Little Things Mean a Lot

To wrap up my discussion of the Architectural Digest show, I'm going to kind of go full-circle. I had talked about Brad Ascalon when I started, and it seems he's also collaborating with designer, Angel Naula for Brooklyn's Naula Workshop. They had a large and beautiful booth at the show, and I spoke with Ascalon about this project. The two only met less than a year ago, but they started talking and realized they had much the same vision in mind for what they could do. Naula's custom furniture shop was already going strong, mostly taking commissions from local interior designers. Ascalon was working with high-end furniture companies on an international scale, but without much hands-on contact with the overseas manufacturing of his pieces. They decided to pool their talents and rebrand as Naula Workshop.

Unveiled at the show was a sophisticated custom line of furnishings. The work is extremely classy and interesting. Each piece has a distinct character, but there is a stylistic thread that ties them together. There's nothing terribly ostentatious about the work, but it is quite refined, and the impeccable craftsmanship is obvious almost immediately.

I think it was first clear to me looking at the "Station" sectional sofa:

It's a really wonderful, vaguely mid-century profile, upholstered in a perfect grayish-chocolate-brown fabric, but the wonderful detailing is in its black leather buttons and piping:

So these pieces show the stylistic direction Naula Workshop is going, giving one a starting point, but all the pieces are custom made to order. Their turn around time is remarkably quick; it's only about six weeks. Here's a similar loveseat in gray:

Possibly the most impressive thing on display at the show was their "Plaza" bed, which is really stunning:

So simple but so dramatic, it could instantly become the focal point of any bedroom.

I think my favorite pieces, though, were the "Plus" dining set:

Now the profiles are exquisite. There's a certain casual, eat-in-kitchen sensibility to the lines, but the materials are rich, warm, and classy. And again, it's in the details. The wood is walnut with black stained oak inlays. So look at how the inlay matches up perfectly to be continued in the stitching of the upholstery:

For my money, it's subtle little moments like these that prove without doubt these people know exactly what they're doing.

©2009, Ryan Witte

Out on the Streets

(NYIAS)

I definitely think that, hands down, the coolest booth at the show this year was for Scion. They also happened to have the only snottiest booth representative:

RW: Do you have any literature or anything about the IQ?

Snotty Booth Rep: Well, no, but you can find info on the website, scion.com.

RW: Oh, that's cool. Is there something here with the web address on it? ~looks~

SBR: It's scion.com, you can't remember scion.com???

No, snotrag. With six trade shows in two months and 5000 things to remember from each of them, I need something to remind me of web addresses. Kindly lose the attitude.

Nonetheless, the music was as hot as the vehicles and nice and loud and fun. Their website is really well designed--rolling over buttons sounds like parts of a techno song. And their catalogue is really cool, too; all the custom accessories are stickers that you can pick and choose and stick onto a centerfold spread of the different cockpits.

So here's the new IQ:

The video of the unveiling is pretty funny in a tragically-hip sort of way, but they're really stressing customization, and I'm totally on board with this. I think they have succeeded in making a cost-effective, fuel-efficient minicar compatible with Urban Cool. Now I have no idea if this is taking off with the gangstas, because I don't really travel in those circles (I'm very, very white), but I would not be all that surprised if their marketing worked and all the more impressively in the current bigger-is-better climate of Navigators, Escalades, and Hummers. The lines of the IQ are also far more imposing and aggressive than the cutesy-poo little Smart--and one has to wonder if the similarity of the name isn't completely intentional.

Scion's Hako Coupe Concept is equally awesome:

Even in the concept, you can see how it already looks like somebody took a 2012 Saab into a Compton chopshop and told them to give it some rabid muscle. The interior is also sick:

Even the ceiling has great style, the moonroof is cut into strips:

Drawing further attention to customization at the show was this incredible rebuild, the Ruthless Cartel XD by Drag Cartel:

Click images for larger views.

This thing is freaking pimped out. And I've offended even myself by using a term like "pimped" on this blog, but there really is no better way to describe it. Just look at the interior:

Yeah...wow. These subwoofers could probably shatter your neighbors' windows:

If that weren't enough, it has six...SIX amps--in the most gorgeous tiered stack in case you didn't immediately notice how many of them there are:

Of course, I'd despise this sound system if it belonged to my neighbor but absolutely love it if I were the one driving and choosing the music. I'd also get a huge kick out of driving around playing, like, Kraftwerk at deafening decibels instead of hip-hop. The irony would be delicious. For Scion's presentation, especially considering that they had such great music playing fairly loudly, they definitely should have arranged it with the owner of the XD to use the sound system in his/her car for the whole booth (I'm 99.99% certain the owner is a guy and probably 5'2" with a debilitating Napoleon complex, but--you know--political correctness and all). It would've made this monster all the more impressive.

What's more, I don't know how many mainstream industrial designers really watch what goes on in the world of customized cars, but there is no question in my mind that car design could as much trickle up from the streets as it does trickle down from deep inside the insular bellies of the big manufacturers.

©2009, Ryan Witte

Blow-Up

It's sort of unusual for me to walk into and explore a booth like the one for Inflate, but I'm glad I did. The ambience they'd created was immediately palpable. This isn't their ICFF booth, that was a cube, but you can get an idea. It had a loungey sort of feel to it like this:

They're basically inflatable temporary structures and can be used for any number of different applications, although I immediately saw it on the beach, for some reason. I soon realized that since the walls are quilted--for structural reasons, no doubt--that it feels like you're inside upholstery. It just gave me a very warm, comforting feeling being inside their booth.

It was also a darker color inside, which I think helped it feel more moody and calm. In white, though, it's obvious there are some very cool lighting effects one could achieve from inside or out. 

The one at their booth also didn't have a ceiling/roof, which they said they prefer in indoor settings where the elements aren't a concern, so it feels less boxed-in. Although a bit heavy, it can be folded down extremely small for storage or transport, and to set it up, basically all you need is a blower. No tent pegs or mallets or tie cords or complicated assembly instructions. You just turn on the blower and it pretty much erects itself.

One application they mention for "Luna" is a temporary bar, easy to envision, this is the set up for a fashion show:

But they also have models for much larger events, like outdoor wedding receptions and so on. Any situation where you might need a tent, you can much more easily use one of their inflatable structures. There are a lot of wonderful creative, performance, exhibition, and special event possibilities here. They can also be custom branded.

I was especially intrigued by their "Turtle" line, which is a series of modules of various shapes and sizes, shelters and hubs that can be fitted together to create a suite of spaces in any configuration you need:

The darker sections are flexible but more durable tubing for better structural integrity and to avoid wear and tear.

©2009, Ryan Witte