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Design Week NYC

By Tom Ran

Published: May 11, 2012 under Design

Mondo Cane at Partners & Spade

Photo: Partners & Spade

ICFF has returned and with it Design Week NYC. It’s actually unclear when Design Week starts and ends but events hover around the duration of ICFF which is from May 19-22. Pop Up shops, temporary showrooms and galleries are all happening during the 5 plus days. Most of the attention will be surrounding the third annual NoHo Design District organized by Sight Unseen’s Monica Khemsurov and Jill Singer. Here are some of the highlights.

- Roll & Hill temporary showroom at 2 Cooper Square
- Hotel California at The Standard East Village
- Mondocane presents an exhibition of historically relevant children’s chairs at Partners & Spade.
- Areaware at 22 Bond

Other events in the area also include Makeshift (May 15-19). A series of workshops that include Alabama Chanin, Billy Reid, Krrb, Hugo & Marie, Partners & Spade, Maria Cornejo & CFDA.

If that’s not enough, Core 77 will also be in the area with The First Annual Core77 Open (May 18-22). It will feature 5 designers from the 5 boroughs exhibiting 25 pieces in all.

And just as they do every year, Core 77 has a list of all the other events happening throughout the city for Design Week.

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Carl Auböck: The Workshop, 1930–1970

By Tom Ran

Published: May 4, 2012 under Design

Objects from the workshop.

Photo: powerHouse Books

Though Carl Auböck is widely known and admired in the design world, we’ve been wondering when he would receive the attention that has been bestowed on Dieter Rams or the Eames. As product designers, Rams and the Eames have reached the recognition on a mass market level. Maybe that’s because their products are so adaptable to today’s environments, or that their products are still being manufactured and are so widely emulated. Auböck’s designs on the other hand are more classical, the materials he used, brass, leather, wood and horn, can’t be updated with plastics. His popularity may soon change as powerHouse Books is about to release a book based on Auböck’s body of work from 1930–1970. The book takes us into three generations of the Auböcks and showcases many rare pieces that are no longer manufactured. Carl Auböck: The Workshop, 1930–1970 is set to be released this fall.

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D.E Office

By Tom Ran

Published: April 30, 2012 under Design

Daniel and Emma objects for the desk.

Photo: Daniel.Emma

Daniel To and Emma Aiston are the duo behind D.E, a design studio founded in London that now resides in their native Australia. Their work has been featured in numerous publications in the last couple of years with the most prominent being their office supply collection. Simple, colorful and restrained, these functional objects double as desktop sculptures. The shapes and use of color sees influence from Memphis Design without the Post Modern / 1980’s association. The collection currently consists of 9 pieces including a cork cone display that resembles an inverted ice cream cone. Prices range from $65-$220. You can purchase them directly from D.E.

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Wooden Giants

By Tom Ran

Published: February 22, 2012 under Design

Wooden Giants designed by Postler Ferguson

Photo: Papafoxtrot

Call these ships what you will, sculptures, models or toys, we just think they’re incredibly cool. Our good friend Erik Marinovich, one fourth of Friends of Type, turned us onto these “Wooden Giants” designed by Martin Postler & Ian Ferguson of Postlerferguson. The Emma Maersk, Arctic Princess and TI Asia are vessels modeled after the largest cargo ships in the world. They’ve all been scaled down, spanning 12"-16," with each packaged and ready to be assembled. These former prototypes are now in production and can be purchased through Papa Foxtrot.

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THREAT

By Tom Ran

Published: February 15, 2012 under Design

THREAT, an American Design Club exhibition in March

Photo: American Design Club

If you’re woken up in the middle of the night by an intruder, what is the first thing you do? Grab an object of any sort to defend yourself. Like most of us, it’s likely not a gun. Maybe it’s a bat, a hammer, or even a lamp. Whatever it is, its not usually used for protection. A new exhibition from The American Design Club titled, THREAT: Objects of Defense and Protection., explores objects with the sole purpose of protecting one from harm. Submissions have been coming in since October of last year and the result should be an interesting one. Will we see sleek design objects that look more sculptural than weapon-like? THREAT opens Friday, March 9th at Present Company in Williamsburg, 29 Wythe St, Brooklyn.

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Geoff McFetridge / Heath

Published: October 14, 2011 under Design

Geoff McFetridge and Heath

Photo: Geoff McFetridge

Geoff McFetridge and Heath Ceramics are up to something. Earlier this week, McFetridge previewed a few interesting photos on Instagram. His childlike hand drawings were applied to unfinished ceramic plates, a cup and a teapot. He later revealed that he will be showing at Heath’s LA Showroom on November 12th – Heath has yet to post any information on their website. For now, have a look at some of the upcoming products he has produced for Heath and random photos of his life and work on Instagram.

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FEATURES

What’s In Store? - 3x1

By Tom Ran
Scott Morrison, founding partner of 3x1.

Photo: Daniel Bernauer

Scott Morrison is the Sean Parker of denim. Though not as ubiquitous as facebook, Morrison has had a string of successes with the launch of Paper Denim & Cloth and…

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What’s In Store? - Saturdays Surf

By Tom Ran
The Saturdays Surf crew, left to right: Morgan Collett, Josh Rosen, and Colin Tunstall

Photo: Tuukka Koski

For years surfing in NYC was reserved for the die hards. Even though the Atlantic Ocean is minutes away, the urban density didn’t make transporting a surfboard an easy task….

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Behind the Bar - Karlsson’s Batch 2008

By Craig Cavallo
A family affair, Bertil Gunnarsson with his son Bo Gunnarsson.

Photo: Stefan Andersson

Potatoes are a significant part of Swedish culture. On Cape Bjare, in the south of Sweden, the soil they grow in is referred to as farmer’s gold. The country grows…

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