Summer Highlights – Part Two
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For all our readers that missed catching up to the novelty in interior design, A Designer Spot is back to bring you some of the season’s highlights. We were out there scouting the streets for intriguing projects, and we have come up with a neat selection that inspired us with novelty, ingenuity and eco-awareness.
The projects are listed chronologically, starting with the debutants of the summer. Enjoy!
EDUN’s New SOHO Office Space
EDUN, the progressive fashion company launched in spring 2005 by Ali Hewson and Bono, appointed in May 2010 the New York studio Spacesmith to design their new office space in SOHO. The 8,600 square feet space aligns with the brand’s focus on sustainable, community-based projects in Africa that focus on the environment, health care and education.
The interior space comprises offices, a showroom, spaces for design, production and marketing teams and a sample room – all of which bathed in as much natural daylight as possible. The reclaimed and salvaged materials and furnishings, provided by local vendors and craftsmen, render EDUN’s commitment to sustainability.
Maharam Digital Projects Showcased at VitraHaus
This summer, Germany’s VitraHaus hosts the New York interior textile supplier Maharam with its brand new edition of Digital Projects. The digital wallpaper patterns were carefully selected to match the furniture displayed in the above mentioned location.
The Digital Projects are exhibited across all four floors of VitraHaus, having unique designs that function as a self-contained aesthetic while also exemplifying a conceptual reality. The UV-resistant wallpapers are products of emerging or established artists – Cecilia Edefalk, Jacob Hashimoto, Maira Kalman, Harmen Liemburg, Karel Martens, Sarah Morris and Francesco Simeti.
The exhibition introduces an affordable large-scale wall treatment which is both versatile and easy to apply. All the patterns showcased are available for commercial sale at Vitra as well as online through Maharam.
CartonLAB New Cardboard Structures
CartonLAB brings architecture to the masses by exploring the immense potential of using common cardboard as a building material. The design group from Moho Arquitectos transforms corrugated paper into furniture, freestanding walls, and pixelated pavilions. In doing so, they provide advertising venues with a much healthier and more renewable solution to the typical vinyl and PVC-covered pressboard displays that end up in the trash at the end of their short lifespan.
CartonLAB‘s playful design approach adds to the appeal of using the lightweight, strong, and flexible material. They designed a display for Microsoft that could change shape at every collage stop on a promotional tour. The structure was made by stacking up boxes like building blocks, and a simple colored tile set enhanced the dimensionality of the display.
Exploring the complex design potential of cardboard, cartonLAB also produced a parametric display for Ability Diseño Gráfico. The intricate folded structure can be easily collapsed and flat-packed to fit in a van.
At its simplest, cardboard can serve as a clean billboard where information can be displayed in complex ways. The medium enhances the information being expressed rather than serving as a distraction. The durability and packability of cardboard has been proven through daily use, so it’s refreshing to see the material find its place in high design. It provides a viable alternative to the display industry, which often relies upon toxic, non-renewable and non-recyclable materials.
Via Inhabitat
Breaking the Bottle – a 5 Cent Room Installation
Heller Gallery is hosting till August 26th a new sustainable art exhibition. Brooklyn artist Mark Reigelman showcases a sculptural installation of 12 typical household objects covered with thousands of green glass shards.
Known for his public art projects around New York, Reigelman once again inspires us with the intriguing use of surprising materials on ordinary objects. ‘Breaking the Bottle’ is inspired by the do-it-yourself glass barriers surrounding homes. These barriers are intended to protect the contents within their perimeter and moreover to isolate the objects therein.
The glass shards evoke a sense of hostility and intimidation towards the community. In contrast, the home and the household objects represent emotional security, history and familiarity that are worth protecting. Therefore, the showcased installation is an interactive metaphor. By mixing elements of protection with home regular objects, ‘Breaking the Bottle’ discusses the need for fervent homestead defense while highlighting the detrimental effects of over-protection.
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