New Directions

I've discussed Palo Samko before, and as always, I continue to be fascinated with the evolution of his work. He displayed at two of the trade shows this year.

What immediately caught my eye was his "Compass Table." Unfortunately, this is a one-of-a-kind piece and it's already been sold. But I really liked it, and it shows Samko's cleverness:

On the table there you can see his "Dali's Clock." The arms drip down over the bulbous cylinder inside the glass case.

These were the only photos they took of it. You can click those, but what may not be obvious is that there's a working compass embedded in the center of the table, and at the outside edge, at the four compass points, are letters inlaid into the wood: N, E, S, W, each one about two-inches or so tall. I do happen to own a compass. I'm not sure exactly why, to be honest. Probably I was working on some architectural project. But I'm going to assume most people don't own one, unless they're avid hikers. So how would you orient this table, unless it had a compass built into it? Problem solved.

Once you've got it positioned exactly right by the compass points--and no one at dinner even needs to ask if it is, all they have to do is look at the compass needle--the table begins its dialogue with the dining room. I imagine all but very few rooms in very, very few houses are oriented on a perfect north-south axis. One's attention is then drawn to how the presumably right-angled room is canted off that axis in a way I'd imagine would seem mostly arbitrary in most cases.

Then it calls attention to the house or building as a whole, considering that most structures are designed with their various rooms all aligned to the same axis. Next, its dialogue extends at least to the street the building faces, and if in a city like mine, where there's a street grid, to the surrounding neighborhood, as well, if not the whole city. Beyond that, the table refers to the magnetic field of our entire planet, and to the angle of the sun as it streams in through our windows. From a simple dining room table to...the solar system.

Over the years, Samko's booths have been a lot of fun because there are surprises in the booths as well as in the furniture. You open a drawer, and there's a bunch of tiny cows inside. Open another, and there's a tiny man riding a bicycle. Or the man riding the bicycle on the table is pulling a blimp floating above the table like a chandelier. It's all so delightful. Well, I was happy to discover that he's been pursuing his whimsical sculptures with even more enthusiasm. In fact, he's begun selling them, as well.

This is called "Ark/ Whatever I Could Steal from My Kids," and "what he could steal" obviously included the blimp:

Click that.
I think the sculptures are very fun, but the Ark is also quite beautiful in its own way. When you see the sculptures displayed along with his furniture, they make so much sense, visually. I'm going to assume that he waits until his kids are done with those things before he takes them.

This is "Time Machine":

Looking at it more closely now, I think it may be missing a flux capacitor.

©2010, Ryan Witte

Circle of Firsts

To finish off my discussion of this year's BKLYN DESIGNS show is a designer I've posted about before, Takeshi Miyakawa. He was showing a number of new pieces that were all very cool. The one I wanted to talk about, though, is a sort of shelving installation piece called "Rite of Spring":

Click for larger.

The more I continue to study the History of Music over the past 500 years, the more I grow to see just how very few true revolutions there have been. Igor Stravinsky's 1913 ballet was, I believe, one of them. To this day, I can't listen to this masterpiece without chills running from my head to my toes and having a difficult time breathing. Not that what he did to music came out of nowhere, quite the contrary, but I consider this piece to the the birth of Punk. Certainly many more things would have to have happened before 1976 would be possible. But the power that music has to not only rile its audience to emotional heights, but to also scandalize the listener into a profound, riotous fury was suddenly proven by The Rite of Spring. After this point, it would happen over and over. This reconstruction of the original ballet also shows the unbridled genius of Sergei Diaghilev:

One can only hope and pray that for the hundredth anniversary of The Rite of Spring four years from now, New York City Ballet, arguably the step-grandchild of Diaghilev's Ballet Russes, will gather together all the greatest artists at its disposal and unveil a startling new production of it.

I think what I love most about Miyakawa's work is that, whether or not it does explore complex mathematical principles precisely, it often looks like it does.

And with a mystical kind of reverence for mathematics: there's the spot in the middle of the upper and lower sections where the box resulting from the steadily diminishing size has just...disappeared. It's as if the formula dictating the size of the boxes eventually divides down to zero, leaving an empty space where the box should be in the center. It's the same reverence one might have for how a circle, in some ways the most perfectly self-contained of all geometric shapes, gives rise to Pi, which is presumably unsolvable and infinite.

Although this new piece is stunning, I think I'd like to see Miyakawa push this a step further and start exploring more complex geometries. For instance, I'd be interested to look at the ways that nature uses geometric rules with the flexibility to produce similar but only ever utterly unique individual objects and organisms, or explore geometries that appear chaotic from one vantage point and very strictly ordered from another. Nevertheless, this is a designer whose work I believe is going in a very exciting direction, and I intend to keep my eye on what he's up to.

©2009, Ryan Witte

Uncommonly Sustainable

I actually saw the nice folks from UM at both BKLYN DESIGNS and the ICFF. Designer François Chambard spotted me at the ICFF before I even noticed their booth and came over, quite graciously, to say hello. I'm fairly certain it was UM's other designer, Colgate Searle, who introduced me to their new piece at BD, however. It's the "C-Beam" table:

It's UM's serious answer to our ecological crisis; it uses all green and recycled materials. But they wanted to get away from the very earthy-crunchy appearance most new green products seen to have, and instead do something more sleek, colorful, and finished. The top is linoleum, which is, in fact, a green product. It was invented in 1860, long before there was any such thing as petrochemistry. When Searle told me what it was, I said "the original recipe?" Nowadays most of what we think of as being linoleum is PVC, which is entirely toxic as many people know. True linoleum, what UM has used, is solidified linseed oil and perfectly sustainable. The structure of their table is mostly MDF, and the legs are cut from a single aluminum beam. Here it is with the aluminum exposed and a red top surface:

As always with UM's work, the detailing is impeccable. With this table, it's the way the legs emerge up through the table top.

Bear in mind that each layer of the "sandwich" has to be cut precisely to accept this protrusion. It draws attention to the design and manufacturing process beautifully and subtly. It makes what might at first glance appear to be a typical kitchen table into a far more interesting piece.

©2009, Ryan Witte

Adapt Tables

(BD)

This year, I got to speak to another member of the team behind EcoSystems, Matt Tyson, about the new items they unveiled.

Their new concept, Snug-It, is so simple and so ingenious. It's basically a kit of brackets that allows you to create just about any piece of furniture you might need.

Figure out whether you want a desk, bookshelves, entertainment center, whatever, or any combination of the above that you could possibly imagine. Get the brackets and go to Home Depot, have the plywood cut into the shapes and sizes you need, and just fit the whole thing together. Quick, cheap, easy, adaptable, perfect.

Tyson told me they're discussing selling the kits along with the pre-cut plywood for the more standard pieces like the desk, and also giving the brackets squared-off slots to avoid the need for a router. When we started talking about being able to find pieces of wood out on the street and turning them into furniture, I got more excited about this, for some reason. For one thing, Snug-It is a heck of a lot nicer than throwing an old door onto a couple of sawhorses, but allows for the reuse of materials and the satisfaction of not needlessly chopping down more trees. Then I started imagining those wonderful swirling patterns of color you get when you sand down a piece of old wood that's been painted fifty times over the years (uncovering lead-based paint notwithstanding). I love all the possibilities of this.

The other new piece of theirs is their "Bada" table:

That's a generously sized table for entertaining, but it can be shortened for normal day-to-day needs, saving valuable space:

But the best thing is that, after dinner, it turns into a loveseat:

You can see another configuration for Snug-It in the background. Unless you live in a studio apartment or have guests sleeping over every other day, I consider Bada to be far more practically useful than a sofabed. Both a table and loveseat one could conceivably use every day, unlike a sofabed, which most of us presumably wouldn't use more than once a month at the most. Even if you do have enough room for two single-use pieces of furniture, this is a much better use of resources, and I'm in full support of that.

©2009, Ryan Witte

When You Smile, You Can't Take It Back

I'll have to say I was kind of saddened by the BKLYN DESIGNS show this year. Not that there weren't some fantastic things on display, as always, but because it was so much smaller than it'd been in years past. It was not much more than half the size that it was last year. It hits harder for me when it's these smaller, independent designers from such a vibrant design community being held back by the Great Recession than some colossal, far off auto manufacturer. Of course I feel for the auto workers; they don't deserve the hardship dealt them any more than anyone else. But I've come to know a lot of these folks, and I'm very much in support of what they're doing. So many people I was hoping to see there were unable to exhibit. ICFF was an even bigger shock, but that's for another post.

To start out, I'd like to show you this Media Cart by Horgan Becket:

Click for larger.

It was probably the one thing at the show that struck me the most. The aesthetic I can best describe as hyper-industrial, except for one extraordinary moment. This embellishment:

This one small, simple element carries the whole piece over the edge. At this moment, they've made it perfectly clear that this is a design object--that is, a designed object--that the aesthetic is entirely intentional and hand-crafted. If not for this, the uninitiated eye might simply pass over the piece dismissively, with the thought "oh, cool, they salvaged some stuff from an old warehouse to hold their TV," which would be satisfactorily interesting on its own. But this is something more, it's been given a voice.

Incidentally, Horgan Becket also took part in the renovations of Paul Rudolph's apartment, an incredible honor, if you ask me.

©2009, Ryan Witte

Don't Be Scared

One of my very favorite designers from Brooklyn, Joshua Longo, recently got a gallery show at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont.  I had included his work in my coverage of BKLYN DESIGNS one year, but he's got some new pieces now that I hadn't seen before.  Longo makes SCARY, SCARY MONSTERS!

There's also a really huge one at the Shelburne show that I guess is the carcass of a monster that met with an unfortunate accident:

It also appears that the Longoland website is up and running.  You should definitely go look around there.  His monsters are awesome.  There's a bunch of pictures of some of his older work that I'd not seen before, like this monster, which totally cracks me up:

I wasn't aware that Machos came in these colors, either:

Inbreeding, maybe.  

And I had seen this monster, Beau, before:

But I wasn't aware that it had such an ENORMOUS anus!

It must eat a lot.

©2008, Ryan Witte

The Natives Are Restless

This is sort of like two posts in one, but The Eastique Company is in Dix Hills, out on Long Island. They're doing some of the most wonderfully raw, rustic pieces I've ever seen and it's quite inspiring. There's a reason for this look, though. It's all made of African Ironwood, reclaimed from the first railroad line in South Africa, built in 1888. The Ironwood forests are now protected, thankfully, so the wood Eastique uses comes from the old railroad ties.

They haven't finely sawn and polished the pieces, so they end up with this unparalleled ruggedness. I'll go in evening's order--for cocktails, here's the barchair:

They also offer a barstool with no back, but I thought the chair was more interesting. The stool ends up looking like a dive saloon in the Old West, pardner. It could certainly work in the right context, but this one I think has greater potential.

Next to dinner, here's the "heavy" dining chair:

The "lighter" one and its armed sibling I felt were less successful. They have this sort of Early-American sensibility to them, but the rawness of the wood possibly ruins their tight Shakerish geometry. This one, on the other hand, gives me a sense more of, say, medieval monastery furniture, and I think it's perfect.

Here's the sideboard:

With all of them, I just adore the Primitivism. The contrast this could provide for some ridiculously hyper-modern ceramics, china, or glassware would be absolutely stunning.

By the way, they do also deal in some textiles, here's a brocade tablecloth:

Retiring for coffee and brandy, here's the sofa chair:

I guess I'm picky about upholstery, because I'm not really feeling this fabric. As I discussed in reference to Nolen Niu, here is precisely where I would love to see some bright acid green or shocking blue upholstery fabric. I think it would make this whole thing so incredibly dynamic.

The tables are arguably where these pieces really come into their own. Here's the coffee table:

In a big, fat, flat slab like that, there's nothing to distract you from the gnarly, rugged quality of the wood. It's a more basic shape than with the chairs, for instance, where there's other aesthetic connotations at work, also.

Here are a couple of end tables, which are practically just as successful in my opinion:

The first one, while wonderfully Minimal, I feel is a little bit too crafted. But that second one is especially awesome. It's so incredibly Paleolithic, innocent, honest, and pure.

Off to bed, here's the bed chest, also a great piece:

Now the other part of this story is about Brooklyn's Scott Braun. I had met and spoken with Braun my first year covering BKLYN DESIGNS. I was actually very excited about what he was doing that year, because his work was so robust and had this extremely interesting sort of Exoticism to it. I did post about it, but unfortunately I felt it was a little too wild for a (more traditional) suburban readership in the magazine.

He was the one at the Eastique booth, and was in the Too Busy category, with another visitor occupying his attention--he was alone there, though, which I understand makes it difficult. I stalled because I'd have liked to have gotten caught up with what he's doing lately, but I had way too much to see.

One new piece on his website that I don't remember seeing before is this very elegant "Ilan" bed:

But the reason he's in this post is that he's been contracted by Eastique for a new line of outdoor furniture. While the pieces are more finely crafted (i.e. less primitive), his Exotic aesthetic is a very good match for them, anyway, and it puts an entirely different spin on the rustic materials. His pieces are actually reclaimed Burmese teak. Here's his "Winwood Chaise":

Please forgive the lame screen-grab images. I don't think he means Steve. Again, the robustness is just fantastic, and this strikes me as the kind of thing that would be surprisingly comfortable.

Here's the "Benton Settee":

Here's a case where I don't particularly need contradiction, because I think this would be so wonderfully, organically appropriate in a quiet forest glade. I think that's the first time I've ever used the phrase "forest glade" in a sentence.

Lastly, this is his "Dijo" coffee table:

Those big bronze legs are very characteristic for Braun, really set this piece apart from the ordinary, and by the way I suspect would patina wonderfully over time. I think this is really exquisite, again, with a little flair of the Exotic for good measure.

The Eastique Company

917-749-2192

Scott Braun

917-749-5554

©2008, Ryan Witte

Watching the Wheels

To conclude my posts on the BKLYN DESIGNS show, here are a couple new items from one of my favorite companies, Site Specific Design.  They were in my second year's coverage of the show and they're a really nice group of people.

Their series of Childhood Memories pieces are a lot of fun, many of them based on bugs, and I was really impressed by this new one, "Nephila":

I'd seen the newsletter about it, and actually thought it might be a free-standing piece.  At the show I saw that it hangs on the wall, and only the top portion is solid metal tubes.  From the squiggly metal tubes dangle a bunch of power cables that spaghetti around on the floor.  (Yes, I know "spaghetti" isn't a verb).  All of them have plugs or sockets at the end of them, but of course only one of them is live.

This table is a brand new piece they debuted at the show:

Click that.  They found these ENORMOUS antique drill press wheels by accident on ebay and were inspired by them to make this table.  The designer, I believe it was Rui Docouto, was explaining to me that they originally thought to strip the paint off them, but then realized that they had this really amazing rough golden hue to them, so they left them as is.  The great thing about this piece is that it has a very rustic, industrial kind of aesthetic to it, but if you look at the wooden tabletop, it's uncommonly thin.  It gives the piece a real sort of delicacy.  I thought it was lovely.  I also hope they're able to find more drill press wheels (or similar) so they can offer more pieces along these lines.

Marketing Director Nahid Rupani also told me about some plans concerning Brooklyn's design community in general that I was very impressed and excited about, but I'm not sure if that's a matter of public record just yet, so I'll leave you in suspense on that one.

Site Specific Design

718-486-6341

Also...

--Photo Hans Werlemann

This video of Rem Koolhaas' Maison á Bordeaux is absolutely breathtaking.  Go watch it.

©2008, Ryan Witte

Yes, You Wood

(BD)

I got a chance to hang out with Eric Manigian again (subject of the first post ever, here on the blog).  I had quite a nice time chatting about architecture and design and all sorts of stuff.

When I walked up, a visitor to his booth was remarking about the reddish color of one of the woods in the table on view, how interesting it was that it was stained red.  "That's the natural color of the wood," he told her.  It's called Purple Heart, and it's pretty astonishing, actually.

Another new piece that I'm liking a lot, though it wasn't at the show, is this "Continuous Bench":

The surface is made out of one full length of walnut, but cut into pieces so it can be used as a full bench or as individual stools.  The cushions are uphostered in an incredible silvery cowhide with the hair intact.  I think the almost metallic looking upholstery is the perfect complement to the natural wood.  This is really smart, too, because it would look so unimposing on the side wall, but would provide additional seating in emergencies.

He had the "Ruskin Chairs" at the booth:

I was sitting in one for a while and I can assure you, they're unbelievably comfortable.  As I said to Manigian, the backrest hit my back in just exactly the right height for lumbar support.  You can see the backrests reveal the natural edge of the wood.  They're amazing in profile, too:
The lines are just perfect.  For someone who is so conscientious about harvesting only fallen or diseased trees in his work, I was kind of surprised he'd used cowhide, so I asked him about it.  He said he eats meat, so he feels it's better to use all the products from the animal rather than letting them go to waste.  As a determined carnivore, I can't help but agree with this.  In the end, it's still about paying respect to the sources of the materials, which is why he's left the hair on it.  That way there's no pretense about where this material came from.

Eric Manigian

718-855-9097

©2008, Ryan Witte

Materials

(BD)

I included Desu Design in my first story covering BD, but David Scott has introduced some cool new work since then.

He's working with a material called Richlite, which is a paper-based product with a really uncommon, stony but warm kind of feel to it.  Designed for countertops, it's equally practical indoors and out.

Here's a wonderfully angular bench/table:

Here's another called "Skew-001" with a recess for stones or plantings like grass:

Scott was telling me that it's produced in sheets wider than a normal kitchen counter, so he's been making pieces out of what's left over--a nice bit of reclamation that cuts down on waste.

And a large round one with a cavity in the center:

He says he's looking into a larger version of this with a full opening in the center that can be installed around a tree trunk, which I think would be really nice.

And this smaller table, which I thought was very clever:

The one side, you can see, can be lifted off and used as a serving tray for drinks or whatever else.  The underside is interesting, too, because you can see the pattern of lines left by the cutting tool.

Speaking of which, their housewares are exploring this idea even further.  The aesthetic of them is dictated by the process by which they're manufactured, which was always what I liked about Scott's work.  He uses very modern processes, but celebrates them in the work, and by doing so, he discovers entirely new forms.

This one, they were telling me, gets its look from the cutting tool making about 30 or so (?) passes dipping down into the resin block:

That's very sharply geometric, but here's one with a much more organic spin:

And running with the idea that you don't actually need the entire fruit bowl to keep your fruit secure:

This was actually a concept I saw being interpreted in a number of different ways (which I'll talk about when we get into the ICFF posts): the idea of objects sort of surrealistically disappearing, fading away, occasionally into other objects or into themselves.

A very sleek sushi service:

Evidently this is a somewhat older design, but Scott decided to bring it out for the show.  It almost makes me wish I had an exterior door on my apartment:

Desu Design

718-384-7306

©2008, Ryan Witte