Powered Up

Here's a couple of cool things from a company called Bocci, from Vancouver, BC. First of all, here's their "17" coffee table:

It's a slab of marble with those bowl-shaped indentations carved out of it. Then the ceramic bowls rest inside them. Each of these tables is unique, with custom made bowls. I love in this one how that longer bowl is cut off with a straight edge.

I'm really impressed by the "22" electrical system, which does away completely with the switch-plate:

It allows the sockets to be imbedded right into the sheetrock.

The randomness of those three is so infinitely cool, and it's stunning in wood, as well:

They have sockets for cable television, ethernet, and phone, and they even have an LCD screen for controlling other sorts of devices. They're working on a light switch presently.

"Yeah, but...what if you need to remove it? How do you get it out?" you ask? Simple enough. You're provided with this tool, which you slide in around the socket and twist, and it just pops right out:

What's remarkable to me is that I don't think anyone has really re-conceived the switch/switch-plate model in the entire century that we've been wiring buildings. Is that really possible?

©2009, Ryan Witte

Wooden Chew?

As every year, Vancouver's Straight Line Designs had even more ridiculously fun pieces to show. I honestly don't know how or where designer Judson Beaumont gets his ideas, but they just never seem to stop coming.

Right out in front was his "Beaver" cabinet:

Clearly, it's been gnawed on by a beaver or two.

You know, the bees are pretty impressive, but beavers don't get nearly enough credit. They really are the civil engineers of the animal kingdom. I mean, that's seriously cool that a rodent evolved to build dams, canals, and lodges.

They were also showing this dresser, which I thought was terribly clever already as a place to store clothes:

But then the booth rep told me what it was called and the light bulb lit up over my head: "Little Black Dresser." Get it? I think it's hilarious.

Not at the show, but on the website I noticed this piece which I'd not seen before, which is also very cool, the "Marionette" dresser:

The name of it is fairly obvious, but I also think there's something wonderfully, playfully surreal about a piece of furniture floating in mid-air without touching the floor. I love it. And this is another piece that I think could add whimsy to anyone's bedroom; that is to say, I don't think this absolutely has to be in a kid's room. But maybe that's my own inner-child typing.

©2009, Ryan Witte

Characters

I had the pleasure of including Vancouver's Straight Line Designs in my coverage of the show last year, but this is another company I will always keep up with, because Judson Beaumont's work is always so imaginative and fun.  Here's some of the new stuff he has this year.

This is "Canned Seat":

A sardine can, and I love that the key provides a little tabletop.  It's so Oldenberg.  This totally reminds me of that store Think Big.  Does anybody remember that from the '80s?  I used to love that store.

A major theme for Beaumont would seem to be pieces that are destroyed, broken, or are self-destructing--so here's the "Oops Cabinet" that he was displaying at the show:

Not at the show, but a new item I noticed on the website, "Sobey Dressers":

At first glance I liked this because it looks like a row of little buildings.  But it's really in the subtle details.  All the drawers have one knob, like shirt buttons, except for the top one, which has two, like eyes.  And they're all smiling.  I've said it before, but this is another case where if your furniture smiling at you doesn't make your day just a little more pleasant, I'd say you can't possibly have a very good sense of humor.

But the thing I think I was most delighted to discover at their booth this year is that they've started working with ceramics.  Here's their new Vase:

So the flowers are like faces.  Awesome.  They had some all white ones that they'd evidently baked RIGHT before the show, and I guess they don't have images of them, yet.  I think I preferred those, because in all white, you maybe don't notice right away what they are.  In fact, I had to see it from the side, actually, to notice that it was a shoulder and arm with hand-in-pocket.  That moment of discovery was just great, though.

I guess maybe I have a thing for anthropomorphized design objects, but those are really fun, so I'm not apologizing.

Straight Line Designs

(BC) 604-251-9669

©2008, Ryan Witte