News And Updates
If you’re wondering what I did before I started this blog a week and a half ago, take a look at my design posts from LiveJournal.
e²: The Economies of Being Environmentally Consious is a multipart series from PBS that explores the many aspects of environmentally responsible design. The first topic is Design: e², hosted by Brad Pitt, and produced by Kontentreal. It was developed as a six part series, with topics ranging from green skyscraper design, to recycling Big Dig parts for an amazing residential project, to plans that could make China not only an economical powerhouse, but an environmentally conscious one at that.
Future e² topics will include Water, Energy, Food, Transortation, Botanicals, Textiles, and Health.
WGBH Boston (Channel 2) is going to be showing all six parts of Design: e² “stacked” back-to-back starting at noon tomorrow. The weather report isn’t promising, so you might not have anything better to do. Watch Design: e²
My friend Chris from DWR on Tremont St told me about the reopening of Vessel’s flagship Boston location. Vessel is a product design firm with some brilliant pieces for your home. From dinnerware, to lighting, to furniture and more, they’ve got an intriguing take on what you’re looking for, with nearly the perfect blend of form and function – after all, what good is it if it doesn’t do something?
The reason Vessel is reopening is because, after being open less than a year, they outgrew their space and had to expand. Pretty impressive! Aside from more room for their products, they have also included exhibit space to “feature rotating exhibits curated by Vessel founders, Duane Smith and Stefane Barbeau. The first exhibit will introduce new work by local furniture designer, Ben Durrell.”
Vessel Boston reopened as of yesterday (a day late, a dollar short, right?), and they’re having a reopening celebration and exhibit launch party on October 19. They are located at 125 Kingston St, in the Financial District. If you can’t make it there, you can also get Vessel products from various retailers, like Koo de Kir in Beacon Hill, the Institute of Contemporary Art (once it opens) on the Waterfront, or Whole Food Markets throughout New England.
You live in the city. You’ve got a little garden, a patch of green against the urban grey landscape. What do you add to your garden to spice it up, make it yours? One of those little gnomes? Uh uh. A flamingo? Heck no! No, you’re going to add an Urban Gnome!
Found via electro^plankton, they’re called Gno, they are one of a few new products from Vitamin Living that do very well following the company’s motto: “A Life Less Ordinary”. The come in an assortment of styles. Personally, I would go with either the goofy, toothy love gno, or these mean looking gno’s. Nothing keeps the rodents out like an army of Gno’s with the punisher face!
Congratulations to Maxwell and Mary Kate Gillingham-Ryan. Not only do they run the astonishingly popular blog ApartmentTherapy, but, after more than 50 hours of labor, they are the proud parents of a brand new baby girl! Surely, this little one has an inborn knack for spacial relationships and how color wakes up a room!
How they’re going to live, work, and raise baby in their 250 sq. ft. apartment, I have no idea. Good luck you guys!
Edit: Here’s a link to the original post on AT.
For all the “fun” kids can have on your walls, this is probably one of the most fun and least destructive. MagScapes, a product from the British company Pepper-mint, is a combination of magnet receptive wallpaper and precision-cut magnetic decorative motifs. You can pick and choose from a variety of each to make a completely personal, customizable wall design. If you get bored with it, you can simply rearrange the motifs, and – voila! – a new wall.
While not exactly inexpensive (the wallpaper is £50-£95 per roll, and the motifs are £50 per set), this could be a slick way to dress up a wall in the kids’ room or the living room. As much as I think kids would love this, I’m sure I would have a blast too.
IF YOUR HOME DOESN’T STAND OUT, DON’T BLAME US
With that headline, BoConcept announces their new 2006-07 collection. Featuring new products like the incredible Solo Chaise chair and the Limo bed (both from $849), there is plenty of drool-worthy furniture in the catalog.
You can pick up the new catalog at the Boston-area BoConcept on Mass. Ave. in Cambridge, or you can download it from their website.
Reluct, a design news & blog site from the Netherlands, posted a link today to De Maria’s, a Dutch design firm with some surprisingly chic lamp shades with high res pictures of attractive girls. Not so much for a residence, but I think these might look cool in a salon or chic clothing store. Check out the sight, but be warned: It’s in Dutch, and the free translation site I tried didn’t do so well.
There’s another magazine with a money-winning contest, but you’ll have to do more that hit “enter” to win $10,000 in Metropolis Magazine’s 2007 Next Generation Competition. They wrote it just about best, so here’s their take:
If you’ve ever bought something – particularly something large – from IKEA, you may enjoy this.