19 June, 2008 | 1 comment

The Green, Beige & Beyond of Tile & Stone

Last time we were at Davis & Warshow it was for the fabulous Dialogue on Design series of seminars. This time, it was for an ongoing project called Show Snapshots, which was created to bring the latest news and trends, plus developments in sustainable design, from the leading trade expositions to A+D professionals who were unable to attend the show but want a first-hand recap with an editorial perspective. For part 1, William Menking, editor of The Architect’s Newspaper, took us on a virtual tour of Coverings 2008, the premier international trade show for ceramic tile and stone, and discussed the Green, Beige (and Brown) & Beyond of Tile & Stone. His witty personality and in-depth knowledge of the industry were refreshing (as was the tasty fare served before and after the seminar!)

Upcoming snapshots include: GreenBuild 2008 with Metropolis and K/BIS 2009 with Interior Design. Now here are some snapshots of our own:

16 June, 2008 | No comments

NeoCon 2008

We’re taking inspiration from the one-and-only David Letterman and producing our own top ten list. We so creatively call it:

The Top Ten Great Things at NeoCon 2008:

10. Finally figuring out the elevator situation in the Merchandise Mart
9. Eating our way through Chicago (pizza, Pot Belly sandwiches…)
8. Flying into O’Hare without any delays
7. Taking home all the fabulous free show bags
6. Reading all three days of the NeoCon Show Daily cover to cover
5. Going to karaoke with the Contract team
4. Hobnobbing at all the parties including Interior Design’s Industry Giants
3. Listening to and learning from top industry professionals on topics such as trends, LEED certifications, eco-innovations, high-performance products, etc.
2. Seeing the newly designed showrooms including the Allsteel space designed by HOK Chicago, Invista’s green showroom, and Knoll’s expanded showroom and LEED-certified workplace (did I mention it was Knoll’s 70th anniversary?!?)
1. Discovering who took home the Best of NeoCon Awards (You can view the products at http://www.contract-network.com)

A familiar sight - all the big names including Herman Miller, Steelcase and Allsteel line up their 18-wheelers in front of the Merchandise Mart for the three day show.

Around the mart - from showrooms to seminars.

The mart was full of fresh new products for the contract market. Pictured above are innovations from Designtex, IdeaPaint, Coallese, Panelite, Knoll Textiles and HON.

Allsteel’s President Eugene Sung and VP of Design and Workplace Resources Jan Johnson (pictured together in the bottom right) have a lot to smile about. The company’s newly designed showroom was jam-packed with people and the new Acuity chair won the Silver Best of NeoCon Award for Seating.

30 May, 2008 | No comments

UNFRAMED 2008

I hope I don’t sound like a broken record when I say time and again that I am so proud of our industry’s efforts to raise money for charitable foundations. Last week our pals at domino hosted an art sale and silent auction with ACRIA to raise money for AIDS research, treatment and education. Seventeen well-known artists (some even commissioning original works just for this event) generously donated paintings, prints, sculptures and photography for the sale and the public came ready with their checkbooks open to buy, buy, buy. And buy they did - the event pulled in a whopping $273,000 (with 100% of the proceeds benefiting ACRIA)!

Participating artists included: Joe Andoe, Donald Baechler, Kevin Baker, Jean Blackburn, Nina Chanel Abney, Carlton DeWoody, Margaret Evangeline, Peter Gerakaris, Wendell Gladstone, Jim Hodges, Anthony James, Marilyn Minter, James Nares, Warren Neidich, Andre Pretorius, Paul Henry Ramirez, Lou Reed, Aaron Romine, Ed Ruscha, Paula Scher, Aya Uekawa, Chris Verene, Chuck Webster and Rob Wynne.

Here’s a look at some of the people that helped make this possible - A round of applause to everyone involved!

Top Right: Deborah Needleman, Beth Brenner, Dan Tietz, Francisco Costa
Middle Left: Paul Henry Ramirez, Carlton DeWoody
Bottom Right: Carlton DeWoody, Donald Bechler, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Kevin Baker

Photos shot by Chance Yeh for Patrick McMullan

28 May, 2008 | No comments

I LOVE NY DURING ICFF TIME

Last week was one for the record books - as NYC was transformed into the design mecca of the world. There was so much to see, we hit the Javits Center two days in a row. It seemed like it took us hours just to walk through the i Saloni Worldwide contingent - as we stopped to admire all of the modern designs and contemporary concepts fresh out of Italy. It is hard to put into words all the fabulous things we saw and did during the week - so we are doing it in true blog fashion - in PICTURES:

Top: With its bright strips of tape, the Kartell booth was reminiscent of the Color Exhibit at the MoMA.
Middle Left: Colorado-based furniture designer Andrew Muggleton posed in front of his latest collection.
Lower Left: The ducduc booth was always buzzing with adorable kids and design-forward adults.
Right: Bi-Polar, one of the many outrageously creative chairs from the students at the School of Visual Arts. It is part of their MFA Designer as Author 2008 Chair Project.

From i Saloni Worldwide to the Royal Danish Consulate General (Denmark) to the Austrian Trade Commission to the British European Design Group - this fair sure lives up to its international name.

SUNDAY, MAY 18 - THOUSANDS FLOCK TO THE HAPPENING MEATPACKING DISTRICT FOR HOT NEW DESIGNS, INTERNATIONAL INSPIRATIONS AND REFRESHING COCKTAILS

M2L and CITY Magazine co-hosted a party to celebrate ICONIC FINDS: HOLLAND. Even the great-grandson of legendary designer Gerrit Rietveld (lower left) flew in for the occasion.

VITRA knows about good design and how to throw a party!

Congrats to the delightful Abe Gurko, Annie Washburn and the Meatpacking Initiative for pulling together more than 35 events and exhibits, the likes of which included work from Jeff Miller, Clodagh, Brodie Neill and HARDCORE New Finnish Design.

LATE NIGHT IN CHELSEA

By this time our feet were hurting, luckily we had a friend with a jeep so we could make one more stop… the Chelsea Art Museum for the Botanist Orange 22/Surface party. We managed to get the drink of the night (made with 10 Cane rum, see the benches from the Blank Canvas Project (designed by Karim Rashid, Yves Behar, Joseph, Ricchio, Milton Glaser, Kahi Lee, Margo Chase and Massimo & Lella Vignelli) and even buy a video in the museum shop. Great way to end a great night!

MONDAY, MAY 19 - THE UPPER EAST SIDE IS FILLED WITH DESIGN AFICIONADOS FOR THE OPENING NIGHT AT THE A&D BUILDING CELEBRATION

There were parties in just about every showroom including the building’s most recent additions: Sub-Zero/Wolf, GE Monogram Design Center and Smeg USA to name a few, as well as industry favorites Boffi and Poggenpohl. Our friends at Hastings hosted the Casamood Lounge, an exhibit showcasing their new collection of coordinating tile, grout, and paint.

THE NIGHT IS YOUNG - NEXT STOP SOHO

Sicis, Bisazza, Kartell, USM - all of our favorites in walking distance - isn’t NYC great!

TUESDAY, MAY 20 - METROPOLITAN HOME CELEBRATES THE DESIGN 100

Is it Paris or the Four Seasons Restaurant? One lucky person got to take home #12 of the top 100 - the Eiffel Tower brilliantly made with Legos.

19 May, 2008 | No comments

ICFF Opening Night Party at the MoMA

As always, the ICFF Opening NIght Party at MoMA was a veritable Who’s Who in the design industry. The place was packed with top-notch designers, editors and manufacturers from around the world. Despite a few drops of rain every now and again, the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden was a magnificent place to spend a Saturday evening. We started on the “Joseph and the Amazing Techna-Colored Dream Coat” floor - part of the Color Chart - Reinventing Color 1950 to Today exhibition and buzzed around museum. It was fun to watch everyone’s reaction to the Olafur Eliasson exhibit - Take Your Time. Adults turned into kids in a candy store - excited to see what was waiting behind each wall. My personal favorite was the room with the strobe light and the waterfall. The light illuminates the thin curtain of water - which causes the eye to freeze the droplets in midair. If there wasn’t a huge party going on downstairs, I think I could have watched for hours.

I am remiss to say that after many hours at the show, the battery in my camera was exhausted (as the warning reads before the camera turns off.) Despite the best-laid plans, sometimes technology may fail you…but friends never do. These photos are courtesy of the lovely Eve Dilworth from Metropolis. Thanks Eve!

16 May, 2008 | No comments

Live from AIA

For the past few days (and continuing this weekend) Boston has been buzzing with excited Celtic fans, friends and families of graduating college students and tons and tons of architects in town for the AIA show. After two days at the Boston Convention Center, I can report that the show is a big success. The floor is packed with great products and lots of people. One of my favorite booths at the show this year is from Duvall Dynamic Spaces - a Maine based company that fabricates and installs unique fabric structures for architectural, retail and exhibit applications. You can see it below - it is the orange sinuous structure. Also check out the shot of the 3-D model of Boston that shows Beantown’s current and planned development.

Last night we hit up the ARCHITECT Magazine party. It was held in the Manulife Tower, which was designed by SOM and Stull and Lee Inc. If you went to the party last year in San Antonio - you may remember the glasses that flickered with LED lights. Well Martinis were the drink this year and the glasses glowed in hot pink (it was the color of the evening).

13 May, 2008 | 1 comment

BKLYN DESIGNS

After 6 straight years of visiting BKLYN DESIGNS, I feel like a regular – and I must say that every year is better than the last. As always, the mix of exhibitors was incredible - some ole favorites including Robert Martin Designs, Eric Manigian and City Joinery have been there from the start, and a whopping 29 were new this year. Props to first-timers UM, Jill Malek, Takeshi Miyakawa and EcoSystems – can’t wait to see what is new next year.

I particularly loved the new furnishings collection from Uhuru – made from old whisky barrels. I didn’t sit in the chair, but I heard it was fab. I did, however, lounge in the wall-mounted chair, designed by Paul Crotty from Pratt (who graduated on Friday morning and was at the show in the afternoon to show off his piece) and I can attest to its divine comfort level. I couldn’t get enough of the new stickers from dVider and was blown away by the pods (constructed entirely of discarded records) that Nicholas Furrow used to display his lights. Although I am not typically thrilled of spiders, I found myself enamored with Site Specific Design’s Nephilia.

This year the show was sponsored by retail giant and design savvy TARGET. A team from the company scoured the show to select the first annual TARGET Design Award. Out of all of the exhibitors, Gregory Buntain from Pratt was named the winner for Intension (a table made of salvaged hard wood, stainless steel pins and a rubber o-ring that can fold up into a small wooden box. Buntain was invited to participate in the Cooper Hewitt Museum’s Teen Design Fair, as one of an elite group of approximately 30 internationally known designers who come together to mentor public school teens whose future aspirations lie in the design industry. TARGET also sponsored BD+. I hit up this cash-and-carry market several times and came home with a lot of great made-in-Brooklyn goodies.

Before I end, I cannot forget to mention the seminar series, headlined by the adorable Sami Hayek. And Sami - I am taking a page from the S.H. dictionary (which you made reference to during your session) to give the meaning of the following:

Brooklyn’s Finest \brook-lins fahy-nist\, noun:
1. the name of a Jay-Z song featuring the Notorious B.I.G.
2. the title of a film with a star-studded cast that is set to launch in 2009
3. the cast and crew that made up the 2008 edition of BKLYN DESIGNS

Pratt Students, Sami Hayek, Inspiring Seminars, Great Sponsors - this show had it all - even a little Geemo for the kids…

DUMBO was on filled with fashion-forward people and design-forward products

inside.outside.disco garden Lounge & Funkin Function Long Boards from Daniel Moyer Design & Fabrication

There were 4 locations and 70 exhibitors this year.

After-hours party

7 May, 2008 | No comments

Reflections from the Milan Furniture Fair

Confessions of a First Timer….

As it was my first time at the Salone De Mobile, I visited the show with sky high expectations which I was sure would be grounded upon arrival…I am happy to report that Saloni was all and more that it was cracked up to be -

The entire city was on fire with design. From store windows, to pop-up stores to long alleyways beckoning with colorful design exhibits… My favorite bits were at the Triennale which is a design museum that hosts a range of special exhibits and events during the show. Highlights included… Karim’s out of this world graphic exhibit, a Gio Ponti exhibit for Christofle, Materials ConneXions multisensory exploration, BASF’s high tech presentation of their new Konstantin Grcic chair and an exhibit of avant guard dining options clad in Italian tile… As a jaded New Yorker…I couldn’t get enough.

Other hot spots were the Swaroski Palace and Super Studio Piu . Having a friend with a motorcycle helped navigation throughout the city..as did Milan’s handy public subway system (who knew) - so being the multi-tasker that I am, I was able to rush from one packed event to another. Each event seemed like it was the happening spot..until I would hit the next and the next….There was no end to places and things to see. I feel I just scratched the surface.

There were also design icons wherever you looked…with 350,000 people in attendance - where else would they be….

As to the gorgeous new Convention Center itself, I just made my way through Pavilion 8 and there was more there to explore than many whole shows… Now I understand why the Italians are so proud of their show…It is something to behold…Sign me up for next year!! And now on to Brooklyn Designs and ICFF to experience America’s answer to it all….

5 May, 2008 | No comments

Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Presents - Once Upon a Time

The annual spring celebration hosted by Lenox Hill Neighborhood House and underwritten by Rolex was held on Thursday, April 24, 2008 at the Park Avenue Armory (Park Ave. at 67th Street). For the first time, the public was invited to preview the Designer Tabletop Showcase from 1-4 pm. At the benefit dinner that evening, guests were seated at the tablescapes created by 50 of New York’s top designers. The theme of “Once Upon A Time” was interpreted in a myriad of artistic and fantastic ways, with floral aspects dramatically featured. The storybook whimsy of David Scott Interiors’ “Jack and the Beanstalk” put beans, peas and shoots to use in a magically chic design while David Kleinberg Design Associates’ “Time Heals Everything” took a clever medicinal approach featuring lab beaker florals on a Red Cross tablecloth, stethoscopes and candy filled prescription bottles. Drake Design Associates’ “Once Upon A ‘Thai’M” cast an exotic spell in luscious hot pink, orange and gold as Eric Cohler Design’s quirky homage to “Man’s Best Friend” included a lifesize floral pooch centerpiece, doggie bags and biscuits. The dinner guests shaded by the gorgeous floral tree at Noel Jeffrey’s “The English Garden” table surely felt protected in a completely soigne way. Lenox Hill Neighborhood House’s annual Spring Celebration raises private funds to improve quality of life for their neighbors in need.

Top: David Kleinberg Design Associates, “Time Heals Everything”
Bottom: Drake Design Associates, “Once Upon A ‘THAI’M”

Top Left: Eric Cohler, “Man’s Best Friend”
Top Right: DWELLSTUDIO, “The Dwell Necessities”
Bottom Left: Anthony Todd
Bottom Right: David Scott Interiors, “Jack and the Beanstalk”

25 April, 2008 | No comments

(Re) Imagine, (Re) New, (Re) Design

The uber fabulous Interior Design Magazine has a new jaw-dropping look. We celebrated the (re) design with Cindy Allen, Mark Strauss and a showroom full of design aficionados this past Tuesday evening. It was a great party with great friends.