January 2007 • Productsphere
Welcome to the Jungle
Designs inspired by warmer climes.
By Paul Makovsky
Tropical patterns have been particularly hot of late. At Paris’s Maison et Objet furniture fair last September, for example, lush products were in full flourish, visible in everything from textiles and wall-coverings to outdoor furniture and home accessories. Many of the items we’re featuring here conjure the idyllic side of life in the tropics: gentle breezes are available right in your home via a leafy ceiling fan, natural motifs evoke verdant conditions, and handcrafted objects display the richness of sustainably harvested hardwoods. But just as in the real tropics, other products are more sinister-looking, such as Fernando and Humberto Campana’s latest creations for Edra, which they describe as “transgenic mutations.” The pliant reconfigurable shapes, inspired by equatorial creatures, look like they could crush you.
Use the following designs to turn a room into a virtual terrarium.
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