Sofa «LOG» by Patricia Urquiola for Artelano

All the  ‘Log’ collection needed to assure its popularity  hands down was a sofa. And now it has got one with this new model by Patricia Urquiola for the french company Artelano : cushion seat for improved comfort plus back- and arm-rest cushions to confirm the wrap-around look.

TED conference by Mathieu Lehanneur

The pitch made by Mathieu Lehanneur at the recent TED talks is now on-line at the designer’s brand new blog. After Philippe Starck and photographer Yann-Arthus Bertrand, Lehanneur is the third French creator to be asked to air his ideas for making our world a better place.  A further tribute came to him this month from the German magazine Hauser, which voted him among the 23 best international designers since 2000. Not to mention a nomination by Philippe Starck and the Maison & Objet fair as one of the 10 Creators of the Year set to go for 2020. Added together, all three accolades make him the youngest-old hot contender likely to blast off over the next-last 30 years… Work that out if you can for a creator who approaches design from its unexplored faces, a résumé of which is available here and now.

Urban seating by Alexandre Moronnoz

Three projects reveal the skill of this young designer in using a vocabulary that disorganizes forms by repetition. Of these three urban seats by Alexandre Moronnoz, two are of particular interest here – ‘Interferences’ and ‘Muscle’ -, the latter, made by Tôlerie Forezienne, having won a L’Observeur du Design 2010 star award.

‘Hampton’ armchair by Eric Jourdan

 

As tense and profiled as an automobile body, ‘Hampton’ is a memory bank for Eric Jourdan : ‘I started out in this profession thinking I was going to design cars. With this type of commission and the culture of Domeau & Pérès, who work a lot in aviation and aeronautics, I’m getting back down to my roots as a designer’. This is almost a break for a creator known for the soft elegance of his seating, in particular for Ligne Roset, and who brings together here two of the basic exercises for any real creator: design a chair and design a vehicle.

‘Infini’ storage unit by R’ Pure Studio wins a Star at the Observeur Design 10 awards

After a first version in resin in 2007, the ‘Infini’ storage module has found its balance between price and production by using ppe. Lighter, more economical (all 8 modules retail for under 600 euros), polypropylene has the huge advantage of being recyclable in unlimited mode. This is a real argument for an intelligent system that is flexible and playful, imagined by Sébastien Servaire and R’Pure Studio to enable an infinity of combinations while keeping a perfectly clear environmental conscience. Made by R’Pure Studio, ‘Infini’ is out to be distributed for its true value.

Self-contained living unit by Frédéric Gaunet wins a Star at the Observeur Design 10 awards

With a Observeur Design Star in the category Habitat & Domestic Equipment, this adaptation of a goods containers as an independent module for living, designed by Frédéric Gaunet for Men@Work/Stephan Vergnaud, should see considerable commercial development in France and abroad, notably in the offbeat hotel market. A logical future for this project, commended as much for its nomadic nature and eco-friendliness as for its functionality.

‘Che fare’ Enzo Mari / Gabriele Pezzini at the Alain Gutharc gallery

‘Che fare’ (do what), a question without a question mark for an exhibition that side-steps the clichés of the routine production of objects and the situation of design in general. Do what? Enzo Mari, maestro and moral conscience of design, with Gabriele Pezzini, seeker of exactness in design: two generations faced with the same problems, both advocates of a regard focused on what is essential doing what they know how to do best: analyse and decipher.

“Local River” and “Floating Garden” at “Dessiner le design”

Thanks to Constance Rubini, commissioner of the exhibition ‘Dessiner le design’ (Draw the design) at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, ‘Local River’ by Mathieu Lehanneur and ‘Floating Garden’ by Benjamin Graindorge are together at last. The projects are in tandem and both were designed with Anthony van den Bossche/Duende Studio, but slip-ups in programming made their launch dates separate, so such so that some people thought that one project was a copy of the other. The mistake is now rectified.

‘Silver Art’ by elium studio for Rowenta

There are so many born-dead projects floating about we sometimes forget that – before anything else – design is an exacting discipline in which function gives nothing away to style, and technical innovation is there to serve real user protocols and not just the sales pitch. With their ‘Silver Art’ range for Rowenta, elium studio has made this clear, demonstrating how French elegance can inform industrial design. Five pieces compose the breakfast set – espresso machine, coffee percolator, toaster, electric jug and juice extractor -  enacting subtle crossovers from kitchenware to tableware, and from function to décor. Purity of line and high finish given to materials (brushed stainless steel, wood) in series products opens a new window on these archetypes of modern living: in the ‘Grand Hotel’ spirit, modest everyday accessories for preparing and serving accede to the status of potential collector’s pieces. The range reflects the way elium studio uses technology – efficiency must always be user friendly. This is the right stuff in the French vein, expressing clear balance between function and form, and if we insist on this it is to salute value at a time when so many so called ‘creative gestures’ bundled up with a label pretend to be design.

“Chrysanthemum explosion” by Lisa White for Jean Marc Gady

For the exhibition “French Cancan”,  running until October 15 at Forum Diffusion in Paris, Lisa White and Gluxing have created a floral installation entitled “Chrysanthemum Explosion”. Completely unexpected, chrysanthemums burst like floral ammunition from Jean Marc Gady’s AMMO vases. Vibrant hybrids with names like “Energy” and “Vesuvio”, they have taken years to design and produce by the master hybridists and growers of Holland. Historically, the chrysanthemum is a symbol of the sun and of power (the emperors, or ‘sun kings’, of Japan would sit on chrysanthemum-covered thrones) and the rays of these power flowers offer a stunning display of organic pyrotechnics.