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The Young and the Restless
Hunting for a fresh crop of innovative designers.
By Paul Makovsky
August/September 2003
The challenge for a good design magazine is not only to look out for new
products but also to scope out new talent. Trade fairs like the International
Contemporary Furniture Fair, in New York; the Salone del Mobile, in Milan;
and Maison et Objet Fair, in Paris, are good places to discover next year's
Campagna Brothers. Every year at the Salon du Meuble, in Paris, the Valorisation
de l'Innovation dans l'Ameublement (VIA) displays the work of French contemporary
furniture designers whom they have provided with project assistance grants.
Graduation shows and end-of-year school projects are another jumping-off
point for new product development. Kentaro Ishihara's Illuminati lamp began
as a thesis project at Parsons School of Design, in New York, in 2001, and
now Bozart is finalizing the production details. Madieke Fleuron based
her graduation project on the simple fact that porcelain lends itself perfectly
to copying the details and characteristics of other materials. The result
is the beautiful Knitted China tea service, which imparts crockery with
the look of knitting.
"The challenge is to watch internationally for new talent and at the
same time give your existing designers constant interesting work,"
says Jackie Maze, vice president of Keilhauer, which has manufactured the
work of young designers such as Mark Kapka, Scot Laughton, Patty Johnson,
Andrew Jones, and Brent Cordner.
Take a look at the products and prototypes on these pages, which we think
are good indicators of where design is headed.
1. 00TR
Andreas Aas's wall-mounted design combines an LED clock with a mirror. Thirteen
limited-edition pieces will be available.
www.andreasaas.net |
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2. TWENTY2 WALLPAPER
Designers Kyra and Robertson Hartnett are behind the new company Twenty2,
which features a line of hand-screened papers in simple but colorful graphics.
There are four patterns; Half Max Grasscloth is shown here. (888) 222-3036;
www.shoptwenty2.com |
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3. KNITTED CHINA TEA SERVICE
For her graduation project Madieke Fleuren wanted to reproduce the characteristics
of another material with ceramics. The result is her porcelain Knitted China
tea service, which includes a cup, saucer, sugar pot, milk jug, and teapot.
www.madieke.com |
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4. GARDEN SQUARE MODULAR PLANTER PROTOTYPE
Séverine Szymanski's Carrés de Jardin prototype--created with
a VIA project assistance grant--is a modular system composed of ceramic
planters that include a hydroponic irrigation system. The user can choose
from three different curved planters, which can be joined together to create
an indoor garden of ornamental plants or herbs.
www.via.asso.fr |
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5. W2 PRODUCTS' MAGIC CANDLEHOLDER
Jackie Piper and Victoria Whitebread design fun and functional products--such
as a desk organizer and soap dish--out of silicone rubber. Three products,
a sink plug, a coaster, and a candleholder (shown here), contain a smart
thermochromatic pigment that changes from pink to white as it warms up and
then back again as it cools down.
www.w2products.com |
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6. FUGG LIGHT
"For the people, not the precious," is the motto of Fugg Design,
Charlie Marshall and Tim Wood's London-based company that produces simple
furniture, lighting, and T-shirts. Four of the cubic lights are currently
available, each by a different designer, including Mysterious Al, Patrick
Vale, Jake Wood-Evans (shown here), and Monkey 95. The paper shades are
swappable, and new designs will be released periodically.
www.fuggdesign.com |
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7. KEILHAUER'S FILO CONFERENCE CHAIR
The Filo Conference Chair--created by EOOS, the Viennese design collaborative
founded by Martin Bergmann, Gernot Bohmann, and Harald Gründl--combines
a sleek profile and a flexible arm, taking its design inspiration
from a bow. It uses parts that have high recycled content and are 96 percent
recyclable. The frame is available in dark brown and polished aluminum,
the arms in black or ivory, and the mesh in seven different colors.
www.keilhauer.com;
www.eoos.com |
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8. CHI HA PAURA'S BLING BLING MEDALLION
Bling Bling, a gold-plated steel jewelry design by Frank Tjepkema, looks
like an ornamental cross from a distance. Up close it's evident the piece
is made of many different logos and brand names layered one on top of another.
www.tjepkema.com;
www.chihapaura.com |
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9. BOZART'S ILLUMINATI AND TWINKLE-TWINKLE LAMP
Inspired by Buckminster Fuller and Issey Miyake, Kentaro Ishihara's lamps
are created with innovative folding techniques based on pleating and origami.
The hanging globes (Illuminati shown here) and floor lamps, which are
made of woven polypropylene, range from 8 to 20 inches in diameter.
(888) 462-8067;
www.bozart.com |
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10. OFFI'S ZUMI STOOL
Zumi, designed by Shuichiro Koizumi, is formed from three identical parts
that interlock to create an elegant stool. (800) 383-6334;
www.offi.com |
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All images courtesy the manufacturers |
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