Nano Caffè - Contemporary Space - Firenze

In the weekend we met for a drink with our friend Giorgio and his parrot Gino at the Nano Caffè in Sant'Ambrogio, Firenze. I really love this part of the city (I told you before and I will do it again and again). ça bouge!

Grey Herons on the Arno

I wish you a nice weekend with the photos of a grey heron I took yesterday along the Arno river.
:-)
L

July Wishlist (and DIY sugar scrub)

Sales has begun, check out these items a.s.a.p. if you like one or more of them. I will work 'hard' at Rhiannon's sugar scrub in the meantime!
01: Cursive letter necklace designed by Olive Yew ( Available in gold, rose gold, or silver) from Uncovet (on sale) | 02: Silk tunic from Cuyana | 03: Schuler and Sons piper clogs in peach from Anthropologie (on sale) | 04: DIY Body Scrub Favor from Rhiannon (free recipe).

House of Finn Juhl - Onecollection A/S - furniture nerds!

Nyhavn Table and Sideboard Unit

Ivan Hansen and Henrik Sørensen  founded Onecollection A/S in 1990 with the simple purpose to find talented and cosy architects to design furniture and a network of competent subcontractors to produce it. 

The company built up a design furniture collection cooperating, between the others, with designer Erla Solveig Oskarsdottir, architects Søren Holst and Henrik Tengler.

In 1998, a big opportunity came! Finn Juhl’s widow, Hanne Wilhelm Hansen asked Onecollection A/S if they could help her make one of Finn Juhl’s sofas – Model 57.

Hanne Wilhelm Hansen wanted to have a single unit of the sofa produced for an exhibition that she wanted to arrange in honour of Finn Juhl, one of the most important pioneers in Danish design history. 

This was a fantastic challenge and the beginning of a new chapter in Onecollection’s history.

"The 57 sofa was a fantastic piece of furniture with design and craftsmanship qualities that we had not worked with before. We studied Finn Juhl’s materials and archives in detail and asked Hanne for permission to re-launch the Poeten sofa and the Pelikan chair. And we got it. We got free access to Finn Juhl’s house where Hanne lived and consulted Mr. Oda’s furniture collection in Japan. Thanks to the help of skilful craftsmen, we recreated these two models. It was a gamble on our side. Finn Juhl’s furniture had not been exhibited for many years and had, by and large, been forgotten outside the art and design history circles."

The next step was to take over all of the rights to Finn Juhl’s furniture. "We were simply not thinking rationally of the consequences – and thank God for that. Finn Juhl’s furniture consists of masterpieces which are expensive to develop, manufacture and, in particular, to hold in stock – and the sales were small...

In reality, our models were manufactured exactly like the furniture in Finn Juhl’s own house. The only difference was today’s possibilities to use high-technology CNC machines which, together with our craftsmanship, provided unique opportunities for the furniture’s organic mode of expression and the delicate seams that were supposed to withstand everyday use."

Actually, the collection contains more than 20 models and it is sold all over the world. His 100th anniversary was celebrated in 2012 with a number of special exhibitions in Denmark and abroad – a real fairy tale!

FJ Panel System

"On 1 December 1990, we started operations with two old tables and a couple of Børge Mogensen chairs in my mother’s laundry room in Odense... We bought an old, second-hand Renault Traffic delivery van for 18,200 Danish kroner. The sign printed in big letters on the side of the van said “Lucas batterier”... We loaded a chair, a table, a sofa and a couple of tea light candlesticks drawn by Søren Holst into the van and threw ourselves into a staggering adventure. A lot could have happened differently but it could have hardly been more fun. We created our own lifestyle which simply did not include premeditated decisions."

Read Ivan and Henrik's story here

Finn Juhl in Milano Furniture Fair - the Pelican Chair and FJ Panel System

Poet Sofa

46 Sofa in Chelsea Hotel Cologne

Kari Herer Photography

Magnolia Bug N. 6657

Look carefully at the picture above: the insect is printed and its body is composed by white petals. A perfect composition of shape and colors.

These are only two between the beautiful works of the photographer Kari Herer.

Drawing on her experience in the fine arts and graphic design, as well as her deep love of nature, Kari provides her clients with professional fine art and portrait photography. In Kari's portfolio: portraits, weddings, interiors, and still life, my preferred category where you can find more works as the ones in this post. See more on Kary's website or on her Etsy shop. 

Magnolia Bug No. 4334

Renzo Piano: Diogene - Vitra’s smallest building but largest product

Diogene is the new design element developed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano and added to the Vitra Campus from June 2013.

Diogene, named after the antique philosopher Diogenes (who is said to have lived in a barrel because he considered worldly luxuries to be superfluous), is a minimalist living unit which functions completely autonomously as a self-contained system and is thus independent of its environment. With a surface area of 2.5 x 3 metres when fully assembled and furnished, it can be loaded onto a lorry and transported anywhere. Whereas Diogene’s exterior corresponds to the image of a simple house, it is in truth a highly complex technical structure, equipped with various installations and technical systems that are necessary to guarantee its self-sufficiency and independence from the local infrastructure: Photovoltaic cells and solar modules, a rainwater tank, a biological toilet, natural ventilation, triple glazing. To optimise the house’s energy, Renzo Piano is working with Matthias Schuler from the renowned company Transsolar, while Maurizio Milan is responsible for static equilibrium.

Diogene is equipped with everything you need for living. The front part serves as a living room: On one side, there is a pull-out sofa; on the other, a folding table under the window. Behind a partition, there are a shower and toilet as well as a kitchen, which has also been reduced to the necessary. The house and furnishings form a single unit. It is constructed from wood with a warm character, which also defines the interior. For the purpose of weather protection, the exterior is coated with aluminium paneling. The overall shape and saddle roof resemble the archetype of a house, but its rounded-off corners and the all-over façade materials also give the impression of a contemporary product. It is no simple hut, but instead a technically perfect and aesthetically attractive refuge. The great challenge lies in planning the complex product so that it is suitable for industrial series production. “This little house is the final result of a long, long journey partially driven by desires and dreams, but also by technicality and a scientific approach,” explains Renzo Piano.

About ten years ago, without a specific client, Renzo Piano began developing a minimalist house. Various prototypes were developed 'till the final version of the project - named “Diogene” - was published in autumn 2009 by the Italian magazine Abitare. Piano needed a client in order to continue developing Diogene. The Italian architect found his partner in Rolf Fehlbaum, chairman of the Vitra AG., who had read the issue of “Abitare” and immediately felt attracted to Renzo Piano’s ideas, as Vitra does not regard itself as a manufacturer of individual design objects, but defines furniture as an essential part of the human environment. If we look back at the history of furniture design, it was always about requalifying people’s living space; the living landscapes of the 1960s and 1970s are just one case in point.
After three years of development work, a new Diogene prototype is being presented at the Vitra Campus. It is not a finished project, but an experimental arrangement enabling Vitra to test the potential of the minimalist house.

Diogene is not an emergency accommodation, but a voluntary place of retreat. It is supposed to function in various climate conditions, independent of the existing infrastructure, i.e. as a self-sufficient system. The required water is collected by the house itself, cleaned and reused. The house supplies its own power and the necessary platform is minimised. We live in an age in which the demand for sustainability forces us to minimise our ecological footprint. This postulate is paired with the desire to concentrate and reduce the direct living environment to the truly essential things. Piano also regards his project as “quite romantic” and emphasises the aspect of “spiritual silence” which it conveys: “Diogene provides you with what you really need and no more.”

read more

Talkhouse Coffee in London by William Tozer

A cosy and friendly new cafe has opened on Portobello Road - London: Talkhouse Coffee was realized by William Tozer Architecture and Design. Lovely!

275 Portobello Road, W11 1LR London
+44 20 7221 8992

Before

Never Stop ...

NEVER STOP EXPLORING by Leslee Mitchell - stretched canvas - on Society6

Have a nice weekend! L.

Pics from Florence: the flip-flop Bride!

01 - 02: Gerard jewels for next 2013 Fall - 03: The flip-flop Bride - 04: BP Studio golden bag and scarves

 She was so nice with her beautiful dress, walking down via Tornabuoni toward the Arno river!

Chiesa di San Salvatore al Vescovo - Firenze

Via Tornabuoni - The red flip-flop Bride (again!)

Olga Bielawska Design, HAMBURG

Olga Bielawska is a freelance designer based in Hamburg, Germany.

After founding the experimental label Miss Geschick & Lady Lapsus together with Astrid Schildkopf,   she started working on new products from 2012.

'MADE BY CRAFTSMEN' is the last collection, developed for the 2013 Furnitue Fair in Milan, created  exploring various materials and traditional techniques, to show how can design and craft work together. The purpose was to "give every object a unique character and a narrative personality, which is able to accumulate stories of lives lived around it."

„Sirens“ is an outstanding mirror and light object, that attracts attention but in a silent and poetic way.
The elegant silhouette is combined with shiny copper and extends into the living space bringing the mirrors and the ambient light aesthetically to the front.
„Sirens“ are hand-crafted of copper with an old spinning technique. LED light sources create a modern aspect.

This Set of three triangle Boxes form a geometrical architecture. The Boxes by the name of „Prism“ get their graphical signature from their straight lines, shapes , sharp edges and contrasting colours inside and outside. They are made using cardbord and coated linen with the traditional technique of Bookbinding and fold easily for transport.

See the other pieces of the collection and more here.

DK3: ROYAL SYSTEM by Poul Cadovius, 1948

Designed by Poul Cadovius in 1948 and now produced by DK3, the Royal System bookcase can be combined with different modules as a modern writers desk, as a library, or as an ordinary bookcase. The bookcase is available in high pressure laminate oak and walnut.

Poul Cadovius was born on Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, and was originally a saddle maker and painter. In 1945 he took the first steps to his new career when he established a small factory that produced blinds. By the end of the 1940's he developed the Royal System bookcase, which was conceived from the idea of creating more space in the livingrooms by hanging the furniture on the walls. This idea was at the time ingeniuos. In 1951 Randers became the center of Royal System® bookcase production, and at one point Royal System® was the most common furnituresystem in the world with over 500 employees and departments in New York, London, Paris, Barcelona, Vienna. Poul Cadovius aquired more than 400 patents. The last one when he was 90 years old.

Milano 2013

Poul Cadovius

Moodboard 38: Paris vue par...

Blue, Olive, Copper and Marble.  Inspired to the Melbourne home of Jane and Matt Martino, featured on The Design Files Daily, you can create a similar interior look following the same colors palette. The table in the Martino's home is part of the kitchen island and the cat is a piece unique.
01: Vintage poster "Paris vue par" | 02: Tom Dixon Copper Shade 45cm | 03: Wood table with marble top. Designed by Christopher Specce for Matter | 04: H stool by Tolix (shade RAL 6013) | 05: Rug by Loom - 2529 Anatolian Vintage Zeki M. Rug.

Photo by Sean Fennessy  via The Design Files

Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Colouring Book by Johanna Basford

Tumble down the rabbit hole and find yourself in an inky black-and-white wonderland. This interactive activity book takes you on a ramble through a secret garden created in beautifully detailed pen-and-ink illustrations all waiting to be brought to life through colouring, but each also sheltering all kinds of tiny creatures just waiting to be found. 
Maybe this stunningly amazing book is for children but I couldn't resist and I ordered it for me!
See other works of Johanna Basford here.

Johanna from Homes and Interiors Scotland - read it here

Do you know your future?

This is a good thing to think of in the we.
:-)
L

addinterior - DK

CUBA stool by FurnID

addinterior is a young Danish company supplying furniture in modern Scandinavian design. The clean and functional design in their furniture is always combined with the careful selection of fine and reliable materials and good traditional craftsmanship. "We want the furniture to be innovative in function and appearance with individuality and flexibility reflected in the design." Orla Lindberg-Poulsen, CEO

LEAN by GamFratesi + LILY table by Takumi Hirokawa

ANGEL stool by Gry Holmskov

COAT + LEAN + LILY

Thors Design: reusing Azobé wood

Thors tables

Reusing and transforming the 50-year-old rustic Azobé wood from decommissioned wharfs in Denmark into simple and stylish designer furniture, is the fundamental idea behind all of the furniture from Thors-Design.

An interplay between cool galvanised iron and the wood's original raw, rustic look gives the furniture a modern feel with heart and soul that matches the modern home as well as professional environments.

Thors-Design recycles Azobé wood with the utmost respect for its uniqueness. When making furniture, the manufacturer always consider the way the wood moves and works. So, there are no two identical pieces of wood. All furniture by Thors-Design is custom-made.

Azobé wood is one of the world’s heaviest and most robust types of wood and contains a high level of natural oils. Today the Azobé wood is still strong and durable despite many years of exposure to the natural elements. The furniture has a long life cycle and is virtually indestructible. It can therefore be used indoors as well as outdoors all year around and can be enjoyed for generations.

Thors Eros Bench

Applicata - DK

Blossom, Uragano, arch:you and Nipple

We are passionate about finding interesting design with new thinking that will be functional today, tomorrow and for years to come. The designers come from Denmark, and some have just arrived on the scene, while others have long experience. What their designs have in common is a simple, stringent expression that is traditional, yet forward-looking at the same time.
Mette and René Løt, founders od Danish brand Applicata. (Seen in Danish Living Room in Milano)

Nipple

Blossom and Torso

Colours should never be left to chance. They should be a conscious decision. Colours have their own meanings and functions. Verner Panton

arch:you

Blossom and arch:you at Danish Living Room in Milano