'MAY' chair by Simo Heikkilä for Nikari; photo by Chikako Harada

As part of Nikari’s year-long project DESIGNS FOR NATURE, which brings together 12 renowned designers or design studios, who, each month, create a wooden product, the renowned Finnish wood manufacturer has just unveiled the latest, fifth design ‘MAY’. Created by the Kaj Franck Design Prize 2011 winner, interior architect, designer and lecturer Simo Heikkilä, the beautifully simple and quintessentially Scandinavian ‘MAY’ has been developed in solid birch and it will be showcased between 30 May – 4 June in Paris during the ‘Designers’ Days’ at the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 exhibition ’1-2-3 Helsinki! Design en Seine’. Other designers working on the project include: Harri Koskinen, Martí Guixé, Alfredo Häberli and Jasper Morrison & Wataru Kumano who will team up for the December’s edition.

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'Branch' chair by Staffan Holm; photo by DDR GBG

To celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of Milan’s SaloneSatellite, this year its organisers invited fifteen international designers who presented their designs under the theme of ‘Design<->Technology’. Among the the exhibiting designers, all of whom were either former or current participants in the Satellite, was the award-winning Swedish designer Staffan Holm who showcased this delicate, bentwood chair. Inspired by nature, the aptly-named ‘Branch’ was created with the use of complex wood bending technology, Compwood. (more…)

Bayadere Orange flooring by Missoni for Bolon

Two family-owned businesses: the legendary Italian fashion house Missoni and the Swedish flooring specialists Bolon have collaborated on this latest collection of woven vinyl floor coverings. Bearing Missoni’s unmistakable bold patterns, the vibrantly coloured collection comprises three different designs: reminiscent of Missoni’s trademark zigzag ’Optical’, linear ‘Bayadere’ and equally distinctive but toned-down in its colourway, the monochrome ‘Flame.’ In total, the entire range is available in nine different versions and it was launched earlier in April during Milan’s Salone del Mobile fair and will be presented again in less than two weeks during the upcoming Clerkenwell Design Week in London (22 – 24 May). (more…)

Detail of Burri's Landi bench materialised in Natwood

Wood in the Public Space – an Exciting Challenge: we identify a city based on its buildings, its landscape architecture, and its density – however, it is above all the city furniture that makes a cityscape unique and distinctive.

City furniture must have a timeless design, be extremely resistant, and above all must stay beautiful for a long time at minimum maintenance. The life cycle costs of a city infrastructure are an important factor for investment decisions. With wood especially, there may be long-term problems caused by standing water or moss which damages the surface and adversely affects aesthetics, safety and user comfort. This means that life cycle costs could be significantly reduced if these weaknesses could be eliminated without a coating while at the same time substantially increasing durability.

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'The Hardwearing' by Henrik Tjærby, curated by Søren Rose; photo by Angela Moore

On the occasion of Milan’s Salone del Mobile, the renowned, family-run textile brand Kvadrat has invited a number of internationally acclaimed designers who, under the guidance of seven curators, were commissioned to reinterpret one of Kvadrat’s most iconic upholstery fabrics, Hallingdal 65, in a modern concept. Among the 32 designers from across Europe, USA and Asia were some of today’s best and brightest talents in product and industrial design such as New Yorker Stephen Burks, Vienna-based Studio mischer’traxler or the Parisian designer Ionna Vautrin, to name just a few while Tord Boontje, Ilse Crawford, Søren Rose, Hans Maier-Aichen, Constance Rubini, Andre Fu and Jeffrey Bernett were appointed as curators. ‘Hallingdal 65′ exhibition was on view between 17 - 22 April on Milan’s Via Luca Beltrami and will now be presented during the ICFF fair in New York (18 – 22 May) in Jil Sander Showroom, 30 Howard Street. (more…)

The detail of 'Plastic Classic_Lacquered' chair by Pili Wu for Han Gallery

‘In Asia, the classical Ming-style chair is recognised as a symbol of social status and taste. Conversely, the widespread presence of the moulded plastic stool is overwhelmingly abundant because of its low price; making it another kind of “classic”’, explains the young Taiwanese designer Pili Wu whose striking, crimson red ‘Plastic Classic_Lacquered’ chair found itself the centre of attention at HAN Gallery‘s Ventura Lambrate exhibition. Featuring a characteristic-of-the-Ming-chair loop armrest and back, and a simple stool-like seat and legs, the beech wood chair was created in collaboration with artisan Tian-chang Jian who hand-lacquered the design with 20 layers of natural lacquer, thus creating a unique, ombré effect. (more…)

'Dusty Copper' by Jung-Cheng Su; photo by Nicolas Genta

‘Hot Tools’ was one of three exhibitions presented by ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne on the occasion of this year’s Salone del Mobile. Showcasing the outcome of a workshop led by the acclaimed French designer Ronan Bouroullec and glassblower Matteo Gonet during which 20 Product Design (MA) students were asked to devise and build novel tools and forms which were most likely to result in an interesting, traditionally-blown glass objects, the exhibition featured eight innovative glass pieces as well as the novel devices which were employed in the production process. Watch the footage from this hugely innovative and inspiring workshop in the video below. (more…)

'Doodle' rug by Paola Navone for Kasthall

Paola Navone is probably one of the most famous Italian interior architects and designers. She designed a new rug collection for Swedish manufacturer Kasthall, which es presented at Salone del Mobile 2012. (more…)