Musician and actor Justin Timberlake has collaborated with friend, stylist and interior designer, Estee Stanley to curate a new home collection called HomeMint.
What constitutes happy design? This was the question explored by acclaimed design critic for the International Herald Tribune andthe global edition of the New York Times,Alice Rawsthorn during the ‘7 Kinds of Happiness: Conversations on Design and Emotion‘ series in the ‘Happy Place’ at Designex.Curated by The Office for Good Design, and designed by Melbourne-based design studio, Design Officethe series of discussions explored how objects affect our physical and emotional well being and does happiness impact the practice of leading local and international designers includingIlse Crawford.
Alice Rawsthorn simply explained that Design is an “able for change”. She used examples such as the soup spoon by Arne Jacobson & Chaise by Charlotte Perriand. Their purpose drove their design and created ‘happiness’ for the designers themselves.
“Function, consciousness, integrity, beauty and innovation” are the core values for design today Rawsthorn explained. Studio H created the ‘Learning Landscape‘, an educational playground system that can be built for free anywhere in the world, whilst the Something & Son turned a old house in a run down part of London into a ‘Farm Shop‘ using aquaponics, hydroponics, airoponics and a chick coup on the roof top. In contract to the ethically conscious design practice is Hella Jongerius’s sofa for Vitra injecting a human sense into her work even if mass manufactured.
HotelEtt Hemin a peaceful area in Stockholm is a magnificent private house and garden, created for people looking for something more personal than the standard luxury hotel. This Arts and Crafts building is steeped in the Scandinavian aesthetics of Carl Larsson and his wife Karin, designed by the wonderfully ‘sensitive’ designer Ilse Crawford.
Ett Hem’s twelve rooms are filled with a special collection of furniture, Scandinavian antiques and design, whilst leaving intact the personality of the original building. The outdoor courtyards are treated with the same sensitivity as the interior spaces.
Sculptor John Nicholson has always been fascinated by light He translated prisms and pixels of light into plastic striped blocks of vibrant and luminous colour. Constructed of strips of perspex plastics, he cuts, shapes and binds these prefabricated materials, then mounts them onto timber until they resemble abstract sculptures ranging from outdoor installation pieces, to freestanding sculptures and wall reliefs.
John Nicholson’s Doors, Walls, Floors and Ceilings runs from 15 May – 9 June 2012 at Sophie Gannon Gallery.
Kvadrat invited seven international curators to select design talents from seven key regions to celebrate it’s first and most iconic textile, Hallingdal 65, which was developed more than 45 years ago. The wool and viscose tweed is celebrated for its durability and craft. In the exhibition the young designers were invited to use the material in a contemporary way.
Blocked colour and playful shapes and design expressions filled the exhibition and designs from 32 designers, including Jean-Baptiste Fastrez, Studio Glithero, Tord Boontjeand Raw-Edges, turned this timeless textile into items such as hammocks, screens and tents.
Masters of leather, Spanish luxury brand Loewe, demonstrate the detail and workmanship in crafting their signature Amazona bag. Director Matthew Donaldson portrays in this short film the commitment to the craft coinciding with the release of the limited edition book ‘Masters of Leather’ by Robert Clarke.
Paola Navone’s eclectic style is inspired by her travels, particularly the colours and flavours of Asia. Born in Turin, Paola Navona is now based in Milan as an architect, art director, interior designer, and exhibition and event organiser for design companies including Abet Laminati, Gervasoni, Driade and Poliform just to name a few.
Her super cool and relaxed Paris apartment was designed to feel like an eclectic country house in summer, with an abundance of Mediterranean and Asian influence.
St Pauls Perspectives by John Pawson for Swarovski casts new light on a hidden part of St Paul’s Cathedral. In the south west tower John Pawson designed an installation that projects a new genius of St Christopher Wren’s geometric staircase.
At the foot of the spiralling staircase is a concave lens made from optical quality Swarovski crystal. Sitting on a much larger mirrored steel hemisphere, with a convex mirror suspended 23 metres above in the tower’s cupola, the lens creates a dramatic optical experience which depends on scientific subtlety, material simplicity and a complex combination of light, space and proportion, to reflect an environment rich in history and beauty.
Husband and wife: Ray, an artist, and Charles Eames , a trained architect met in the 1940′s at Cranbrook in Michigan and soon after set up their creative studio in Venice California. Together they were seen as icons of Modernism and inspiring in their ‘ideas. The ‘Case Study 8 House’ they built in Pacific Palisades was filled with quirky ornaments and represented a less austere kind of Modernism for the times.
Former employees, colleagues, friends and family tell their story and shape the history of the Eames’. Incredible footage including photographs, archival material, love letters, and artefacts lead you through the journey from their humble beginnings making low-cost functional furniture and splints for the navy servicemen during the war, through to their creative endeavours for their corporate clients. Over the years the Eames’ designed countless chairs for Herman Miller and had design contracts with Westinghouse, IBM, The New York and Moscow Fairs. Their idea of capitalist mass production led to their motto “The best for the least for the most.”
An incredibly fitting tribute to the legacy of Ray and Charles Eames whose designs will live for years to come.
‘Eames – The Architect and the Painter’ will run from June 1–17, 2012 at ACMI.
Famed for designing products for typewriter manufacturer Olivetti and furniture pieces, such as the iconic B&B ItaliaLe Bambole sofa and CassinaCab chair, architect and designer Mario Bellini is equally known for his work on urban planning and public spaces. Bellini’s design highlights include the Tokyo Design Centre, which he completed in 1991, a quintessentially “Italian” structure in the Japanese capital and the soon to be unveiled Islamic Art Galleries at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. Crane TV visits Mario Bellini’s studio to discover his timeless design ethos.
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