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This is not your traditional sitting by the lake Adirondack-style furniture.
The Adirondack Museum asked six modernist and postmodern architects and designers and six Adirondack rustic furniture makers to create a new, modern aesthetic. The results of the collaborations have reinvigorated rustic furniture trends using traditional methods and materials.
The "Rustic Tomorrow" collection features a desk by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill consulting partner David Childs that was built by Wayne Ignatuck with red oak salvaged from his yard and walnut castoffs from a nearby farm. A table by Shope Reno Wharton Associates’s Allan Shope was constructed in black walnut by Judd Weisburg, according to Interior Design magazine.
Other contemporary designers include, Michael Graves, Nils Luderowski Architect and Dennis Wedlick Architect, and 20th Century Fox art director Thomas Cardone, according to Interior Design.
This exhibit will travel to:
Munson-Williams-Proctor Art Institute, Utica, New York — February 14 through April 19, 2009.
D. Wigmore Fine Art Inc., New York, New York — April 22 to May 6, 2009.
"Rustic Tomorrow’s" one-of-a-kind pieces will be sold at auction to benefit Adirondack Museum on May 6.
Instead of style over substance, universal design is style with substance.
Award-winning designers Dan Cramer and Paul James will discuss universal design principles at the first “Night of Universal Tastes," April 30 in Chicago for architecture and design (A&D) professionals.
Sponsored by KI and Pallas Textiles, the event focuses on furniture design that can accommodate various body types and allow interior designers to create a consistent aesthetic. The event series is designed to familiarize the A&D community with this concept and offer immediate solutions that can be used in projects.
In addition to remarks by Cramer and James, who designed the industry’s first universal seating collection, KI’s Arissa Collection, a tasting of wine and hors d’oeuvres from around the world will follow the presentation.
I just found a great new place to network with other professional woodworkers—Sawdust Soup. While other networking sites receive tons of press (facebook, myspace and linkedin) this site is just for us! So far, more than 140 woodworking professionals have joined Sawdust Soup and counting.
It costs nothing to join and you can share photos, videos, chat with other shop owners and join forums. Some of my favorite forums include: Finishing, CNC Circle, Software Geeks, All Things Hardware and Custom Furniture Makers.
Of course, if you have an idea for a forum you can start your own group. I also found you can blog (and who doesn’t have something to say!). Check it out and let me know what you think. See you at Sawdust Soup!
No, the headline is not a typo. Ava Design, a start up high-end custom furniture manufacturer is relocating from New Jersey to North Carolina not China or the Philippines--North Carolina.
Owner, Matt Carfaro plans to start production during the first week of June in a former Belmont textile mill and display furniture at a South End showroom, according to the Charlotte Observer.
North Carolina has lost tens of thousands of furniture-making jobs over the past decade, mostly to Asian countries where labor is cheaper. The N.C. Commerce Department estimates the state now has 1,450 furniture companies employing 63,300 workers.
However, Carfaro wants to tap into a trained labor force. More than 65 experienced cabinet makers have applied for 15 jobs he plans to fill. In the future, he hopes to employ 35 to 50 people.
Ava Design is focusing on capturing the boutique furniture trend niche. The heirloom-quality furniture is made from American walnut and American white oak, and consoles, dining room tables and small tables can run from $600 to $3,600.
Made in the U.S.A will cost a bit more, but you get what you pay for.
The Furniture Buying Index fell three points this month to a reading of 56, according to America’s Research Group. The index is compiled each month by America’s Research Group from interviews with 5,000 to 8,000 consumers across the U.S.
In a typical month, 80 percent of the consumers interviewed can name a specific furniture item they intend to buy. The index’s mark signifies what percent of the benchmark 80 percent actually have a particular item or furniture trend in mind.
There’s nothing like sinking into a comfy chair after a long, stressful day at work and zoning out on trash TV with a box of Girl Scout cookies. Of course, our European brethren like to relax just as much as we do, but they do it with a bit more style.
The Scharly Designer Studio is debuting the Frankfort Factory chair at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) from May 16 to 19 in New York. The modern chair was designed with a Zen concept—its ultra soft backrest adapts to everyone and memorizes the most comfortable position with its intelligent surface, creating an extraordinary relaxing sensation.
This lounge chair is manufactured with a very smooth foam that is covered by a fine layer of latest-generation soft polyurethane, which provides elasticity and light reflection. The seat is made with a very resistant yet lightweight material.
The chair was produced under conditions in line with sustainable and environmental development. Greenhouse gases not included.
Bentley, James Bond’s favorite getaway car, is giving drivers and admirers more wood. Because of the global economic crunch, veneer artisans are repurposing off-cuts from walnut used for the luxury car’s dashboard and trim to make cabinets, occasional tables and furniture for showrooms in the UK. The manufacturer is planning to eventually sell off the fine furniture to the pubic, if there is a demand.
Bentley also designs and sells luxury cigar boxes, jewelry boxes, matchboxes and writing instruments.
Why so grim? Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s press conference cronies look like they just witnessed the killing of the world’s last panda bear. Instead the City of Chicago, ComEd and various Chicago business leaders launched two environmental projects, the Green Office Challenge and Earth Hour, at the OFS Brands showroom in the Merchandise Mart.
The Green Office Challenge encourages tenants and operators of high-rise office buildings to save energy, increase recycling and water efficiency and reduce paper consumption. OFS Brand’s office furniture showroom has improved its recycling program for office materials including paper, electronics, light bulbs and construction materials, which is diverting 748 tons of materials from landfills per year. As a result, the showroom has achieved LEED Gold Certification.
Earth Hour to be held on March 28 is a nationwide event in which lights are turned off for one hour to call attention to the fight against global climate change. In 2008 more than 2.8 million Chicago-area residents turned out their lights for Earth Hour, which resulted in a 7 percent reduction in electricity usage during that time. Represent!
According to Daley, more environmentally efficient office buildings are critical to helping Chicago reduce its impact on the planet’s changing climate.
Special note: No pandas were harmed during the writing of this blog.
While Nostradamus may not have predicted this, the 1980’s are back.
I have scary memories of me in checkered vans, acid wash jeans, a brightly colored sweater vest, neon gummi bracelets running up my arm and a retainer.
Karim Rashid, known for his cheeky designs for Alessi, Dirt Devil and Prada has created a new line of beds for Hollandia International that incorporate the best? of 1980’s fashion and design. This totally awesome collection features edgy looks with multifunctional appeal, such as a collapsible desk, night stands and even a retractable TV.
