Journal

A chronicle of people, places, happenings, and creations we admire.

The Month of February

A Recap of our discoveries in February.

(Left to right from top)

1.1971 Lamborghini Miura SV at RMSotheby's / 2. MONOCLE Quality of Life Conference, Lisbon 2015 / 3. Formfreu.de Photo Blog / 4. MONCLER Grenoble 'Evry' Jacket FW15 / 5. Corner Pack Shipping Boxes / 6. Enrico Marone-Cinzano Furniture Collection / 7. The New Yorker '90 for 90' / 8. The Cliff Vaughs Story / 9. Pia Mouwitz / 10. Ice Hotel, Jukkasjärvi, Sweden / 11. The Terroir Project /  12. How to be a Proper New Yorker

Sustainable Sculpture: Enrico Marone Cinzano

Sustainability, honesty and purity are the core elements of the forward looking creations of Enrico Marone-Cinzano.  Created with up-cycled lumber from dismantled chalets around the Piemonte region of northern Italy, these pieces are deceptively sturdy and purposeful everyday sculptures for modern living.  Furniture and lighting alike are often framed with blackened industrial steel that has been discarded and repurposed.  The Swiss Pine (Pinus Cembra) is known to be rot and insect resistant, given its former life as part of chalet structures in many cases dating back to the 1700's.  The wood is finished with old-world techniques and non-toxic materials in keeping with the holistic and sustainable ethos that EMC stands for.  These and many other manufactured and bespoke pieces are available by request.

Follow @enricomc

Images ©Enrico Marone-Cinzano

Jonas Edvard x Nikolaj Steenfatt: Terroir Project

Danish designers Jonas Edvard and Nikolaj Steenfatt have collaborated to create a truly green fabrication process using seaweed.   Selecting only fresh seaweed from the Danish shoreline, they sort the material by color (dark to light) and hang dry it outdoors in the sun.  They then pulverize the material and create a moldable glue-like mixture, a natural property of the alginate found in brown seaweed. It can be shaped and molded and then kiln-dried. The material used to create these chairs and lighting can even be broken down and reconstituted to create new forms.  This is the very definition of sustainability.

http://jonasedvard.dk

http://steenfatt.dk

Images ©Edvard/Steenfatt

PRADA X MARTINO GAMPER | 'CORNERS' WINDOW DESIGN CONCEPT

We became aware of Martino's work from the '100 Chairs in 100 Days' project in 2007, where he effectively re-purposed and built original chairs from pieces of discarded furniture.  This was a great creative exercise as well as a direct commentary on up-cycling and sustainability. Martino has recently created an incredible window design program for Italian fashion house PRADA.

Corners is an evolutionary window design concept by Martino Gamper in collaboration with Prada which pays homage to the humble corner. The design draws its inspiration from perspective, fragments and contrasts between natural materials. Those elements are enhanced by the simplicity of a corner which is a common thread for all the displays. Corners is a space within a space, making each display a unique story designed to evolve with the seasons. 
-from Prada Press Release

About Martino Gamper

Martino Gamper (b. 1971, Merano, Italy) lives and works in London. Starting as an apprentice with a furniture maker in Merano, Gamper went on to study sculpture under Michelangelo Pistoletto at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. He completed a Masters in 2000 from the Royal College of Art, London, where he studied under Ron Arad. Working across design and art venues, Martino Gamper engages in a variety of projects from exhibition design, interior design, one-off commissions and the design of mass-produced products for the cutting edge of the international furniture industry.

Images ©Martino Gamper / Prada

hem | KEY GATHERING TABLES

Hem has introduced the Key Gathering Tables. Designed by Italian-Danish duo GamFratesi, these beautifully crafted tables are available in different colors and sizes and work well either on their own or in groups of two, three, four or more.

About hem | hem is a Scandinavian furniture company that reaches a mid-market sector balancing competitive pricing with good and accessible design.

www.hem.com