The WOOD-OO collection was created by Prague-based kdomazidlibydli (try saying that 10 times fast), the design firm of Jan Vacek and Martin Smid. Inspired by wood shingles, the collection is simple and raw using the traditional roof element in a new way.
Design Soil is a project from the product design department at Kobe Design University in Japan. The project is run by professors and students whose goal is to re-evaluate design practices and let the young designers create at their own pace, much like plants growing in soil. “epilogue – prologue” is their latest project of nine designs in which they not only think about the beginning of an idea (prologue) but they also consider the end product (epilogue).
Thijs Smeets has reinvented some Dutch “Gispen Classics” called Gispen Today by Dutch Originals. The collection originally designed in the 1930s has been modernized and updated by Smeets, who explains “I didn’t want to make these pieces a derived version of the classics so I took a radically different approach. It became a collection inspired on the look and feel of the 1930s, the time the classics were designed by W.J. Gispen.” This collection really feels good to me – nice and cohesive.
Lambrate is one of the most talked about design districts of Milan Design Week. I headed over there on day two of my trip, having exhausted SaloneSatellite on day one. One of my favorite spots was the Book Light above by Barbara Vos.
From Swedish designer Staffan Holm comes the Gym Hook for Denmark-based manufacturer Hay. The circular hooks made from natural or stained ash, can offer your walls a colorful and stylish way to hang all of your stuff. They are not only functional but super fun to look at, especially if you hang them in a playful arrangement.
Italian design company B-LINE is launching quite a few products in Milan at Salone this year, but I have my faves…
The Park chair, designed by Neuland IndustrieDesign is the perfect modern stackable for the summer.
I’m sweet on this modular M divider screen from Motusmentis. Consisting of small letter Ms made of steel, the screen can be customized by hooking the Ms together. They also have an M coatrack.
The French design firm ARCA, lead by young designers Erick Demeyer and Steven Leprizé, are launching a small edition furniture line this year. The Cl Collection was inspired by one design element: a bend. Each piece of unique furniture features the signature element as a connector between straight pieces of wood, giving it a puzzle-like feel.
Marginal Notes 2012 is a collection of prototypes by the Stockholm-based design firm Note Design Studio. The collection is in collaboration with Lerch Träinredningar and was presented this week, which is Stockholm Design Week. The group of designers examined the sketches that had been made in the margins of their notebooks and upon a second look realized they needed to be made.
It’s been a while since we featured Palette Industries – a few years in fact…
They’re new “electrifying” Nanton Coat Rack caught my eye. Designed to look like a giant transmission tower, which is often something regarded as an eyesore, the coat rack celebrates the sculptural design that carries important information from one place to the next — connecting us all.
