to the sketches even more.

The Cape

This gives new meaning to a slipcovered sofa. Love! the idea of changing out the cover with the seasons.

Cape by Konstantin Grcic is an upholstered sofa with an overlay cover. Cape grew organically from the initial design challenge to create covered seating with a casual yet luxurious feel to it. The inspiration came from the informal way in which loose fabric is draped over a piece of furniture as protection in hotels or country estates off season. ( I know, you can’t remember when the last time was that you throw a cover over your couch as you closed up the country home for winter…. just go with it.)

The Cape pieces have moved beyond the slipcovers and tight-fitting, washable coverings seen at last year’s Milan furniture fair. Grcic’s mantle is much more free-flowing, casual but still tailored — less Snuggie-for-your-sofa than these pictures might imply. It’s available in different colors and weights so customers can change looks over the years or even change textures with the seasons. It also allows for an instant update as an interior changes.

I am thinking a subtle houndstooth; maybe a fine wool sateen???

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Carniege Textiles

Swiss textile manufacturer Création Baumann recently presented its new Halina and Halina Stripe curtain fabric – an airy textile with an African touch from the new Living Line collection ‘Inspired’- at imm Cologne. Carneige Textile was showing the fabric at Neocon and it won gold award in textile category.

Halina is a finely striped weave with the color woven in a heavier yarn. In order to achieve a 3D effect, the finely striped weave is vertically pleated and horizontally embossed. Halina Stripe is a broad stripe of contrasting colors reminiscent of woven raffia. The design picks up on current fashion trends and adds an up-to-the-minute touch to any interior.

Celebrating it’s 30th anniversary, Carnegie added two new patterns to the Xorel brand of multitasking textiles. Xorel Pixie & Cascade Appliqué explore the blending of a modern innovative material (Xorel) with traditional textile craft process. Xorel, a high performance solution textile is embellished by appliquéing decorative design motifs in secondary layer of Xorel.

DesignTex

Through a licensing program, the Museum of New Mexico Foundation invites manufacturers to reap decorative harvests from its four museums, six monuments, and single archaeological-studies office. The roster of partners hits 18 with the debut of the Shelter collection from Designtex. After vice president of design Kimberle Frost connected with the foundation’s director of licensing, Pamela Kelly, a yearlong series of product-development trips to Santa Fe commenced. Frost huddled with two curators—the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture’s Valerie Verzuh and the Museum of International Folk Art’s Bobbie Sumberg—and mined their vast collections as sources for 11 upholstery patterns.

Wolf Gordon

Wolf Gordonhas turned out innovative and amazing wall coverings for forty years. Not one to rest on their laurels, the natural progression is toward textiles Fabrics by Vescom, named for the mill that’s manufacturing the line, includes 19 polyester drapery fabrics. Burano is one of the bold solids. In pattern territory, recurring geometrics read organic in Minu. Beadlike lines embellish Zembra. And wide bands of color dominate Etolin. All meeting or exceeding Association for Contract Textiles guidelines for colorfastness, breaking strength, and flame resistance, the

Knoll Textiles

I am always excited to see what Knoll Textiles will introduce or revamp from their rich storied archives. I am never disappointed!

Designer Suzanne Tick introduces Fila, a 100% high performance polyester drapery fabric, is the little sister to Suzanne Tick’s Escala. This smaller scale warp knit potentially allows for interesting scale pairings when used together with the original. It comes in 6 colorways and is 118 in. wide.

With her latest collection for Knoll Luxe, Dorothy Cosonas draws inspiration from current fashion with three upholstery fabrics, Arabella, Gramercy, and Vermeer. The collection includes two large scale velvet upholstery fabrics, which offer a modern twist on a traditional concept, as well as a classic Knoll nubby texture.

Inspired by trends on the runway, Arabellais a modern take on a classic plaid. Digitally printed on 100% cotton velvet, it comes in six colorways, including Serenade, a fresh combination of gray and yellow. This fabric is Greenguard certified and is made from 100% cotton. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Gramercy is a large-scale geometric cut velvet that combines a modern pattern with old-world technology. Colors range from classics like gray and camel to fashion-forward green and purple. It is made from 100% cotton and comes in six color ways. This fabric is Greenguard certified.

Included Archival reintroductions is the expansion of Cato, which is celebrating its 50^thanniversary. Since its introduction in 1961, Cato has never gone out of production. It was originally hand-woven in Germany in 30 yard runs. In the 70’s, it was turned into machine woven goods in Scotland, where it has been made ever since. Cato has become an iconic design for KnollTextiles, often pictured on classic KnollStudio pieces such as Eero Saarinen’s Womb chair. Over the years KnollTextiles has added and deleted colors; For Cato’s 50^thbirthday, Dorothy Cosonas has brought back three colors from the original 60’s archives: natural, yellow and hot pink. This high performance fabric is made of 86% wool and 14% rayon. It exceeds 100,000 double rubs, is now available in 12 colorways.

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We spotted the prototype several years ago as part of the textile collection at the Victoria and Albert museum. It’s resurfacing again- maybe just in time

Digital Dawn is an interesting reactive window blind that is responsive to external stimuli. Designed by Rachel Wingfield. Rachel belongs to an emerging generation of designers redefining conventions of how, why and with what things are made. Digital Dawn digitally emulates photosynthesis using printed electroluminescent technology; as seen in the image below, a light-based botanical environment seems to grow on the window lamp as a room gets darker.

Wingfield intended Digital Dawn to emulate the process of photosynthesis using electroluminescent printing technology. Light-dependent sensors monitor the changing light levels within a space, triggering the growth of the organic foliage on the blind. A natural environment will appear to grow on the window surface, exploring how changing light levels within a space can have profound and physiological impact on our sense of well-being. It’s essentially a solar powered textile storing sun’s energy during the day and using it at night to illuminate the blind.

Wonder if the energy could be used to operate the blind?

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Mecho Shade Iceland Collection

MechoSystems has launched a new series of fully recyclable shadecloths, created in collaboration with William McDonough, one of the world’s most well-known advocates for sustainable design.Based on MechoSystems’ EcoVeil® shadecloths, this collection has a unique and highly personal inspiration. The patterns in this series are inspired by McDonough’s own photographs, collected during his visits to Iceland. The collection includes 5 jacquard weave patterns , each in several colorways interpreting the stunning natural landscape of Iceland.

The shadecloth material is a technical nutrient—the Cradle to Cradle term for non-natural materials that are safe, highly stable, and used in closed-loop manufacturing cycles that take materials from producer to consumer and back again indefinitely. (Typically, shadecloths are woven with a PVC jacket and a core of fiberglass or polyester core, which cannot be separated for reuse.) The Thermoplastic Olefin (TPO) yarn used in the shadecloth fabric is more than merely PVC-free; it can be reclaimed and recycled indefinitely.

UPDATE: Shadecloth Sample Box.

The shadecloth package is MechoSystems’ completely redesigned collection of window-covering samples.The ensemble—including both the legacy and brand-new shadecloth groups—provides architects and designers with all the shadecloth information they require, assembled in a handsome eco-friendly polyethylene box.

Features of the Shadecloth Solutions collection:
• More than 190 shadecloths
• Visually transparent blackout and acoustical materials
• Many GreenGuard® and Cradle to Cradle Certified^CM
examples
• A handsome translucent container
• Graphically clear shadecloth selection guide
• Provision of all technical data
• Ease of use
• Ergonomic package design
• A range of color-coded booklets
• Recyclable PVC-free polyethylene box

Sebastopol Occasional Table for Coalesse

Speaking of Iceland…

The Sebastopol collection features two perfectly-matched shapes that are available in two heights enabling the creation of limitless table configurations. A uniquely flexible line, Sebastopol transforms to accommodate a variety of settings; from a lounge setting to an impromptu meeting space.

Wanting a large work surface, but not having the room for one in her small space, designer Emilia Borgthorsdottir broke up the whole surface and started playing with geometric shapes; refining them until the proportions felt right. “I am a problem solving person and bringing up new perspectives is one of my strengths,” said Borgthorsdottir. “I like to create aesthetically pleasing products that ease the activities of daily living, focusing on the function and ergonomic value of the design.”

Originally from Iceland, but now working and living in the U.S., Emilie said that after seeing the finished product it reminds her of the glaciers in her native Iceland and how they can break away or butt together. She submitted the drawings to Coalesse 2 years ago at NeoCon, one week after graduating from design school. After hearing that Coalesse was not adding them to their collection she moved on in the design world until last summer when they contacted her telling her that they wanted to produce the tables. One year later she’s back in Chicago launching the collection. Sebastopol is offered in an impressive mix of surface materials to match almost any décor. It has glossy interiors that come in five different laminate colors balanced with wood exteriors in oak or walnut veneer with optional sheen finishes.

Mannington Equinox Collection

Mannington’s new collection is a great example of the new work- where it’s all about collaboration. Reaching out to Korean design firm,Ryan Harc through the Behance to create Equinox; it’s obvious that this was a winning move. is inspired by the play of light and shadow. Equinox offers visual fields of light & shadow rendered as pure texture. Further testament that collaboration leads to innovation, the collection Uses a proprietary ultra-large denier fiber with patented variable twist technology.

Mannington Commercial @ NeoCon 2011 (Natalie Jones) from neoconwtf on Vimeo.

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Noted for its adaptability to a commercial or residential setting as well as its dual-function as room divider and acoustic barrier, judges selected MOD SCREEN as the 2011 Ample Sample Design Challenge winner At first look, I immediately saw this asa window covering hung from a vertical or panel track so its traverses . In addition, Mod Screen earned high marks for number of samples used and the use of zinc fasteners which make the screen totally recycleable at the end of its lifespan.

Mod Screen designer, Steven Rothe, Meyer Scherer & Rockcastle, Ltd, Minneapolis, MN, takes home $500 cash in addition to having his design featured at NeoCon 2011. Congratulations !

The design story behind Mod-Screen is one of utter reuse, taking small strips from cut up or whole carpet tile samples and assembling them into a reticulated screen of any size. Too many times, carpet tile samples get cut down for presentation purposes and the remainder is thrown away, not being seen as useful. Mod-Screen seeks to change this by taking small strips of the high performance raw material, each of which is less than 3% of the sample, and transforming it into a space dividing screen with acoustical properties. By taking advantage of carpet tile’s tensile strength and linking it with zinc hardware fasteners, the entire screen is completely recyclable at the end of its lifespan. The proof-of-concept mockup, made from just over four carpet tile samples, is 36” wide by 30” high with the rendering showing six of these units together.

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