Form follows function or function follows form?

My sister found this chair (called the Do Hit Chair by Marijn van der Poll) on uncrate.com and I was a little perplexed when she showed it to me.  The idea behind this design is interactive and unorthodox- allowing the consumer to decide the fate of the end product.  Basically the consumer gets to hit, smash, shape, and warp the metal into any form they want for a chair: hammer included.  However It would take a highly skilled metal worker to shape this material into something comfortable that could be used as a chair.  Otherwise I would imagine sharp, protruding corners in all the wrong places, making for a useless seating arrangement.  Thus, in this case function follows form. 

However, maybe the function of this design is not to produce a traditionally functional chair.  A marketing drive behind this product is the potential for the consumer to let out a little aggression and apply their creative juices.  In this case form and function are concurrent and whatever that function and form may be, the consumer is deciding:

You can see the designer Marijn van der Poll design his own chair here.

Sawhorse Tables

Traditionally sawhorses are used to support a plank or board while sawing, but they also make a for great industrial base for a table or desk.  The base is very architectural and a great alternative to a traditional four legged table.  I feel like an architect would use this sort of desk to layout all his drafts and blueprint.

(via westelm.com)

(via wisteria.com)

Now they come in a variety of materials besides wood including metal and glass and at different price points.  Since I will often be working from home on the weekends I will want a large desk for my computing needs.  It would probably go in my bedroom- the industrial design was be an easy way to balance the soft decor of my bed and headboard.  I've been eyeing this one from the Vika series at Ikea:

This one is a little more pricey at Sundance. But it may be more practical because the design of the base can take up a lot of space, a longer table top would be necessary.  Over at Knock Off Wood they offer DIY plans to build your own. 

Making use of ironing boards

I forgot where I had originally seen this idea.  I think it may have been a product listing on Etsy.  But what a great way to take an inexpensive household item and give it another function.  The picture below has used different colored ironing boards after taking off the cover as picnic tables. I doubt it could hold a large amount of weight, but it could be used as a table behind a sofa or against a wall. 

 

I found one very similar to this one at Cure Thrift Shop near Union Square recently, but I doubt its still there.  

A little primer on Vladimir Kagan

My last posts have been heavily influenced by fashion, it's fashion week taking over.  But back to the basics- I'm a huge fan of mid-century modern design, who isn't?  I especially love the simple upholstered chairs backed by wooden frames that came out of that period especially those of Vladimir Kagan.  Kagan is a German furniture designer who became famous for his sculptured furniture.  The arms and legs of this chair are nicely curved into one seamless piece. 

 

 

 (via access.decorati.com)

In 2008, he also opened a Couture Collection showroom in NYC.  The Omnibus Back to Back Settee below was first introduced in the 1960s.  The square seat and backs are separate parts that can be moved around to fit your seating needs.

Native American Patterns

I know i'm a little late to the native american inspired trend, but I was really drawn to the rustic aesthetic of the  coat this woman is wearing on the Sartorialist and especially the one model Tao Okamoto is wearing- such an exciting print!

This last image is from the Brick House. I adore, adore, adore this couple's home.
This second coat is via Pendleton for Opening Ceremony, the last coat is by Lindsay Thornburg, who I believe constructs these cloacks from Pendleton blankets. The print may be a bit too loud for me, I feel like I would only be able to wear this coat occasionally, and I'm all about utility.
Therefore, instead of a traditional quilt to cover my old comforter, I'm thinking a bed spread in one of these prints would be nice.   The colors would have to be a little more muted than the coats.  Both of these are by Pendleton, the second one is their classic National Park Blanket.  The shams are by Woolrich. 

 

A blog solely about chairs!

I was looking at a postcard I got from the Moma of a rope chair designed by the Campana brothers. It's called the Vermelha chair. I was doing some googling into its construction and stumbled onto the Chair Blog. I'm in heaven, there's actually a blog dedicated to only chair design.
I post this one, because I appreciate its construction. When I attended an architecture program at USC for a summer, we had to build a chair out of plain cardboard as a final project. If the head of the architecture department sat on our chair and it broke, we failed. Luckily my partner and I engineered a chair strong enough to hold his weight, but the chair was really ugly, like really ugly. I'll dig for some pictures.

Santiago Calatrava inspired Helmut Lang

This season the designers at Helmut Lang used the work of Santiago Calatrava as inspiration for their urban collection. I guess I can see some of Calatrava's highly sculptured and engineered design in here.

Lyon-Satolas Airport- Lyon, France

Proposed Spire- Chicago, IL

Alamillo Bridge- Seville, Spain

fur

It's fashion week! I was browsing through some of the Fall 2010 runway collections and came across this lovely camel coat from Behnaz Sarafpour. The massive fur collar is amazing.

Some massive faux-fur throws like this one from Pottery Barn around the apartment or on a tufted couch like this one from Urban Outfitters would be nice and cozy too.

I found the table!

My first post was a desire for a hair pin legged table and I found one on etsy!. I would prefer a rectangular top, but this one will do, it still has a minimalist feel. For all the materials and tools I would have had to buy had I built it myself, this one is only a little bit more expensive.

3 great movies, 3 great design ideas

I finally saw An Education this week in addition to A Single Man and Coco Avant Chanel last year and all three gave me a design idea to think about. Warning- these ideas probably shouldn't be used with one another.

In An Education, Danny plays with an armadillo figurine. Deer heads, deer antlers, moose, taxidermy, have all made a resurgence in home decor, why not bring nature inside with an huge armadillo on a side table? The one above is from Etsy.

I loved the house featured in A Single Man and through apartment therapy I heard it was up for sale for a mere 1.5 million! Anyway I also love the scene where Jullianne Moore's character is puffing away while on the phone with Colin Firth's character at her vanity. The gigantic, identical lamps on each end of the table seem like a bit much but I think it would be a good way to bring focus to a large, decorative mirror.

Besides the wonderful fashion in Coco Avant Chanel, I really liked the black wooden table and chairs. I think this sort of design and the chairs below with various backs would make for a great dining area with a row of 3 or 4 hanging lamps. I have just the space to fit all this.

via betterlivingthroughdesign.com

Fritz Hansen by Arne Jacobsen chairs at NYU

NYU has some pretty expensive taste when it comes to dining hall chairs. I thought the chair seen above was surely a rip off or some sort of replication, but NYU actually bought the real deal- the classic Series 7 chair designed by Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen. These things retail for $600 each! Perhaps NYU will let me take a few off their hands.

quilts

I have an old, worn red duvet cover that I want to cover with a colorful quilt/coverlet. I want something really classic in the quilting pattern. The blue one from Garnet Hill is pretty and modern, but I'm more digging the geometry of this triangular one from ll Bean. It may even be pretty enough to hang on a bare wall.

Origami Crane Lamps

Above are two designs incorporating the use of origami cranes (via Tas-ka and Michele Varian).

I think this could be a reasonable DIY project. In my freshman year dorm, I strung rows of origami cranes above my bed with simple sewing thread, for the apartment I would want to incorporate a light source. Above is a quick rendering of how I would incorporate light at my desk. I would put a lamp base on the table. The origami crane shade wouldn't actually be connected to the base but be hung from the ceiling directly above the base, hovering over its light bulb. Yes this would require a lot of patience getting the exact shape of the shade to hang correctly from the ceiling, but could be cool and I also wouldn't have to worry about hardwiring a pendant lamp.

And yes, I realize that sawhorse table has only one side of its base, I got a little lazy.

Minature Replicas

The Eames Lounge Chair and Verner Panton Chair have long been staples in furniture design and of course they are out of my price range. I thought I could enjoy these designs through their miniatures, but even these are quite pricey. The lounge chair minature retails for $670 via the Moma store.