Fritz Hansen’s Ro™ – the new comfort zone

Fritz Hansen, manufacturers of Arne Jacobsen’s iconic Egg and Swan chairs have worked with world-renowned Spanish designer Jaime Hayon to create Ro, a comfortable easy chair that creates a quiet space for reflection. The chair will be launched at Salone del Mobile 2013 in Milan.

A chair where you can find room for your inner space and take a break from the hectic bustle of everyday life.

Time for reflection is a luxury in today’s world. We are all busy and always short of time to create a moment for quiet contemplation. The new easy chair springs from a desire to create a piece of furniture that offers an opportunity for reflection in our busy lives.

High backed chairs for creating a quiet, private meeting space in busy open plan offices have been around for a while, and there is something of this idea in the design philosophy of the Ro chair I feel.

Time for reflection is a luxury in today’s world. We are all busy and always short of time to create a moment for quiet contemplation. The new easy chair springs from a desire to create a piece of furniture that offers an opportunity for reflection in our busy lives.

However, Ro is much more than an easy chair. It’s a one-and-a-half-seater where you can relax, change positions and have your newspaper, computer or child next to you and create a new comfort zone.

Minuscule chair by Cecilie Manz

Danish design brand The Republic of Fritz Hansen™ has announced that minuscule™ is now available after an in-depth development process.

Cecilie Manz is a Danish industrial designer whose work includes furniture, jewellery, lamps and sculptures. Her Micado table (below) for Frederica Furniture has been included in MOMA’s design collection and is an example of her functional approach – it has no screws or hinges, and the table top and legs lock together once the table is placed on the floor.

© FREDERICIA FURNITURE A/S.

Below: Cecilie Manz’ Caravaggio lamp for Lightyears

Cecilie Manz recently received the prestigious American 2012 Good Design Award for minuscule™.

minuscule™ consists of a chair and a table and is designed for informal settings. The name minuscule represents the informal and understated style, for which the Scandinavians are so famous.

Designer Interview: Dan Ojari

Courtesy of Camira Fabrics, comes this interview with illustrator and animator Dan Ojari, originally featured on their own blog.

Camira has been working with Dan Ojari, a graduate from the prestigious Royal College of Art, since he produced the Hemp animation in 2012.

Here we learn more about award winning animator Dan:

Can you give us a little background about yourself and your work?

I grew up in Sheffield and was home educated up until the age of 15. I’ve always loved drawing, making and creating things, and ended up going to Wimbledon Art College in London. It was there that I got into making animations and I’m now working as an animator and director of short films. My most recent short film Slow Derek won several awards internationally and was selected for the Sundance Film Festival last year. I try to make films that create a visually exciting and thoughtful experience for the viewer. Hopefully that allows them to engage with the subject of the film in a subtle and personal way.

How would you describe your work in ten words?

A strange and subtle craft that hopefully inspires wonder and enjoyment. (Sorry that’s 11!)

List five things that have inspired you and your work

Neil Buchanan! Art Attack was such a fantastically creative programme that must have inspired a whole generation of children to draw, paint and sculpt and was most definitely one of them! Bring Neil back!

The Brothers Quay, they make dark, weird and surreal animated films and were a massive inspiration to me when I first started looking at what you can do with the medium of stop motion animation.

The amazing Bruce Bickford, his animations are completely insane in all senses of the word and look like nothing else. I really admire his absolute passion and dedication to his art.

Hollywood! I’ve cleverly condensed a lot of films into this one, but I love film of all kinds and take inspiration from Kubrick to Jean-Claude Van Damme!

My Peers, I find that most all it is the creative people around that inspire me the most. Friends, family and classmates, I think it is important to surround yourself with people who like making things.

How did you begin your career as an animator?

Whilst studying my degree in set design for film and theatre, I decided to make a short animated film, (which ended up being ‘Obscura’). Because animation wasn’t part of the course I had to teach myself most things and the project was a huge learning curve. However I found it an extremely exciting and expressive medium and quickly became obsessed with the wonderful world of animation! I then went on to study an MA in animation the Royal College of Art and since graduating have been working on a variety of projects, commissions and short films.

What’s next?

I’m planning to spend the next month making a very short film that I’ve been developing for a while. It’s going to be technically quite challenging as I plan to film it all outside mostly in a forest. I want to combine time-lapse photography with animated elements, which will hopefully create a surreal otherworldly quality to the film.

Please can you tell us a bit about your work for Camira

I really have enjoyed working with Camira, each project has been a real pleasure, with interesting briefs. The first film for ‘Hemp’ really interested me because it was about telling the story of how this sustainable and eco-friendly fabric is made.

The most recent film for ‘Blazer’ is again explaining the story behind where the wool comes from and how it helps protect the surrounding environment.

The thing I’ve liked most about these commissions is the challenge of making everything out of fabric! As the idea from the start was that everything you would see in the films had to be made from the fabric itself.

Camira Fabrics on ESI.info
@Camira on twitter
danojari.com/

A stopmotion lifecycle of Camira Hemp fabric

In 2012, Camira Fabrics commissioned an animation project to mark the launch of their new Hemp fabric.

Camira worked with RCA graduate and Sundance Film Festival nominee, Dan Ojari to produce a stop-motion animation demonstrating the sustainability of hemp.

The video engages the audience with detail of the yarn and lifecycle of the fabric. Starting and finishing with the hemp plant to represent the ecological sustainability of Hemp and our ongoing use of natural materials in contract fabrics.

Dan Ojari, commented on the project: “Making a film using only the Camira Hemp fabric was a challenging and really interesting project for me as an animator, and something I was very keen to experiment with. I found it refreshing making a film in response to the natural themes and ethical nature of the Hemp fabric range.”

Camira wanted to produce visually creative content to represent the natural production of Hemp and bring something completely new to commercial fabrics.

Camira Fabrics on ESI.info
@Camira on twitter
danojari.com/

The Kartell by Laufen bathroom collection is born

Visitors to ISH in Frankfurt (12-16 March) will be the very first to see the results of an exciting new collaboration between two world leading brands – as the Kartell by Laufen collection is unveiled.

Kartell, the Italian brand and world leader in the industrial production of furniture and interior design items made of high quality plastic, and Swiss bathroom specialist Laufen, one of the world’s leading companies in the production of high end ceramics for the bathroom, are pleased to announce that they have signed an agreement for the design, production and world distribution of a complete new line dedicated to the bathroom under the Kartell by Laufen brand name.

The artistic direction for the whole project has been entrusted to architects Ludovica+Roberto Palomba, the internationally famous designers and trend setters for bathroom ware.

The collection will be previewed for the trade sector at the ISH trade fair (in Frankfurt, 12-16 March), with the full range on show in Hall 3.1 Stand B51.

It will then be unveiled for the general public on the occasion of the next Salone Internazionale del Mobile di Milano (9-14 April).

A complete new bathroom collection developed through the synergies of the two brands. The Kartell by Laufen bathroom project will be distributed through the Laufen retail channels throughout the world.

Throughout the duration of ISH, Laufen will be running architectural/design tours, giving architects and designers the full run-down of this exciting new collection. Limited spaces available and can be booked in advance.

Ferruccio Laviani on the new Kartell Taj table lamp

The new Kartell Taj Mini curved arch shape table lamp is a sculptural light by Ferruccio Laviani, available in 7 colours. The Taj Mini is perfect for bedside, side table, desk or shelf, and is a smaller, more discreet, versatile version of the ‘Best of 2012′ Interior Design winning Taj lamp (below).

 

 

Designer Ferruccio Laviani describes the design process for the Taj and the Taj mini:

The name ‘Taj’ pretty much came about by chance. When I saw an image of the lamp in black and white on a piece of paper, the first thing I thought of was an elephant’s tusk.

Taj was conceived as a table lamp, but as the project progressed, we realised that it could just as easily sit on a bedside table or in other areas of the home. I really like how it has its own distinctive style, a far cry from the Bourgie model.

I also like how the lamp is a kind of sculpture that anyone can own. In fact, its essential and bold form (almost like a comma) meant I didn’t want to clutter it with too many finishes or combintations of materials.

I therefore opted for just four finishes: two full colours (white and black) in addition to transparent and opaline. The latter came about by chance as well. There was a matt version amongst the initial prototypes, and I really liked the lalique effect, so I added it to the range.
…
We decided to design a smaller version of the lamp, as soon as we had wrapped up the main Taj project. The main difference from Taj senior is that I decided to focus heavily on the colour range. I felt that it was important to offer slightly more alluring colours seeing as the object is smaller, helping the lamp blend seamlessly into a range of different settings.

The Taj mini is available in the UK from Connections Interiors.

Connections Interiors on ESI.info
@286Connections on twitter
Connections Interiors facebook

Poltrona Frau Museum opens in Tolentino

Poltrona Frau has opened a new 1400 mq museum in Tolentino, central Italy, to exhibit the company’s iconic pieces.

The publicity material has a nice sketch of the building.

It is designed by Michele de Lucchi to showcase the “Intelligenza delle mani” – the intelligence of the hands.

Tolentino has a new space. Alive and open. Which goes beyond the traditional museum concept, weaving together different stories and telling about the company’s first 100 years. The Poltrona Frau Museum, designed by Michele De Lucchi, is a rigorous industrial architecture created inside the Poltrona Frau facility. On display is a collection of furniture, drawings, images and materials never before displayed to the public. An area of 1400 m2 of design and “l’intelligenza delle mani” – ‘the intelligence in our hands’.

www.poltronafraumuseum.it
#pfmuseum
Poltrona Frau Products on ESI.info

UK-based Harrison to energise T.G.I. Friday’s architectural design in the US

Harrison shared their award-winning design for Nando’s flagship restaurant at Stratford Westfield on the blog last year.

The London and Birmingham-based architectural and leisure brand consultancy has now undertaken a successful UK revamp of the T.G.I. Friday’s look, and has headed across the Atlantic to help energise the iconic brand in the USA, the country where it was first launched nearly fifty years ago. Below are project images of the TGI’s in Oprey Mills, Nashville.

The move is part of an international design strategy by T.G.I. Friday’s parent company, Carlson Restaurants, which has spent the past three years working with Harrison on a new global design plan. The first stage is currently being rolled out to over 30 existing sites across the US, and in new restaurants, most recently in Nashville, Tennessee.

Harrison managing director Philip Harrison said: “T.G.I. Friday’s has to be one of the most iconic restaurant brands in the western world. It has over 900 sites globally and I have to say it is a great privilege and a massive compliment to be asked to advise on its design profile, particularly in the country where it all started.

“One of our key areas of focus for the T.G.I. Friday’s product is on ‘brand drift’. As is usually the case with high profile names in long-term existence, market positioning gradually ebbs away from some of its key values. We are helping Carlson re-connect with the brand’s core propositions and re-invigorate its unique selling points in an impactful way for a modern customer marketplace. The concept is moving from one of functionality to one of personality.”

Harrison explained that the changes the company are currently making to the brand reflect the complex nature of service positioning in the US’s diverse hospitality market.

Revival Heritage – keeping designs from the past alive

Jack Hall’s Revival Heritage blog aims to revive the work of architects, designers and gardeners of the past 500 years.

On the blog, Jack will post visual evidence of lost country houses and estates plus other material that celebrates the work of artists, architects, designers, builders, carpenters & joiners, sculptors, masons and landscape designers / gardeners of the past 500 years.

The Revival Heritage flickr account is a treasure trove of historical material as the interior photographs below show.

Burwell Hall, Lincs reception room. Built by 1760 for Matthew Lister, descendant (possibly grandson) of Martin Lister, vice-president of the Royal Society and Royal Physician.

Billiard room of Temple Belwood with full size table. Temple Belwood was a complete rebuild of an existing house in 1787 by William Johnson.

Feedback and submissions to the archive are appreciated and welcomed. Images may be used for non-profit activities with a direct link to REVIVAL HERITAGE blog or flickr account.

Wavin and the Art of Plumbing at DesignersBlock

Wavin, a company normally associated with functional, technical building services products such as drainage and plumbing pipework, has shown how plumbing can be used to create art.

Cutting edge furniture designer Yard Sale Project contributed to the London Design Festival DesignersBlock installations with a striking high-aesthetic chair made – from plastic plumbing products.