studio dunn

Hello beautiful stools. Aren't you looking lovely today. I fell for these pretty pieces of furniture by Studio Dunn the other day, which then led me to the studio's website, which soon had me swooning over all of their great products.

With everything manufactured either in-house or by local artisans, Studio Dunn uses all solid American hardwoods sourced from sustainable forests for their products, and is constantly considering ways to reuse materials, benefit the environment and minimize waste. Nice work Studio Dunn, and congratulations on winning a 2010 New Designer Award at ICFF!

(Via mint)

Designer of the Month: Tord Boontje

Week 4: installations

Tord Boontje, Winter Wonderland installation view, Swarovski Crystal Gallery, Innsbruck, 2006-2009. Courtesy of Studio Tord Boontje.

Remember Tord Boontje's Blossom chandelier, designed for Swarovski, that I told you all about last week? Well, this was the beginning of a long-lasting relationship between Boontje and Swarovski. Blossom was created in 2002, and was then followed by Night Blossom (2003), Spring Blossom (2005), Autumn Blossom (2005), and Ice Branch (2005).[1] These chandeliers directly led to Boontje's longest-running installation, Winter Wonderland (2006-2009), at the Swarovski Crystal Gallery in Innsbruck. Here is what Swarovski had to say about it:

Visitors to 'winter wonderland' step through an ornamental gate thickly entwined with flowers, vines and fantastic birds, into a fairytale world redolent with the innocence and delight of childhood. The medieval vaulted archways at Swarovski Innsbruck, all embellished with STRASS® Swarovski® Crystal, divide the space into a series of secret chambers, each decorated with its own crystal tableau, setting fairytale characters in their own crystal worlds. The last chamber depicts springtime, the end of winter, bursting with joy, hope and the wondrous rebirth of nature.[2]

Tord Boontje, Happy Ever After installation view, Moroso Showroom, Milan, 2004. Courtesy of Studio Tord Boontje.

One of Boontje's first installations was Forever (2004), designed for the Aram store in London.[3] Featuring furniture with a changeable cover made from concept/couture fabrics, Boontje created this installation to be changeable, with different covers able to change both the mood and volume of the piece.[4] Boontje also designed Happy Ever After in 2004, for the Moroso Showroom in Milan.[5] As Patrizia Moroso, the Design Director for Moroso, explains about how she discovered Boontje:

The first time I saw something about Tord was in a magazine, maybe Elle Deco. I saw this page, it was a very small picture, not an article. I saw a special mood in this little chair. Sort of embroidery, staged by itself. Then I saw a nice chandelier. I thought what clever idea done with nothing, only with creativity. The chair was different from usual; the embroidery was by hand, little figures done by himself. Linen in different colors. It was the embroidery that I love. Not a nice perfect thing made by a girl. Very interesting. The designer was a guy, not common, not the normal meaning of a nice embroidery....So I phoned him one day because I decided he has to be the new designer of Moroso, not to produce one product but to do something in the showroom out for the Fair, not commercial. I asked him to display his way of thinking, absolutely free to do the work he wanted.[6]

While Moroso may have just discovered Boontje, he certainly knew who she was, and despite a tight deadline, he accepted the project.[7] Filled with ideas about nature and technology coming together, Happy Ever After was designed with wool and silk fabrics cut in such a way to create an organic atmosphere in the space.[8] In addition to the hanging fabrics, Boontje installed a series of 7 chairs that were designed as different archetypal story characters, such as a princess, prince, witch, pirate, etc.[9] Just as the Wednesday collection made Boontje's career, Happy Ever After made him famous.[10] Moroso says that "after the show, he was really, really famous. It was magic, unexpected, completely new, stimulating, the border between design and art and other perceptions. With Tord a new period started, where everyone was feeling free to express the beauty of creativity."[11]

Tord Boontje, Carousel installation view, Boutique Alexander McQueen, Milan, 2006. Courtesy of Studio Tord Boontje.

Boontje returned to Milan in 2005 for Carousel, an installation at Boutique Alexander McQueen, a collaboration that explored the relationship between fashion and furniture and their influence over one another.[12] Inspired by McQueen's Spring/Summer 2005 collection, Carousel featured the Moroso Doll Chairs, which McQueen designed special covers for that could be worn as dresses.[13] As Boontje explains, for him, "fashion has always been a great inspiration," and that he likes "the closeness to the individual, the use of materials, colours and textures to express personality. For me it seems a real breakthrough to make wearable chairs as a true cross-over between furniture and fashion."[14]

Tord Boontje, The End installation view, Moss Gallery, New York, 2005. Courtesy of Studio Tord Boontje.

Boontje's fascination with fashion has continued to play an important role in his installations over the years. For The End, a 2006 installation of Moroso designs at Moss Gallery in New York, Boontje once again approached his Doll Chair as a work of fashion, dressing it up in different covers[15] This show also featured some of his now-iconic designs, such as the Come Rain Come Shine and Blossom chandeliers, as well as Boontje's Shadow Fabric prototype, Paper Vases (which later became his Thinking of You vases), and jewelry made from cherry pips.[16] Boontje explains:

The End is a culmination of ideas that started as prototypes. These are now in their final stage as production pieces. Working with inspired manufacturers has enabled me to create these pieces that have exactly the same spirit as the original studio-made prototypes. Often we have been able to make improvements by applying new technologies and traditional skills. We have made fantasy become reality. The dramatic presentation of The End emphasizes for me the emotions locked into the pieces as well as it being a demonstration and celebration of being alive.[17]

Tord Boontje, Bright Nights installation view, Union Square Park, New York, 2006. Courtesy of Studio Tord Boontje.

The last installation I want to talk about today is Bright Nights (December 2006), a project that Boontje did in Union Square Park, New York, in collaboration with Target.[18] Part of a collaboration with Target for the 2006 holiday season, Boontje designed 35 products, as well as packaging and graphic designs for the company, including all of their catalogues and store graphics.[19] Additionally, Boontje designed all of the store environments for the products and worked on the art direction for 5 different television commercials and the catalogue photography, with this being the first time that Target had ever collaborated in such a holistic way with any designer.[20] Bright Nights was just one incredible aspect of this campaign. Using sophisticated technology, Boontje's signature designs of flora and fauna actually interacted with people - playing, running, spinning, floating away - creating a virtual petting zoo.[21] What is particularly interesting about this installation is that the behaviors were neither repetitive nor pre-designed, allowing guests to interact with the installation in different ways with each subsequent visit.[22]

Tord Boontje, Bright Nights installation view, Union Square Park, New York, 2006. Courtesy of Studio Tord Boontje.

So that's just about it for Tord Boontje, but I thought it would be nice to leave you all with just a few images from the wonderful book Tord Boontje, by Martina Margetts, which I would highly recommend taking a look at if you want to learn more about Boontje and his work. The first image below is particularly interesting, as it shows not only invitations to three different installations that were collaborations between Boontje and Moroso, but you can also see, on the right side, the perforated border that runs along most of this book. How cool is that?

[1] Studio Tord Boontje, "Installations," http://www.tordboontje.com/, (accessed May 25, 2010).

[2] Swarovski Kristallwelten online, "Swarovski Innsbruck hosts winter wonderland: Tord Boontje's enchanting crystal landscape," http://kristallwelten.swarovski.com/Content.Node/download/winter_wonderland_eng_07.PDF, (accessed May 25, 2010).

[3] Studio Tord Boontje, Installations: Forever," http://www.tordboontje.com/, (accessed May 25, 2010).

[4] Ibid.

[5] Studio Tord Boontje, "Installations: Happy Ever After," http://www.tordboontje.com/, (accessed May 25, 2010).

[6] Martina Margetts, "Thinking & Doing," from Tord Boontje (New York: Rizzoli, 2006), 130.

[7] Ibid., 131.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Martina Margetts, "Thinking & Doing," from Tord Boontje (New York: Rizzoli, 2006), 130.

[11] Ibid., 131.

[12] Studio Tord Boontje, "Installations: Carousel," http://www.tordboontje.com/, (accessed May 25, 2010).

[13] Martina Margetts, "Installations: Carousel," from Tord Boontje (New York: Rizzoli, 2006), 264.

[14] Studio Tord Boontje, "Installations: Carousel," http://www.tordboontje.com/, (accessed May 25, 2010).

[15] Studio Tord Boontje, "Installations: The End," http://www.tordboontje.com/, (accessed May 25, 2010).

[16] Martina Margetts, "Installations: The End," from Tord Boontje (New York: Rizzoli, 2006), 258.

[17] Studio Tord Boontje, "Installations: The End," http://www.tordboontje.com/, (accessed May 25, 2010).

[18] Studio Tord Boontje, "Installations: Bright Nights," http://www.tordboontje.com/, (accessed May 25, 2010).

[19] Studio Tord Boontje, "Projects: Target," http://www.tordboontje.com/, (accessed May 25, 2010).

[20] Ibid.

[21] Studio Tord Boontje, "Installations: Bright Nights," http://www.tordboontje.com/, (accessed May 25, 2010).

[22] Ibid.

hello sandwich tokyo guide

One month from today, Patrick and I will be getting married. How exciting is that? Two days later, we will be traveling to Japan for two weeks of good food, language barriers, getting lost, sight seeing, and a whole lot of amazingness in Tokyo and Kyoto. And to help us in our exploration of Tokyo, I just picked up a copy of Ebony Bizys' (of Hello Sandwich) incredible Tokyo Guide. Jam-packed with handy words and phrases, fun neighborhood suggestions, shopping and eating favorites, maps, and much, much more, I'm very excited to be able to put it to use in our travels.

So my friends, what are your favorite places to visit and things to see and do in Japan? Any recommendations would be very much appreciated!

Allandale House

It's been a while since I posted any awesome homes, but all that is about to change. Introducing the Allandale House, by William O'Brien, Jr., Assistant Professor of Architecture at the MIT School of Architecture and Planning:

Subtitled "A Cabin of Curiosities," the Allendale House is a small vacation home designed as "an A-frame(s) house for an idiosyncratic connoisseur and her family." Seriously. And so what does all of this mean for the interior? Mostly, lots of built-in storage, lovely clean lines and a whole lot of light.

You can read more about this lovely home here.

(Via seesaw)

if I had a million dollars

I would buy...{the bedding edition: duvets and quilts}

Dwell Studio's stunning Draper Stripe Ash Duvet Set.

A dreamy ocean duvet cover from Pata Pri.

West Elm's pretty Organic Summer Leaf duvet.

The bright and cheery Chika Hothouse quilt from Anthropologie.

And this dotty Henny Cirkel duvet cover from Ikea.

the wheatfield

Jena posted some images from The Wheatfield on Modish last week, and I imediately knew that I wanted to share these with all of you as well. Katie Daisy, the girl behind The Wheatfield, has a great eye for combining colors and patterns with sweet sentiments to create some lovely cards and prints.

Designer of the Month: Tord Boontje

Week 3: lighting and textiles

Tord Boontje, Wednesday Light, 2002. Courtesy of the Design Museum of London.

As you will recall, we looked at Tord Boontje's designs for tableware and furniture last week, and one of the collections that I focused on was Boontje's 2002 Wednesday collection. This is a great place to start this week's discussion about Boontje's lighting and textile designs because the Wednesday Light is one of the first examples of real commercial success for Boontje. Like most of Boontje's ideas, this one came from a homemade source, originating as a drawing on paper and then a paper model of a garland around his daughter Evie's bedroom light.[1] While Boontje began by manufacturing the Wednesday Light himself, it was soon developed for mass-production by Habitat, where it was renamed and made famous as Garland.[2] As Boontje explains about this decision:

Working with Habitat allowed the light to be produced in far larger quantities. Mass-production also makes it possible to go up in size while keeping the price down. The new version of the Wednesday Light is made in nickel plated brass instead of stainless steel. A larger size in turn meant that a larger variety of flower shapes would be nice. Also the Habitat version is packaged in a flat pack form and some of the sharper edges have been softened. It's less punk, I guess.[3]

In addition to this explanation from Boontje himself, I also love this description of how Tom Dixon, Design Director of Habitat at the time, tells about how he brought the Wednesday Light to a mass market:

I'd seen the Wednesday light. I thought this is the simplest and cleverest thing I've seen for a long time. Often with the simplest ideas you can miss it...I've always been bored by what's happening now and always wanting what's next, so it did seem right, the flower thing. But trying to stress the importance of something so decorative in Habitat at the time was quite tough. No one saw the significance of the thing.[4]

Tord Boontje, Second Shadow Light, 2005. Courtesy of Artecnica.

Boontje's inspiration to design lighting stems from a desire to effect darkness, considering of the way his designs will change both the light and shadows in a room. He explains that "often we have too much light," stating that "light can be a very powerful tool to influence a space."[5] A great example of this use of light and shadow are Boontje's Shadow Lights:

'Shadow Light' is a magical carousel of color, light and dreamlike imagery. 'Shadow Light' brings the walls alive projecting soft and delicate shadowed images onto them, creating a serene and mesmerizing effect. The lamp is constructed through simple materials and yet through their combination they become something very special.[6]

Tord Boontje, Blossom chandelier, 2002. Produced by Swarovski. Courtesy of the Design Museum of London.

Shortly after the design of the Wednesday collection, Boontje was asked by Swarovski to reinterpret the chandelier using their components.[7] Boontje saw this as a challenge to show that crystal could be soft, romantic and organic, and created the Blossom chandelier:

I like crystal when it is used densely with an internal light, because it becomes very magical, like the ice palace of the fairy queen. By using LED we were able to place the light source directly next to the crystals, and best of all they could be programmed to flash on and off in sequence - all adding to the magic. The form of the blossom branch came from a romantic idea. It is a place where crystal belongs.[8]

Tord Boontje, Until Dawn Curtain, 2004. Courtesy of Artecnica.

This sense of magic, whimsy and playful use of light and shadow extends to Boontje's designs for textiles, particularly in his curtains. The lacy-looking Until Dawn Curtain features one of Boontje's signature flora-and-fauna designs, which create patterned shadows as light passes through them. Not only is this a great example of Boontje's visual aesthetic, but it also features a sense of the simple construction and do-it-yourself nature indicative of Boontje's early work. Made out of Tyvek, a super-resistant paper material, these curtains can be cut to the desired length by their owner, making it usable in a variety of settings.[10]

Tord Boontje, Pressed Flowers, 2005. Manufactured by Kvadrat. Courtesy of Dutch Design Events.

In 2005, Boontje was commissioned by Kvadrat, the Danish fabric manufactures, to design a textile collection. Design Coordinator Dorthe Helm describes this process, explaining that they "had a short time to do the collection to a very, very high standard. We try always not to make any limits to begin with. We prefer designers just go mad, do what they want and cut down when we see production difficulties. We have the commercial point of view. It doesn't feel like a compromise."[11] Martina Margetts, in her monograph of Boontje, discusses this commission as well, describing both the technical and aesthetic decisions made in the creation of this collection. She explains that:

There were also technical innovations for Kvadrat: laser-cutting and digital printing, the former directly the result of the collaboration with Tord, the latter something which is extremely difficult to do with fabrics and which they had been working on for some time with Swiss and Japanese manufacturers in order to create a very clear expression in the fabrics. They additionally developed new materials, such as for Dreamer, a heavy woven material giving the sense of sails for a boat. For Kvadrat it was also the first time they printed on felt, finding pigments that didn't wear off.[12]

It was very exciting stuff, and after taking almost a year to produce, the collection ended up selling out very quickly, and has since continued to sell very well.[13]

[1] Martina Margetts, "Thinking & Doing," from Tord Boontje (New York: Rizzoli, 2006), 126.

[2] Ibid., 126.

[3] The Design Museum of London online, "Tord Boontje: Product Designer (1968-)," http://designmuseum.org/design/tord-boontje, (accessed May 20, 2010).

[4] Martina Margetts, "Thinking & Doing," from Tord Boontje (New York: Rizzoli, 2006), 126.

[5] The Design Museum of London online, "Tord Boontje: Product Designer (1968-)," http://designmuseum.org/design/tord-boontje, (accessed May 20, 2010).

[6] Studio Tord Boontje, "Projects: Shadow Light," http://tordboontje.com/ (accessed May 20, 2010).

[7] The Design Museum of London online, "Tord Boontje: Product Desinger (1968-)," http://designmuseum.org/design/tord-boontje, (accessed May 20, 2010).

[8] Studio Tord Boontje, "Projects: Blossom Chandelier," http://www.tordboontje.com/ (accessed May 20, 2010).

[9] Artecnica online, "Studio Tord Boontje: Come Rain Come Shine," http://www.artecnicainc.com/Designers#Designers/Studio_Tord_Boontje, (accessed May 20, 2010).

[10] Artecnica online, "Studio Tord Boontje: Until Dawn Curtain," http://www.artecnicainc.com/Designers#Designers/Studio_Tord_Boontje, (accessed May 20, 2010).

[11] Martina Margetts, "Thinking & Doing," from Tord Boontje (New York: Rizzoli, 2006), 134.

[12] Ibid., 134.

[13] Ibid., 135.

process: sprucehome

Etsy has gone ahead and impressed me again with yet another great process video. This one is from the Austin, TX girls behind Spruce Home, who bring an updated approach to upholstery with their fantastic revitalized furniture and home goods. For more inspirational how-to, check out all the videos from this great series, here.

Dead or Alive

Simen Johan, Untitled #150, 2009, feathers, cocoons, sparrows, insects, foliage, taxidermy, cement, rock, wood, 36 x 36 x 36 in. Image courtesy of the Museum of Arts and Design.

"Dead or Alive," now on display at the Museum of Arts and Design, is a pretty incredible exhibition. Just take a look at the above image of Simen Johan's Untitled #150 and you can pretty much tell that this show is a bit unusual. Anyway, my Gallery Crawl review is up, and if you're in NYC between now and October 24th, I would highly recommend checking out "Dead or Alive" at the Museum of Arts and Design:


Growing up in a house on a man-made lake in suburban South Florida provided me with more opportunities to explore nature than one might imagine. There were tadpoles to be collected, snapping turtles and water snakes to be fished out of the pool, ducks and geese to be fed, and urban legends to be told of alligators finding their way through the neighborhood canals and into someone’s backyard. There are two specific memories, moreover, that are particularly clear to me, both involving insects. The first incident occurred during a short period of time when I was fascinated with feathers. I badly wanted to be able to collect the duck feathers that could be found around the backyard, but was warned against it because of the very real possibility that they carried lice, and was instead consoled with unnaturally-colored craft store feathers that I nonetheless thought were beautiful. The second memory is an even more pronounced one, involving my mom’s bug collection, which she began for an entomology class, and included a massive horned beetle that terrified me. She would often keep specimens in the freezer, so there was a good chance that at any moment, there would be a dead bug in a jar just waiting to be discovered. These two memories immediately came to mind upon viewing “Dead or Alive,” now on display at the Museum of Arts and Design, an exhibit that attempts to encompass the variety of the natural world, evoking a wide array of reactions along the way.

You can continue reading here.

moon rabbit

Moon Rabbit cup

Cup detail

Moon Rabbit plate

Plate detail

Moon Rabbit cups and plates. Image © designboom.

This beautiful collection of black clay tableware, a collaboration by Taiwanese designer Hsiao-Ying Lin and potter Jun-Ching Tang, is the Moon Rabbit cup and plate, an interpretation of the famous Chinese fairytale of the rabbit on the moon that is commemorated each year in Taiwan with moon festival celebrations. The cup features a rabbit sipping water along the vessel's lip while the rabbit's reflection is used to create the dish itself for the plate - two beautifully-executed concepts. Not only is this a gorgeous collaboration, but it was made possible by Yii, an initiative of the Taiwan Craft Research Institute, which pairs artists and designers in an attempt to encourage Taiwanese people to cultivate an appreciation of their country's traditional crafts.

(Via designboom)

Donna Wilson - tea towels

These tea towels by Donna Wilson are making my day right now.

(Via eat drink chic)