Reference Page: April 2007

Hollow Inside
It isn’t dissecting helpless animals in biology class, but it may still involve frogs’ legs and beakers: molecular gastronomy, the most recent avant-garde movement in the food world, brings chem-lab techniques to your favorite dishes. You can indulge your taste buds with this cooking technique at select restaurants by booking a flight to Europe, or through an easier option—check out their Web sites for dishes you can create in your own kitchen lab. Arguably the most famous, Ferran Adriá’s El Bulli restaurant offers an extensive history of its culinary philosophy to get you in the mood. Go to www.elbulli.com and click on “History” on the left side of the page, then use your newfound inspiration to buy some of the essential instruments at www.cookingconcepts.com, a link provided by El Bulli. There’s also a site for Heston Blumenthal’s the Fat Duck, www.thefatduck.co.uk, which pops up a link to buy Blumenthal’s cookbook, modestly titled In Search of Perfection (Bloomsbury, 2006). Closer to home is Moto, a Chicago “degustation-focused” eatery that offers five- and ten-course scientifically crafted meals. Visit www.motorestaurant.com to peruse the peculiar menu, and then if you like what you see, make a reservation by clicking the link at the bottom of the page.

Sweet Silence
Keep out ambient noise: Bose Quiet Comfort 3 headphones can be purchased at www.bose.com.

Things that Matter
We don’t play favorites—here’s a list of sites where you can get designers’ beloved products: Konstantin Grcic’s Cor Unum Glove vase, available through www.corunum.com • Noguchi lamps, available through the Noguchi Museum Store, akaristore.stores.yahoo.net or www.surrounding.com • The classic Eames Lounge Chair and the Eames Aluminum Group Chair, available through www.hermanmiller.com • Hans Wegner’s “The Chair,” available through PP Møbler, www.ppdk.com • The Rowenta Coffee Machine by Jasper Morrison, available through www.rowenta.com • The Braun Aromaster, available through www.theessentials.com or www.bedbathandbeyond.com • The Sonicare toothbrush by Philips, available through www.sonicare.com • Tivoli Audio’s PAL radio, available through www.tivoliaudio.com • Fisher Space pen, available through www.spacepen.com • Moleskine sketchbook, available at www.moleskine.com • Paul Smith cuff links, available through www.paulsmith.co.uk • Freitag bags, available at www.freitag.ch.

The Color Forecast
We had color experts forecast the hot hues of tomorrow—but you can place an advanced order for them now: Eames Aluminum Group Management Chair, from DWR, product of Herman Miller, www.hermanmiller.com, available at www.dwr.com • Carnegie Surface IQ Collection, by Carnegie Fabrics, available through www.carnegiefabrics.com • Blue Highway Carpet, by Bentley Prince Street, available through www.bentleyprincestreet.com • Room & Board Quinn chair, available at www.roomandboard.com • Mitre Table, by HBF, available through www.hbf.com • Harter’s JK Action Chair, available through www.harter.com • Ann Sacks Crystal Glass Tile Collection, available through www.annsacks.com • Blu Dot Strut table, available in ivory or robin’s egg at www.bludot.com • Kohler Iron/Impressions Integrated Top and Bowl sink, available through www.kohler.com • My China! Porcelain, by Sieger Design, www.sieger-design.com, available at www.etabletop.com • Antron Carpet Fiber, from INVISTA, www.invista.com, available at www.antron.net • Spinneybeck Leather Pulls, designed by Emanuela Frattini Magnusson, available at www.spinneybeck.com • Moroso Bent Table, available through www.morosousa.com • Tabriz Mix Collection, by Kristie Strasen, available through www.placetextiles.com • Durkan Mind/Body/Soul carpet, designed by Clever Spin, www.cleverspin.com, available through www.durkan.com • Bisazza Glass Mosaics, available through www.bisazzausa.com • Loophouse Gingko Rug, by Loophouse, www.loophouse.co.uk, available in the United States through Designtex, www.designtex.com • Flor Modern Mix Carpet, available at www.florcatalogue.com.

The Portable Workplace
Metaphase, www.metaphase.com • Lunar, www.lunar.com • Smart Design, www.smartnyc.com • Scott Henderson, Inc. www.scotthendersoninc.com

Biedermeier Is Back
As this issue is dedicated to informing you about everything in vogue for the season, we urge you to see Biedermeier: The Invention of Simplicity, now on view through May at the Albertina, www.albertina.at. If you’re not willing to go as far as Vienna for your lesson in simple styling, just order the catalog from the online store of the Milwaukee Museum of Art, www.mam.org, where the exhibition was on view until the middle of January, or catch it at Deutsches Historisches Museum, in Berlin, or the Louvre, in Paris, in the coming seasons. Architex, www.architex-ljh.com, is previewing a Biedermeier-inspired line of upholstery and drapery at the HD Expo on May 10. If you’re interested in starting up your own collection, you can contact Michael Graves’s dealer, Niall Smith, at (212) 750-3985.

Marvelous Marva
Veterans of and newcomers to the decade- old Salone Satellite, www.cosmit.it: Matali Crasset, www.matalicrasset.com • Ricardo Bello Dias, www.studiobellodias.it • Lorenzo Damiani, www.montina.it • Xavier Lust, www.xavierlust.com • David Trubridge, www.davidtrubridge.com • Sean Yoo, www.apt5design.com • Satyendra Pakhalé, www.satyendra-pakhale.com • Cory Grosser, www.corygrosser.com • Takehiro Ando, www.takehiroando.com • Pedro Comparini, www.kra.cl • Nolen Niu, www.nolenniu.com • Wagner Archela, www.archela.com.br • Hettler.Tüllmann, hettlertullmann.com • David Larsson, www.davidlarsson.com • Pervisioni, www.pervisioni.it • Viable, www.viablelondon.com • Greece Is for Lovers, www.greeceisforlovers.com • D.sign21, www.d-sign21.de • Siggi Anton, www.siggianton.com • Timothy Schreiber, www.timothy-schreiber.com • Phil Cuttance, www.philcuttance.com • Gauthier Poulain, www.gauthier-poulain.com • Formfjord, www.formfjord.com • Lene Toni Kjeld, www.walldecoration.dk • Sealac, office@sealac.com • Collectif Paradise, www.parsydebonsdesign.com, www.erwanetantoinette.fr.   

180 Varick
What do you get when you put about 25 design firms in a building in New York City’s ever trendy West Village? A massive pool of espresso-sipping creative types glued to larger-than-life monitors and listening to iTunes. Stereotypes aside, design firms are some of the country’s best informal museums. On a jaunt through 180 Varick Street in March (chronicled in this month’s issue), associate editor Stephen Zacks was privy to, among other things, a Marcel Breuer chair wrapped in electrical cords from Home Depot at Mass, a font Mies van der Rohe designed for IIT that 2x4 is using for campus signage, and (more commonly) David Rowland’s 40/4 stacking chair at Michael Sorkin Studio. Unfortunately, unless you are a writer with a lot of chutzpah or are a potential client, you most likely won’t be able to see these objects in their natural habitats. But, thanks to Douglas Caywood’s book, The Designer’s Workspace: Ultimate Office Design (Architectural Press, 2004), which details interior-decorating and style decisions from top-notch firms’ office spaces, anyone can get a glimpse of the pros at work.

The Craft Master
Unlike his contemporaries, who rely on bigwig Euro manufacturers to realize their dreams, Sam Maloof is part of a rare breed of do-it-yourself furniture designers that still get a kick from splinters, cuts, and all the other hazards that accompany a day in the shop. “We marvel and exclaim about the machine, and yet nothing has been designed or made, nor ever will be, as wondrous as the hands of man. What it produces has no element of surprise or feeling that an object made by hand may have. It leaves no room for change.” Additional insightful Maloof quotes can be found on the Smithsonian’s Web site, americanart.si.edu/collections/exhibits/maloof/introduction/index.html, which features four annotated slide shows and two videos of the designer in action. If you live in the L.A. area, you can register for one of several classes with Maloof at the University of California, Riverside; for information, check out the “Programs and Events” section on www.malooffoundation.org. Jeremy Adamson’s pretty picture book The Furniture of Sam Maloof (Norton, 2006) is an excellent homage to the designer’s unique aesthetic, talent, and passion. This spring PBS will air a documentary on American craft that features a lengthy segment on Maloof.