‘Rock star’ chair smashes record

Furniture is art.
Sometimes the art is bad and occasionally it takes your breath away. At the Yves Saint Laurent art collection auction, an art deco armchair by Irish designer Eileen Gray fetched $43.2 million dollars—a record for a Gray design, and the second largest sum ever paid for furniture.
The one-off rounded brown leather piece called “the Dragon’s Armchair” features arms that morph into sculpted dragon’s heads. According to several written reports, the record holder was an 18th century "Badmington cabinet" which sold for $36.6 million in December 2004.
I’m not sure why anyone would want a "Badmington cabinet,” but that chair ROCKS my world!
All the bidding debauchery went down Feb. 23 – 25 in Paris at Christie’s.

Lifestyle-driven architecture

It’s like the Guggenheim but homey.
LivingHomes, a developer of modern, sustainably designed, prefabricated homes, has partnered with Kohler Co. to present the Kohler LivingHome, which debuted at the TED Conference, Feb. 3 – 7, in Long Beach, Calif.
The new KieranTimberlake line of LivingHomes offers six “expandable” single-family residences and multi-family models that are designed for “infill” or inner city lots that have limited space and views.
Designed to achieve LEED-Platinum certification, the two-story, 2,200-square-foot home features furnishings, materials, products and technologies that showcases high design with a low ecological footprint. Some of these products include, Anderson composite wood recycled frame windows, Sherwin Williams no VOC and Low VOC paints and stains, Humabuilt Wheatcore doors, Trex decking, railing and trim products, Lyptus hardwood floors, Crossville recycled mosaic glass and porcelain tiles and Dupont Zodiac countertops.

Essentially a series of simple, stylish, stacked boxes, the modern aesthetic offers open and flexible interiors and promotes passive solar and day lighting. The design also reflects LivingHome’s Z6 Sustainable Building Goals for construction and operation: Zero water, Zero energy, Zero waste, Zero emissions, Zero carbon and Zero ignorance.
“As with all LivingHomes, the Kohler LivingHome features a comprehensive environmental program which dramatically reduces the water and energy the home requires for operation, as well as reducing construction waste and indoor air pollution,” says Steve Glenn, CEO of LivingHomes. “Once it is placed on a permanent site, the home will generate and store power, and it will be eligible for LEED certification.”
The home is valued at $675,000 but is being offered for sale at $499,950. That price does not include transport, install or foundation.
Photos courtesy of Visual Nomad.

Let the spin begin: K/BIS feels the heat

As the economy continues to challenge most industry sectors, trade shows and other marketing events are feeling the pain. The International Builders’ Show, (IBS), held in Las Vegas Jan. 20-23. reported an attendance drop of more than 90,000.
According to a statement released from the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show & Conference, (K/BIS), “As nearly all other industry shows have experienced a decline in exhibitors and attendees in recent years, false impressions have begun to spread about an equally steep reduction in numbers for K/BIS 2009. This is simply untrue.”
While the majority of the show’s large exhibitors are still scheduled to appear, the question remains will the attendees come?
To generate interest, the show is pulling out all the stops. This year’s show features a plethora of “celebrities.” The following “celebrities” are scheduled to appear:
“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s” Paul DiMeo,
“This Old House’s” Richard Tretheway and Carole Fruehauf,
John Gidding of HGTV’s “Designed to Sell”,
Aida Mollenkamp of Food Network’s “Ask Aida”,
“The Young & the Restless’” Steve Ford (son of President Gerald Ford),
Presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee.
K/BIS also is offering a lineup of business speakers, including economist Terry Savage and “Green to Gold” author Andrew Winston, as well as Harry Gianetti, former Vice President of Thermador, BSH, Mills Pride, and Elica.
IBS and K/BIS have different core audiences. IBS attracts more builders and general contractors, while K/BIS appeals to custom builders and higher end designers who cater to a recession-resistant clientele. The show’s attendance will be down from last year, but it probably won’t be as much as IBS experienced.
K/BIS 2009 will be held at the Georgia World Congress Center, April 30 – May 3.

Eco-friendly, affordable custom cabinets

Designing a green kitchen doesn’t mean sacrificing style or breaking the bank.
Robin Wilson Home is licensing its name for a line of affordable, eco-friendly custom cabinetry made in the U.S.A. by Holiday Kitchens. The line will launch at the April 2009 Kitchen/Bath Industry Show in Atlanta. The eco-conscious line features more than 100 door styles in green materials, such as bamboo, coconut, wenge and stainless steel. Classic hardwoods like cherry, maple and oak also are available. The manufacturer uses low-volatile organic finishes, paints and stains, and the frameless custom cabinetry has 10 percent more usable storage space compared to traditional framed cabinetry, according to the company.
Another area to consider is how the cabinets are made. And it’s hard to not be impressed with Holiday Kitchen’s green manufacturing principles. According to the company, its manufacturing process uses computerized cutting methods to reduce waste and 100 percent of its wood waste is recycled into cutting boards, animal bedding and landscape materials. Its cabinet lines also use sustainable woods and reconstituted veneer.
I guess it is easy being green.

Hettich wins three iF awards

It’s that time of year again when smug actors pat each other on the back and give each other accolades and gift baskets worth more than what most people make in a year.
Thankfully, this isn’t that kind of award.
Hettich won three 2009 iF product design awards for its hettinject VB insert 38/50" connecting fitting, the “Sensys” hinge with integrated soft closure and the "Touch-in" handle.
More than 1,025 entrants from 39 countries submitted 2,808 products for the coveted iF product design award 2009. The high-profile international adjudicating panel rated the entries on the basis of criteria such as design quality, workmanship, choice of materials and degree of innovativeness. Other criteria included environmental friendliness, functionality, ergonomics, visualization of use, safety, brand value/branding and universal design.
All of the winning products will be on show at the iF exhibition 2009 which opens on March 3, 2009 and runs until August 2009. From January 2009, the products will be presented for an indefinite period on the iF online exhibition design platform. The iF yearbook 2009 also will be appearing as a competition compendium.
The iF Label is acknowledged internationally as a hallmark that has been key to embedding industrial design in public awareness.

U.S. leads world’s $307 billion production market

While low-cost imports continue to challenge the U.S. furniture industry, worldwide production of furniture is worth about $307 billion in U.S. currency, with the United States in the lead at 21 percent of total production. These findings are part of the World Furniture Outlook 2008/2009. The estimates are based on information from national and international official sources.
The seven major industrial economies, the United States, Italy, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, Canada and France, comprise 50 percent of the world’s total production. Sixty-five percent of the entire world’s production is from developed countries with 35 percent coming from emerging countries, with China being the highest at 18 percent. China and Poland have had rapidly increasing production thanks to newly built plants.
The degree of openness in the furniture markets, or the ratio between imports and consumption, rose from 20 percent in 1997 to 30 percent in 2006. This increase was important in the United States, where the trade deficit was nearly $22 billion. From 1997 to 2007, the United States had an imports increase from $8.6 billion to $26 billion. U.S. imports presently are leveling off.
International trade of furniture has grown faster than furniture production and faster than international trade of manufactures due to the opening on the main furniture markets in the past 10 years. In 2008 and 2009 the world gross domestic product will continue to grow at a fast pace along with international trade of manufactures. World trade of furniture is expected to grow by 15 percent in 2008, and might amount to $121 billion.

4 Traits of successful office furniture manufacturers

When sales soften many office/contract manufacturers follow the same playbook. Most companies drastically reduce fixed and variable costs, which are followed by mass layoffs from the top down. Many also pull advertising and delay or kill product development and new products. If this is your game plan to ride out the latest recession, you might want to rethink your strategy.
According to an office/contract furniture manufacturer study from Velocity Partners, it has identified four key traits of successful small and middle-market companies.
1. Design furniture that differentiates and defines your brand and does not just fill a gap in the product portfolio.
2. Eliminate or sell any product lines, services and other activities that do not add value to the brand or company.
3. Focus on market segments that provide opportunity for growth and differentiation. Sell a solid brand and products in a new market segment today.
4. Focus on matching the right: designs, A&D specifications, end-user customers and products.
Velocity Partners reviewed the 2001-2002 recession through post-recession performance of 12 North American office/contract furniture companies with sales between $15 to 30 million that were profitable in 2000.