furniture

Designer Mauro Canfori is probably best known for his work with colleague Emanuela Destro and the collaboration they call Teracrea. The objective was to create new paradigms for interior landscaping, or “to introduce greenery into internal architecture and offer new solutions to traditional pots for outdoor plants.” In their efforts to work with containers of materials besides terracotta, they enlisted the services of none other than The Bouroullecs, the Campanas, and Konstantin Grcic, among others. Canfori’s latest endeavor is a different kind of indoor adornment, but no less auspicious, and one nearer and dearer to my heart, in fact: TEEbooks is a simple shelving system that lets you line your walls with books in all sorts of unconventional arrangements. Any shelves facilitating library configurations like “Symétrique,” “Grande Mixte,” and “Linéaire” are sure to be on any bibliophiles watch list.
Buren. Designed by Mauro Canfori.
The genius of TEEbooks is that the shelves allow horizontal and vertical expansion via an interlocking modular system of asymmetrical units. Horizontal shelves connect with “L” or “T” shapes (they’re actually closer to an “F” without the top line), which enables the deceptively precarious look of a tower of books—ascending the wall like the sight line on a skyscraper. The structure of the shelves remains hidden behind the displayed books, creating the logorrheic illusion of books and nothing but books upon your walls: criss-crossing like intersecting streets with “Chicane,” arranged in a perfectly symmetrical suspension of disbelief with “Judd,” or inscribed on the wall as an arcane spiritual symbology with “Double Croix.”

Linéare. Designed by Mauro Canfori.

Chicane. Designed by Mauro Canfori.

Domino. Designed by Mauro Canfori.

Double Croix. Designed by Mauro Canfori.

Grande Mixte. Designed by Mauro Canfori.
Another option with TEEbooks is to forge a perfectly conventional pattern—minimalist and spare as in “Buren,” or shabbily chic as shown by “Linéaire.” Canfori designed the concept with versatility in mind. So whether you prefer to eschew art in favor of a mural-sized picture in books, or use the birch plywood and metal shelving to complement your reading tastes as well as your assorted knick-knackery, Teebooks has the look you’re after.

You’ll remember that last week we examined how a burgeoning Australian technology to process a sustainable crop resulted in a House Made of Hemp stateside in Asheville, NC. Today we’re going back down under to profile Yamba, Australia’s Zaishu. The company was launched by designers Matthew Butler and Helen Punton back in 2004 at Melbourne’s Center for Contemporary Art. They focus on producing functional, ecologically-sound, sustainable, and aesthetically engaging furniture. And just like the literary Oulipians before them, the ostensible constraint is actually an inspiration: “We believe the things with which we surround ourselves can be made sustainably without compromising their design or quality.” A case in point is Zaishu’s series of flat-pack stools/chairs/tables. As the word “Zaishu” originated as a Japanese term for a seat without legs, these versatile, five-piece, easy-to-assemble, easy-to-transport works of art derive from the iconography of the traditional Kimono. The Zaishu Stool. Designed by Matthew Butler and Helen Punton.
Like a deconstructed Rorschach image, Zaishu appears in Kimono form only in its unassembled incarnation. Laid flat, the five components of the slot-together piece outline the Kimono’s basic shape, but when fully assembled, the Zaishu Stool is solid, versatile, easy-to-move, rife for creative use, and beautifully adorned. The decorative aspect of Zaishu is owed to design commissions with “traditional Indian sign-writers, graffiti artists, school kids, tribal artists and many more.” The look of the four pieces is somewhere along the continuum between Chris Rucker and Basquiat; they have a street-savvy that’s nicely counterbalanced by an elegant touch and an imagistic simplicity.

As to the environmental aspect, each stool is made of Native Australian Hoop Pine from sustainable forests. Zaishu sources all materials locally and assembles every stool at their own studio following comprehensive guidelines for ethical manufacture. Paints and varnishes are water based, and the five pieces are packaged for shipping in a re-usable and sustainably harvested cotton bag. And their screw-less, nail-less, glue-less, and tool-less assembly saves further resources—all of which translates to an effective and beautiful blueprint for how to go green.

Pretty amazing stuff! That's my picture.click here for more-joel

Multi-functional sleepers that don’t require a set a swimmer’s lungs to inflate or a posh extra bedroom are often the most gratifying choice for both houseguest and resident alike. So in honor of the 2010 Habitare fair in Helsinki that recently came to a close, I am reminded of the 2009 standout Sofabed design - literally, that is its name - by Harri Koskinen that boomed after it’s debut at the 2009 Habitare fair and 2009 Salone in Milan.
Sofabed. Designed by Harri Koskinen.
Featured in top design blogs Apartment Therapy and Dezeen following its presence in the trade show circuit, Sofabed’s ability to stretch out or contract was an attractive feature to modern design enthusiasts. The clean lines and intuitive folding system comfortably seats three. For sleeping however, the Sofabed can handle up to four guests. The large backrest unfolds into a double-thick bed that looks like a thick bench on four wooden legs, or can be removed completely and made into an extra floor mattress for those more-the-merrier nights. Any way you swing it, the sleeper never looks like a bed pulled out from underneath its sofa haunches. In fact, the pieces come apart and fit together in a dignified manner, with not springs or lumpy mattresses to speak of.

Besides the 2009 fervor it created as the featured piece in the front room of the Harri Koskinen and Friends of Industry Studio booth in Helsinki, Wallpaper magazine awarded Koskinen’s Sofabed the 2010 Best in Domestic Design Award. It comes as a sequel to the Finnish designer’s previous sleeper sofa that he designed in 2000. The dimensions of the upholstered sleeper sofa are 240 x 110 cm (94.5”W x 43.4”D).
Whether you keep it as a sofa or pull it out into its multiple resting possibilities, the Scandinavian-designed Sofabed by Harri Koskinen is a stress-free sight for your living area’s sore eyes - and those of weary, traveling friends.

As borderline OCD types, we find something deeply satisfying going through the pages of thoughtfully organized arrangements of random items over at Things Organized Neatly. Inspired by the these collections of similar items in large groupings, I asked each of the Unplggd team to share their own tech gear organized in similar fashion to share and reveal what they use on an everyday basis.Read Full Post

Love this stackable, modular storage unit from CB2.

© 2010 Design Milk | Posted by Jaime in Home Furnishings | Permalink | No comments | Tweet This | Share on Facebook

A cool teen bedroom design isn’t the simplest thing to do. Although here, on DigsDigs, we’re very passionate about it. We already showed you some interesting teen, boys and girls rooms but we always search for more. Teen bedrooms that you can find on pictures below are designed with furniture by big Italian furniture manufacturer, Corazzin group. They mostly are very thoughtful and stylish. Interesting furniture solutions allow to create uncluttered spaces where teens could study, sleep and meet with friends. In case you need some ideas to design bedroom for your growing kid, you definitely can learn something from these pictures.

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© Courtesy of Claesson Koivisto RuneArchitects: Claesson Koivisto Rune Location: Kyoto, Japan Project team: Mårten Claesson, Eero Koivisto, Ola Rune, Kumi Nakagaki, Patrick Coan Client: Shigeo Mashiro, Ricordi & Sfera co., ltd. Contractor: Sugawara Construction co., ltd. Total floor area: 1,200 sqm Project Year: 2003 Photographs: Åke E:son Lindman, Nacasa & Partners inc., Johan Fowelindiagram 01diagram 02The Sfera Building is a culture centre in Gion containing an art gallery, a design shop, an art book and music store, restaurants, offices and a café.© Courtesy of Claesson Koivisto Rune© Courtesy of Claesson Koivisto RuneGion is the traditional district of Kyoto. The centuries old low, wooden houses share a typical feature: the sunscreen, made of bamboo, wood or rice paper. We wanted to find a way to make a screen that did the same thing, but in a new way. We picked some leaves from a small cherry tree. In our office, we laid the cherry leaves on a light-table and photographed them. Our leaf image transformed, with the help of computers, into a punched-hole pattern. The resulting facades were a ”leaf screen” that had a monolithic appearance, yet was actually transparent: a titanium veil, creating an intricate play of light and shadow on the interior.© Courtesy of Claesson Koivisto Rune Sfera Building / Claesson Koivisto Rune originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 09 Sep 2010.send to Twitter | Share on Facebook | What do you think about this?

We've been talking a lot about recycling and repurposing tech this month and there's a good reason. Well, the main reason is because it's a responsible and proactive way to deal with the never-ending disposable industry that we all love so much! Why not hold onto our beloved tech for just a while longer instead of tossing it to the curb? There are companies that thrive on this, Etsy being one of them!Read Full Post

If you've ever read Michael Pollan's A Place of My Own (a DIY Odyssey that details the shed-making process) you know that it takes some serious time and skills to build a freestanding backyard office. That's one reason why off-the-shelf sheds — like these from California-based Modern Spaces — are so appealing.Read Full Post

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Canon EOS Rebel T2i 15MP SLR Digital Camera w/ Lens + Canon PRO9000 Wide-Format Printer $878AR
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