Ilmari Tapiovaara's 'Kiki' range, reissued by Artek; photo by Tuomas Uusheimo

Ilmari Tapiovaara (1914 – 1999) was an acclaimed Finnish interior architect and furniture designer.

Now, exactly 52 years after ‘Kiki’ range has won him the gold prize at the Milan Triennale in 1960, the renowned furniture brand Artek is about to rerelease this beautifully reduced collection of upholstered, tubular steel furniture. The series, which Tapiovaara developed after having designed an initial, space-saving stackable chair intended for use in large spaces such as conference halls and auditorium, now also includes a two- and three-seater sofa and bench models; a side, sofa and standard-height table, as well as our favourite, a small but brilliantly vibrant tangerine stool.

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Detail view of the 3-seater version of 'Stream' sofa by Arik Levy for Palau

Designer, artist, technician, photographer and filmmaker – there seems to be no end to the talents of the ubiquitous Arik Levy and this time, the French-Israeli creative has collaborated with a Dutch design label Palau to create a modular, adjustable sofa system called ‘Stream’. Due to be showcased in March 2012 at Palau’s new showroom Design Post Amsterdam and Utrecht’s centre for interior design Toonkamer, the sofa is be available as either one-, two- and three-seater, with one of its elements functioning as a table with a conveniently-positioned, in-built storage unit.

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'Katakana' sofa by Dare Studio

Ahead of this year’s edition of London’s 100%Design fair, the Brighton-based contemporary brand Dare Studio has recently expanded its already-impressive collection of handmade, elegant and timeless furniture. The new designs, which will be presented at the show later in September, include a highly-expressive coat stand developed in solid wood, a multifunctional storage system whose colourful modules reminded us of Eames’ iconic 1949 ESU Bookcase, as well as this well-proportioned leather-and-wood ‘Katakana’ sofa. (more…)

'Volume' one-seater sofa by Outofstock Design for Foundry

The international design collective Outofstock has created this ‘Volume’ series of top-heavy sofas and a console, which was presented as part of Singapore-based label Foundry’s exhibition at this year’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile.

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'Part' by PearsonLloyd for Modus

Designjunction is the exhibition of several British labels at Zegna headquarters on Via Savona during this year’s Salone del Mobile. Modus will be on show with a whole range of new products by namable designers such as Michael Sodeau, PearsonLloyd and Claesson Koivisto Rune.

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'Favn' by Jaime Hayón for Fritz Hansen

The Spanish designer Jaime Hayón designed this new sofa for the Danish venerable manufacturer Fritz Hansen. On the occasion of this year’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile Fritz Hansen will prensent ‘Favn’, available in ten different colour combinations, at its showroom in Milan on Corso Garibaldi, 77.

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'Vienna' by Jean Nouvel for Wittmann

The Austrian manufacturer Wittmann is especially known for its high-quality upholstery furniture. In their Viennese showroom Wittmann presents from March 25, 2011 the result of a very special encounter: The new, highly sober seating furniture collection ‘Vienna’ designed by non other than Jean Nouvel. The cooperation started when Wittmann was commissioned to produce the seating furniture for Vienna’s new Sofitel.

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'Fossa' by Aurélien Barbry for COR

‘Fossa’ is the new highly convertible sofa designed by Aurélien Barbry for the Germany manufacturer COR. Based on a very simple principle the piece is composed of cushion elements which find a stable place in recesses of the seating and can be moved or removed according to the user’s need.

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