Furniture Design Trends

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s debut of new work by Volk comes a 2012 ICFF update of another one of my favorite furniture makers Asher Dunn.  I fell in love with Studio Dunn’s Scandinavian influenced furniture the first time I saw it.  It is modern day americana at its best.  Asher continues to delight my eyes with careful attention to detail and flowing joinery details. I’m happy to see he continues to design things besides just furniture too. 

Studio Dunn

Narragansett Bowls

The shell-like Narragansett Bowls highlight the simplicity of natural utility.  Drawing from the sea, Native Americans in Rhode Island had assimilated a variety of shells for plating food.  Available in brass or cast iron, the Narragansett Bowls create an earthy vessel to display edible or decorative items.  Exposed edges embellish angular shadows thrown from their bends, while the weight of the material anchors the humble receptacle.

Bristol Console Table

Find yourself entranced in the Bristol Console’s flowing pillars and waves.  Indulge in the intricacy of its endless streaming lines, forged by its slim contours, branch-like stretcher, distinctive connection points, and the surface’s cusp.  The console’s hardwood construction and sizeable top sends a personal invitation to a serene space while also playing host to casual use. 

Coddington Vase

The dark shallow waters of the Coddington Vase illuminate the subtle radiance of sun kissed flowers.  Pointed and sleek, the seafaring inspired stainless steel grate crosses with the exotic and precise art of Ikebana.  With a cast aluminum base, its durable body emits a touch of masculinity and a rugged natural patina that’s gentle enough to embrace the most delicate beauty.

Corliss Chair

The spitting image of revolution.  The Corliss Chair cleverly integrates traditional American hardwood construction in its maple seat with a graceful, comfort driven, and handcrafted aluminum backing.  Its true connection a secret between them, this union of sustainable and recyclable materials harmoniously joins along a curved plane.  Paying homage to George Corliss, the founder of the first independently-powered steam engine, the chair naturally innovates any setting.

About

Studio DUNN was founded in 2010 and launched its first collection, the Rhode Island Collection, at the ICFF in 2010, winning the Editor’s Award for Best New Designer.  Studio DUNN has recently been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New England Home, Wallpaper*, and Dwell.  This past April, founder Asher Dunn was awarded New England Home’s 5 Under 40 Award given to five individuals under the age of 40 for significant contributions to their design field.

I spotted this on Svpply this morning, and found myself strangely attracted to it. It has a certain Maurice Sendak charm to it if you ask me. I’m equally interested in the fact that it is Laser Etched Solid European Oak Heartwood. While the dice sadly appears to be sold out, the poster is still available.

Monster Dice by Geoff McFetridge

An ancient and likely sensible architectural building code advises that we should not build castles on sand. But the bold contemporary Peruvian architects Vertice Arquitectos seem unconcerned.

This utterly open and gorgeous beach house at at Palillos beach is the result, with its floors and walls and even rudimentary furniture seemingly grown out of sand rock itself.

The open front and white limestone interior gives it the feeling of a cave in a limestone cliff overlooking the sea.

It overlooks a million-dollar view of the ocean near Lima.

From behind, the house brings a contemporary urban zing to beach house design.

Subtly marine-themed windows pierce the entry wall, ceding access to the huge, open and lofty space.

A kitchen are occupies just a fraction of the huge space.

By sharp contrast with the completely open front, each of the side walls is solid and windowless to preserve privacy as gradually more holiday houses also dare to build on the beachfront sand to enjoy this million-dollar view.

This is a post from Home Design Find

Sweet Beach House is Built on Sand

An ancient and likely sensible architectural building code advises that we should not build castles on sand. But the bold contemporary Peruvian architects Vertice Arquitectos seem unconcerned.

This utterly open and gorgeous beach house at at Palillos beach is the result, with its floors and walls and even rudimentary furniture seemingly grown out of sand rock itself.

The open front and white limestone interior gives it the feeling of a cave in a limestone cliff overlooking the sea.

It overlooks a million-dollar view of the ocean near Lima.

From behind, the house brings a contemporary urban zing to beach house design.

Subtly marine-themed windows pierce the entry wall, ceding access to the huge, open and lofty space.

A kitchen are occupies just a fraction of the huge space.

By sharp contrast with the completely open front, each of the side walls is solid and windowless to preserve privacy as gradually more holiday houses also dare to build on the beachfront sand to enjoy this million-dollar view.

This is a post from Home Design Find

Sweet Beach House is Built on Sand

An ancient and likely sensible architectural building code advises that we should not build castles on sand. But the bold contemporary Peruvian architects Vertice Arquitectos seem unconcerned.

This utterly open and gorgeous beach house at at Palillos beach is the result, with its floors and walls and even rudimentary furniture seemingly grown out of sand rock itself.

The open front and white limestone interior gives it the feeling of a cave in a limestone cliff overlooking the sea.

It overlooks a million-dollar view of the ocean near Lima.

From behind, the house brings a contemporary urban zing to beach house design.

Subtly marine-themed windows pierce the entry wall, ceding access to the huge, open and lofty space.

A kitchen are occupies just a fraction of the huge space.

By sharp contrast with the completely open front, each of the side walls is solid and windowless to preserve privacy as gradually more holiday houses also dare to build on the beachfront sand to enjoy this million-dollar view.

This is a post from Home Design Find

Sweet Beach House is Built on Sand

MAPS Design, designed the W Retreat in Koh Samui, Thailand.

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W Retreat and Residences Koh Samui is the first W Retreat in Southeast Asia. An all-villa beachfront resort, it is located on a 26-acre site on Maenam Beach, at the north shore of the island of Koh Samui. The retreat features 70 villas, each approximately 160 sq m, W’s signature Living Room and Lounge and a Signature Spa. There are also 17 private residences, each between 700 sq m to 1, 300 sq m on plots ranging from 1,000 to 2,500 sq m, all with sweeping sea views. These residences dot a beautiful headland site with 900m of secluded beachfront. Koh Samui’s reputation as a top class resort destination is reinforced by a new clutch of discreet boutique hotels. W is a perfectly positioned addition. Its location on a secluded peninsula in an old rubber tree plantation ensures its privacy. The design attempts to dramatize the impressive views by its careful disposition of the public areas and villas. The lobby is located on the highest point of the site, offering a sweeping panoramic view of the northern coastline. Spaces are treated as outdoor rooms linked by covered and open walkways. Facilities are located in such a way that they cascade down the hillslopes with minimal impact on the existing topography, while accentuating the views of the sea. The villas are segregrated into two zones, one on the flat beach while the other is tucked into the hillside.

Visit the MAPS Design website – here.

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Studio DUNN have designed the Corliss chair.

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Description from Studio DUNN:

The spitting image of revolution.  The Corliss Chair cleverly integrates traditional American hardwood construction in its maple seat with a graceful, comfort driven, and handcrafted aluminum backing.  Its true connection a secret between them, this union of sustainable and recyclable materials harmoniously joins along a curved plane.  Paying homage to George Corliss, the founder of the first independently-powered steam engine, the chair naturally innovates any setting.

Visit Studio DUNN’s website – here.

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Australian artist Chris Fox created the CONVERGENCE Sculpture located in the lobby/atrium of the Global Switch data centre solutions office in Paris, France.

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Visit Chris Fox’s website – here.

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RDR Arquitectos have designed the Buenos Mares villa in José Ignacio, Uruguay.

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Visit the RDR Arquitectos website – here.

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By reflecting back the trees on the sidewalk, the mirrored windows on the back of this house create the impression of an apparently empty wall with windows looking through to a forest instead of into a solid house.

The forest apparently captured in the house on the street side of this innovative home from Djuric Tardio Architectes is the first of many delights in this charming eco home in the French suburbs.

The entire top of the house has an unusual gabled trellis over a full sized roof deck.

This gabled shape was in order to conform to a building code requirement that the house have the same gable shape as its neighbors.

But the architect has turned that requirement on its head. Instead of the liability of just another dark cramped attic, this is an asset.

Instead of a dark attic the young family has another place to play.

Uncluttered and simple, the roof deck offers a wide open vista on the tight space, as well as a row of skylights that provide passive warmth for the house inside.

The gabled trellis can be planted up with vines for a rooftop garden.

The empty space avoids finality, and lets the imagination roam with possibilities. Sustainably-sourced Finnish wood was used throughout.

The view back through the pleasing open house is open to the street (the mirrored windows are clear viewed from this side) is a model of passive design.

plan

Huge sliding walls slicing the spacious living area make the library off limits when parents need to focus.

But open, the library flows effortlessly from the main living area.

Passive design brings sun all the way in from a skylight wall that goes all the way back to the kitchen.

This skylight on the edge of the house ends with a double height window that opens up the space to passive heating and gives the lofty feeling of a double height ceiling.

But actually, as these varied ceiling heights show, the high wall ends above the sliding doors, where it cradles a playroom upstairs.

But light bounced between these skylights and double windows is the only warming needed.

The playroom upstairs is young and fresh with a refreshingly simple loft-like layout.

The playroom opens out to one side of the deck overlooking the garden.

The deck is planted with vegetables and fruits like kiwifruits and grapes.

The plants are irrigated by a rainwater harvesting system.

In such a cramped space between the neighbors, this house is an absolute miracle of freedom, with many light-filled, open spaces.

Almost suggesting a barn in the country, with its grasses planted at the edges, this is a home with many roomy places to escape and dream.

This is a post from Home Design Find

Innovative Eco Home Brings Joie de Vive to the French Suburbs