GREENPOINTHILL, HUMBLE MATTER DSC VESSEL John Born, the ceramicist behind Humble Matter, builds sculptures and functional pieces whose minimalist color palettes and spare geometric forms explore texture and volume. They will be on display in Greenpoint at Greenpoint Hill, a gallery that specializes in handmade and locally produced art and design products. Courtesy the designer and the manufacturer
New York City is home to legions of artists, designers, and craftspeople, and arguably the city’s innovative, trendsetting core lies in the design studios of Brooklyn. The borough’s lively design culture is strongly influenced by its industrial past. When heavy manufacturing and shipbuilding industries along its waterfront dried up, they left behind sprawling, infrastructural architecture, like that of the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Industry City in Sunset Park, that is now proving to be a fruitful incubator for a new generation of designers, fabricators, and makers.
This year’s NYCxDESIGN highlights the diversity, quality, and breadth of design coming out of the borough with big events at its waterfront hubs: Brooklyn Designs (May 10–12) is held at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and Industry City hosts WantedDesign Brooklyn and the IC Festival (May 16–20). Here, small studios and inventive young designers take center stage, showing work across styles, materials, and typologies, and displaying the kind of playful, idiosyncratic creativity that flourishes when designers take risks.
ZIMMERMAN WORKSHOP, OT/TRA Ot/tra is a collection of furniture launched by Brooklyn-based architecture firm Zimmerman Workshop. Its pieces use bentwood without any reinforcement or metal structure.
Courtesy the designer and the manufacturer
ZIMMERMAN WORKSHOP, OT/TRA Ot/tra is a collection of furniture launched by Brooklyn-based architecture firm Zimmerman Workshop. Its pieces use bentwood without any reinforcement or metal structure.
OCRÙM DESIGN, ORIZON MIRROR Created by Sean Zhang and Luca Zeffiro, and informed by the founders’ Chinese and Italian roots, Ocrùm takes a hands-on approach to texture and material. A unique ripple effect and a metallic glaze on this mirror’s lower half make looking into Orizon feel like gazing out to sea through a porthole.
Courtesy the designer and the manufacturer
OCRÙM DESIGN, ORIZON MIRROR Created by Sean Zhang and Luca Zeffiro, and informed by the founders’ Chinese and Italian roots, Ocrùm takes a hands-on approach to texture and material. A unique ripple effect and a metallic glaze on this mirror’s lower half make looking into Orizon feel like gazing out to sea through a porthole.
SLASH OBJECTS, COEXIST DAYBED Slash Objects, founded by Arielle Assouline-Lichten and part of Slash Projects, is the 2019 American Design Honors recipient. The Greenpoint studio specializes in unconventional material combinations—think postconsumer recycled rubber with concrete, marble, and brass.
Courtesy the designer and the manufacturer
SLASH OBJECTS, COEXIST DAYBED Slash Objects, founded by Arielle Assouline-Lichten and part of Slash Projects, is the 2019 American Design Honors recipient. The Greenpoint studio specializes in unconventional material combinations—think postconsumer recycled rubber with concrete, marble, and brass.
AURORA LAMPWORKS, THE MOBILE FROM THE DAWN COLLECTION These original light fixtures are designed and produced by Dawn Ladd of Aurora Lampworks, a studio that specializes in antique lighting and restoration.
Courtesy the designer and the manufacturer
AURORA LAMPWORKS, THE MOBILE FROM THE DAWN COLLECTION These original light fixtures are designed and produced by Dawn Ladd of Aurora Lampworks, a studio that specializes in antique lighting and restoration.
ARMADA, CHAIR From a studio in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Armada designs and manufactures custom wooden furniture, like this chair of oxidized oak, putting a modern twist on classic designs.
Courtesy the designer and the manufacturer
ARMADA, CHAIR From a studio in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Armada designs and manufactures custom wooden furniture, like this chair of oxidized oak, putting a modern twist on classic designs.
BLACKTABLE, COLUMN TABLE Founded in 2013 by Colombian-born architect Carlos Meza, Blacktable creates works that combine craft and traditional materials with the latest in digital manufacturing technology. The Column tables are constructed of birch plywood, bent and finished to look as though milled from a single piece of wood.
Courtesy the designer and the manufacturer
BLACKTABLE, COLUMN TABLE Founded in 2013 by Colombian-born architect Carlos Meza, Blacktable creates works that combine craft and traditional materials with the latest in digital manufacturing technology. The Column tables are constructed of birch plywood, bent and finished to look as though milled from a single piece of wood.
