Desire of the Day: Linda Steen and Lena Axelsson's Spinnaker Chair

I've been thinking about packing it up and moving to the beach a LOT lately with my husband and two terriers in tow. My husband has a small sail boat. It is nice to sit quietly on his boat and watch him steer the waters with his Popeye arms. I close my eyes and pretend we are somewhere else -- the clear blue waters of the Caribbean or even the deep and dark waters of a Scottish loch. These brown lakes in Missouri where we sail just do not do it for me.

Or perhaps I can squash this restless feeling by bringing a bit of the sailing feeling home. Literally. Designed by the Norwegians Linda Steen and Lena Axelsson, the Spinnaker Chair is  produced in Norway by Hødnebø.  Named after the sleek curves of a spinnaker sail, the Spinnaker chair supposedly simulates the feeling of floating.

You can customize it to your liking by choosing from a variety of colors of leather or canvas cushions. The backing? Recycled old sails.



The spring steel frame is powder varnished which comes in black, steel grey or white. The frame has a slight curve at the front rail preventing the constriction of blood circulation the legs. A great idea as I sit here typing this post shaking my feet awake in my most uncomfortable desk chair. It also has a loaded tilt function which can be locked into three different positions to recline. The canvas or leather is stretched over three carbon ribs by comfortable foam cushions (not like those old foam seats which have hardened after 50 years). And, the best part, it swivels 360 degrees.

I will never tire of a swivel chair. I used to make myself sick as a child spinning around and around in my grandfather’s living room chair until I was scolded to stop.

The chair also comes with an optional foot stool.

What I like the most is that the design of the chair was collaborated by two WOMEN. Linda Steen (left) who established Studio Scenario in 1985, which is now one of the largest interior design company in Norway. And Lena Axelsson who just turning 40 has quite an impressive design resume.

And by the way, no one is paying me for writing anything. otherwise, i would be writing this from the beach.

Images from Studio Scenario  and Spinnaker

Women in Design:: Azadeh Shladovsky

I love seeing the success of well-trained designers. My fellow alumni, (UCLA’s architecture and interior design program), Azadeh Shladovsky has been building a practice for seven years.

A great design talent and founder of her own multidisciplinary firm, she premiered her collection of nature-inspired furniture at Jean de Merry.

She marries wood, metal and fur in a non-formulaic manner.

Petit Chene Side Table

love the rough-hewn oak blocks juxtaposed with the sleek, cold steel...

Diva Stool


She uses the principles of proportion, scale, balance and color -- something, i feel, a lot of furniture forms are lacking today.

Torre Stool

 
A tension of contrasts: soft v. hard, lustrous v. matte, sinuous v. linear
 

Infinity+++ Bench

 Beautiful, powerful visual expressions.


All images from Azadeh Shladovsky

Item of the Day:: Planter Table by Emily Wettstein

I'm not getting any exercise. After the terribly long and cold winter, I made myself promise to run several miles a day. Now that spring has arrived, I still haven't upheld this declaration. I've been walking. Slowly. There are too many glorious tulips to see. Cut tulips don't seem to last that long and there isn't enough impact when potted for the indoors. And then I came across this:

Emily Wettstein's Table.

The 25-year old Brooklyn resident created this reclaimed timber and metal dining table she designed for her graduate school application.

A pair of reclaimed walnut planks raised in 1/4" sheets of steel. The sinuous, elliptical shaped opening between the planks reveals a Lucite planter underneath -- very unexpected. (And very feminine.) I love the rough rigid rusted steel sheets (very masculine) juxtaposed by the warm patina of the curving wood, and then finished off with the textural lushness of the grass. This is where I'd plant my tulips. See more of her stuff HERE ; (all images from her site). Down, down kitty!

Designer: Johnny Swing

Johnny Swing is a pseudonym for a furniture designer who has created a series of chairs using ordinary items as material for his work. He is a trained sculptor and licensed welder, and not a porn star as his name might suggest. (Did anyone else think that?)

Born in Salisbury, Connecticut in 1961, he studied at Skidmore College (I almost went there) and then the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. He has been working as a professional artist for the past two decades: first in NYC’s Greenwich Village and now on his farm in Vermont. His past experience includes creating furniture and interiors for corporate clients, as well as appearing on the Discovery Channel show, "Junkyard Wars” (2001-2003 seasons). His works can be found in the Robert Crowell Museum in Newfane, Vermont and the Storm King Arts Center, Mountainville, New York.

His interest in coins isn’t anything new. When he was five, he set up a toll both during his parent’s parties where guests would have to buy one of his drawings before they were allowed to pass through the hallway.

Johnny Swing has created his Obsessive Furniture Line which makes use of common, everyday materials like glass jars, nickels and coins repurposing them to give new life to ordinary objects.

He has also created a series of chairs created from coins -- functional furniture creations which also serve as unique pieces of sculpture.

QUARTER SIDE CHAIR (2002)
This is the fourth in his coin series, but my favorite. The coins are not welded together which lends to a clean, floating appearance. Instead, they are held together with a U-shaped metal wire which is welded at the back side edges of the coins. The legs are stainless steel.


Some critics have said he defacing money by using it in this manner. But there is something so slick, cool and shimmery about his chairs -- like a bonefish quietly swimming in shallow, brilliant tropical waters before it darts away. At first, they seem unyielding and cold, but there is something so tactile and intriguing. I’ve been reading that one of these chairs will set you back anywhere from $10,000 each to $25,000.

NICKEL COUCH (2001)

This sofa is the second in a series of furniture made from coins. Created from 7,000 nickels, it is fixed together with 35,000 welds and rests on a substructure of stainless truss work. It weighs about 125-lbs. Johnny Swing spends about 300 hours sculpting one of these. I read it retailed for $51,000 a few years back.

Above is the artist in his creation. However, there is something about this arm I find a little… threatening. Anyone see this too?


BUTTERFLY CHAIR (2002)
This is the third in the series: each chair uses 1500 half dollars and is created with 7000 welds. It looks comfortable, no doubt. I’d put a pillow behind my head, curl up sideways and flip on Bravo TV. (A bit reminiscent of Eero Saarinen’s Womb Chair.)



You can purchase this one on Vivre for a small $59,000 – yes, the amount of 0s I typed are correct.

See more on his Johnny Swing site HERE ; And on Design Boom ; Top image from Metropolis Magazine click HERE to read an interview

Anyone? Thoughts?

Designer: Piet Boon

“Don’t build anything that you cannot design brilliantly; don’t design anything you can’t build. Believe in your own handwriting.” -- Piet Boon

Dutch furniture and interior designer, Piet Boon, is involved in every aspect of the design process. This is his design philosophy which functions as the catalyst and infiltrates all of his creations. He believes design must be well thought out. This is one reason why I love his work. As a trained designer, I have worked for a few designers who didn’t think the process through from concept to completion, and thereafter: What is the intension? What is the problem to be solved? Will the object work within the space? Will the materials hold up to the purpose?

Design does not simply mean “fashionable”, “chic” or “up-to-date”. Design is to be utilized. It is about the study of people and their environments. We exist in our environments; we need and use the objects within them. Design is about the relationship between people, their objects, and the space in which exist.

Piet Boon began his career as a building contractor and in 1982 established Piet Boon Studio just outside of Amsterdam. He teams with his wife, Karin, to run a design studio -- they have a team of architects and designers. Some of his latest projects include Delano Hotel in Las Vegas, and a hotel on St Barth.

He uses natural materials, sturdy design and durable products. He believes design must be timeless and last. I have a tendency to study designer’s furniture creations. Closely. Some of my favorites:

'Heit' Swivel Chair

'Kaat' Tables

But one design that has really caught my eye is his 'Hot Kroon' chandelier.

Creepy and unsettling.

But utterly fantastic!

Available in a 5-arm or 18-arm chandelier, black or white, the fixtures are covered with polyurethane. Each one is hand created and each one is different.



An action or a movement caught in a moment and suspended in time.

Rendering of Hof Van Saksen Restaurant

Hof Van Saksen Restaurant with the 'Hot Kroon' chandeliers.

Visit his site HERE. If you are drawn to his work, you will be memorized.


Top image title page of his most recent book from Amazon, the art work, I believe is by Rachel Lee Hovnanian, portrait photo from Nilson Beds, all remaining photos from his website, (two interiors of a NYC residence on 5th Ave).

Death of the Dumbwaiter

So it was called, and not insultingly either. In the early eighteenth century, came a piece of furniture that began as a luxury and then turned into a necessity. Dining was a more informal affair back then. People wanted to talk to each other while they were eating. Small rooms were designed for dining, followed by a vogue for little suppers with friends. Gone were the days of formal, rigid etiquette and ceremony. Ingenious little devices were invented to help promote this more intimate manner of feeding.

The dumbwaiter was invented sometime during the first quarter of the eighteenth century. They were so efficient and utilitarian that they played a major role in making dining a more friendly and simple affair.

Garth’s Auctions August 2007 offered up this mahogany dumbwaiter, circa 1760-1780. It has three graduated circular shelves, the lower two rotate; raised on tapered ring turned supports, tripod base with cabriole legs and pad feet.

The dumbwaiter has a central shaft that supported graduating circular trays; often these trays revolved. They were raised on a tripod base. Thomas Sheraton, one of the legendary English furniture designers, proclaimed the dumbwaiter to be, "A useful piece of furniture, to serve in some respects the place of a waiter, whence it [was] so named." The absence of a real servant was conducive to a more intimate dining. The dumbwaiter was usually placed at the corner of a dining table to store additional plates and cutlery. Maybe even a little pudding and cheese. After-dinner glasses and other dining accoutrements were placed on the stand.

Their popularity quickly spread to France. Louis XV adored his intimate dining affairs, because they enabled him to rub knees with the beautiful damsels he insisted to accompany him to dine.

Brunk Auctions, October 2002: An 18th century English mahogany dumbwaiter. Three tiers with molded edges, tripod base, original iron spider.

Thomas Jefferson was fond of them. He lived in France from 1784 to 1789 succeeding Benjamin Franklin as minister. Before returning to America, he packed up several dumbwaiters and transported them to his famous Monticello home in Virginia.

He preferred the dumbwaiters to be raised on small casters which could be wheeled about allowing his servants to swiftly and quietly bring food into the dining room without disturbing his conversations. The dumbwaiter would be placed (by one of his slaves) next to the edge of the table, where Jefferson and his fellow diners could serve themselves. So fond was Jefferson of the dumbwaiters that he had Philadelphia cabinet makers -- Joseph and Henry Ingle -- create even more in the 1790s.


Available at Florian Papp.

By that time, the dumbwaiter had become very popular in America. Woodworkers began to make more elaborate versions of the simple design that Jefferson had embraced. Gothic fretwork, leaf molding and curves of all kinds were used to decorate a piece. Early in the nineteenth century, marble was utilized for the trays. The marble kept bottles of wine deliciously cool, which diners appreciated. Sometimes the shelves were used as knife trays; sometimes holes were cut in the shelves which proved very handy for holding the bottles in place.

Wheathills in Derbyshire offers this George III mahogany folding top, two-tier dumb waiter with graduated swivel tiers on an urn-shaped column. Note the brass castors.

Circular trays were cut along a flat line to show off the fine quality of mahogany, usually imported from the Caribbean. The slightest of rims kept the wine bottles and glasses from tipping onto the floor. By Victorian era, the designs of dumbwaiters had become eclectic and idiosyncratic. Some had holes lined with tin to hold bottles and decanters.


Pook & Pook in January 2007 sold this Regency mahogany dumbwaiter with two dished tiers joined by brass columns, nice rope carved standard, raised on acanthus downward sloping legs terminating in brass casters.


The dumb waiter flourished and then it died off. It served its purpose and then for what ever reason it vanished. I remembered seeing a few here and there as a kid, tucked in a corner of a room kept for sentimental reasons. But no one seemed to ever use them. Do we ever see them today?

Designer: Frank Ligthart - Obelisk

Inspiration comes from a variety and a surprisingly array of sources. We never know what will strike us. After all, E. L. Doctorow leaned back in his chair one day and stared at a patch of stain on the ceiling. From that single image, he created Ragtime.

Dutch-born designer Frank Ligthart was inspired by the ancient Neolithic standing stones of Carnac, France.

He created a set of furniture – four chairs and a table – with each piece on its own usable and interesting, yet harmonious when all fit together. It creates an 8'-0” tall sculptural structure by stacking four chairs and a table together in the form of an upright torpedo. He calls it Obelisk.

His Obelisk furniture is much more comfortable that the stones of France. While it may not last all those years, it is plenty durable. The fibers are woven by hand over lightweight and rustproof frames. It resists stains, ultraviolet light and bacteria.

It is also a space saver -- when stacked, the obelisk forms take up less than 4’-0” of floor space.

Yes? No? Maybe So? Would any of you place these furniture items on your patio in the back yard? Around a pool? Leave the obelisk structure in the corner of the yard when not in use?

Available in platinum as shown in the top images, but also in smoke. Janus et Cie carries this for Dedon for just a mere $7,870...

Yes? No? Maybe So?

Could it be? What is old is new again: antiques are coming back in favor? For about the last decade, modern furniture and interiors have reigned. Modern and contemporary furniture have fetched incredibly high prices at auction and asking prices at retail have been higher than a four-year private college education. Perhaps, people are seeing the warmth, beauty and historical importance of antiques once again?

After all, many “new” furniture pieces by designers have been inspired by old designs. But that is a post for a later time.

Antique furniture has had it rough lately, and especially in the last eighteen months. Although 2008 saw some high prices at the higher end of the market, the middle market tanked. With the collapse of Lehman Brothers, fewer homes sales and a plunging stock market, sales of antique items showed even larger decline. Items were barely moving at auction, and if they did some pieces reached a quarter of the hammer price from just a little over a year ago. Some retail dealers priced their stock significantly lower. By the fourth quarter of last year, the top end of the market has also bombed.

Personally, I was so pleased to read about designers beginning to incorporate antiques into their designs. Wendy Moonan wrote about this in the NY Times on the annual Kips Bay decorator show house. (You can read this here)

So, what do we think? With a little creativity and some cash in our pockets, would any of you incorporate the following items into your homes? What would you pair one of these items with? How would you recover some of these chairs for a cleaner, more stylish look?

1. A pair of Directoire Fauteuils? (Christie’s, Paris - April 7, 2009)

2. A Late George II Giltwood Overmantle Mirror. (Christie's, London - July 12, 2007). Would you use this? It is big – 66” x 66½ “.

3. A George III Satinwood, Mahogany and Amaranth Marquetry Demi-Lune Commode (Christie’s, London - March 18, 2009)

4. A Neoclassical white marble, green-painted, parcel-gilt and faux-marble decorated console table. Swedish? German? (Sotheby’s, NYC April 3, 2009.) Would you put a mirror over this? A painting? A series of etchings or old maps?

5. A Regency Mahogany Daybed (Christie’s, London - June 7, 2007)
Where would you put this? And what upholstery would you recover it in? (I think the lines on this is fab…)

6. A Pair of George III Black Japanned Armchairs (Sotheby’s, London - May 17, 2005)

7. Vargueno?

8. A Swedish Neoclassical ormolu, cut-glass and sea blue twelve-light chandelier, (Sotheby’s, NYC - April 3, 2009). I forgot to document the size, but I recall the diameter was not that big. I was searching for this stuff very late at night. Make up your own size? Would you use this in a saucy bathroom? Bedroom? Foyer? Modern retractable glassed-in room?

9. A Pair of George Mahogany Hall Chairs, (Sotheby’s, NYC - April 5, 2006). Oil the wood a bit and then place them against a wall in a wide hallway and marry it with a bright, bold graphic rug? Yes no? Intriguing or unsettling?

10. Papier-Mâché Table - (Stamford Auction, Norwalk, CT, February 11, 2007). In an all-white room?

11. An English Mahogany Gout Stool from the eighteenth century? (Canterbury Auction Galleries: West Canterbury, Kent, UK - September 16, 2008)

Recover it and push up against the window for a little dog or cat to recline and gaze out to watch the birds outside? Or the traffic? Or so they can watch for that particular mail man that they detest?

Just for fun:

12. Would anyone want this? Those who don't would you at least dare yourself to touch the bellies of these little frogs? (Desert West Auction Service: Mimbres, New Mexico, US - November 22, 2008). Cool or creepy?