Pushing Boundaries..

I've collected some interesting images of products that are pushing the boundaries of what we think furniture, lighting, and even postcards should be:

Upon a fold remakes a traditional card into a 3D Escher experience:

 paper art to new levels:

 'air vases' that are definitely not your traditional vessel...

Ross Lovegrove's System X light takes fluorescent lighting to a new level:

This furniture from  EDRA redefines the norm on seating and tables:

Anemone Chair

Baghdad Tables

Corallo Chair

Capriccio Table

and this chair is really pushing boundaries, (if not sat upon correctly), it's called the Anthurium,
also from Edra. :))

Sunny Days

Just a few days past the official start of Spring, and jealous winter has decided to teach us a lesson. What do we get? A bad argument of snow, wind and grey skies.  What do I want? Warmth and sunny skies of course. Well even if I can't have it from my window, I will make my own destination vacation right here. I've decided to post some images from a past visit to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, Ontario when the winds were warm and the grass was green...

                                                               my daughter feeding the birds...

                                                            my son watching the water skating bugs...

I realize I'm not the only one trying to harness the sun.. check out how Danish Architects Bjarke Ingels Group have won a competition to masterplan a new gateway to Stockholm at the intersection of two motorways.

  The project seems to have 'eclipsed' Stockholm's Skyline with what I can only say looks like a second sun, but is actually a floating mirrored sphere... 30% of that sphere’s surface is covered with Photovoltaic film that faces the sun and produces enough energy to keep it floating while supplying 235 houses in the neighborhood with electricity!

The gateway is a connection to several neighborhoods within Stockholm and the self sustaining floating sphere will create a 180 degree view of the area for the drivers on their way in or out of the city...

They have also designed parkland with foot paths along the gateway to shopping centers a hammam and a mosque...

Color Me Happy!! Color Trend 2012

I was perusing Benjamin Moore's Color Pulse for 2012 and instead of just scanning it in, I thought I would find some images that show some of the newest trends in color for the next year.


(photo  by Roland Perrson)
Benjamin Moores: PT-230 Buttercream Pearl


(photo  by Roland Perrson)
Benjamin Moores: 279 Hollywood Gold/ Gold Metallic -10


(photo  by Roland Perrson)
Benjamin Moore's 733 Palm Coast Teal



(image from Great Interior Design)
Benjamin Moore 2023-20 Baby Chick



(interior image from Elle Decor)
Benjamin Moore 2168-10 Fall Harvest

(photo  by Roland Perrson)
Benjamin Moore's 2033-33 Fresh Scent Green


(image from Design Crisis)
Benjamin Moore: 2028-40 Pear Green


(image by Elle Decor/Henry Bourne)
Benjamin Moore 2011-10 Orange

Speaking of happy, check out these fantastically coloured fabrics and paintings from Helen Dardik:

 

Silk Purses from a Sow's Ear

Technology and ingenuity has enabled people to turn solid materials such as stone and wood into light and malleable finishes, take a look at some of these examples:

Trend tile has come up with a new way to use their mosiac tiles, by creating a patterned tile block made to be applied to walls, resembling fine wallpaper, it takes the guess work out of creating a special design.

Check out this laminated glass from Living Glass, the only laminated glass that claims to be made from 100% recycled glass and resin, in these images above, the glass has a layer of Barkskin in the middle. Barkskin is a thin layer of bark that is pounded down and used to create some pretty interesting wallcoverings.

This is Bits Bench by Fulo:

the 'upholstery' of the furniture object is constructed of hundreds of small triangles cut from birch plywood. 

the result is a faceted, geometric surface which looks tough and hardy from its exterior, but when sat upon, one feels the softness and comfort of the bench's interior. 'bits' includes a bolster that acts as a pillow allowing it to be used either as a lounge bench or that can be adjusted to accommodate one's seating mannerisms. 

While we're playing with wood as upholstery:

this wooden carpet by Elisa Strozyk shows how a seeming brittle material such as wood can become completely malleable, Strozyk applies veneer offcuts to fabric to create carpets, fabrics and furniture.