The Hall of Fame: Pierre Paulin- The Major Player

French designer famed for his unusually shaped chairs, died at the age of 81 this year, June 14th in Montepellier, France.
He was a well-known figure in the world of design for over half a century designing seats shaped like mushrooms and tongues, in a range of bright colours, for which he received much recognition. His designs have now found their way into major museums across the world such as the New York's Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris and London's Victoria and Albert Museum. His work was a favourite to former french presidents - Georges Pompidou and Francois Mitterrand chose him to furnish the presidential palace. His tables and chairs are still furnishing The Elysee Palace in Paris, with his sofas, bookcase and desk adorning other rooms. Born in Paris on July 9, 1927, Paulin was influenced by japanese drawing and american designers Charles and Ray Eames. This led him to design furniture which was simple, functional and hard-wearing.

Below some of his timeless seats:


Orange Slice – 1960












Le Chat - 1967

Global Tribe

The robust collection of five high performance polyester blends takes its cues from ancient civilizations across the earth. Intriguingly, tribes from Africa to the northeastern United States and Australia have artistic commonalities. The patterns include the geometric Tuareg; Iriquois, a series of radiating lines; Eora, a field of scattered checkmarks; and Innu Stripe. This group's palettes mix vivid reds and oranges with chartreuse, charcoal, and browns. More: looptextiles.com

Vis-à-Vis

To inaugurate their collaboration, Kos and Zucchetti Rubinetteria tapped luxury bathing specialists Ludovica and Roberto Palomba to design the Faraway collection. The pair came up with the curvy Vis-à-Vis tub by casting a seamless, nonporous, marblelike form from a composite of minerals mixed with polyester and acrylic resin. The organic feel and velvety finish spill over to a pair of sinks, freestanding Round and deck-mounted or pedestal Square, both made of that same composite. More: zucchettionline.it

The Hall of Fame: Takashi Sugimoto

I've decided that since now I will introduce one by one, individuals who have made significant contributions to the growth and prominence of the design field. Today it's Takashi Sugimoto.




Architect Takashi Sugimoto, born in Tokyo in 1945, studied metal sculpture before graduating from the Crafts Course of the Faculty of Fine Arts of Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music in 1968. He founded Super Potato in 1973 and became a professor at the Musashino University of Fine Arts in 1992. He received the Mainichi Design Award in 1985 and 1986, as well as the Interior Design Association Award in 1992. Takashi Sugimoto is a visionary founder and president of Super Potato Co as well. By finding contemporary expression for important concepts present in traditional Japan and combining materials in unexpected ways to create exciting spaces, Super Potato's work has had a significant impact on interior design in Japan and around the world. More: www.superpotato.jp

Below, some of his concepts:

Rosatio

Rosato is a large, quatrefoil-shaped damask with an intense factor, offered in seven colorways including a high-contrast flocked version. It is part of the Design Works Plaza Collection, which includes 16 patterns and coordinating textures. More: yorkcontract.com

Give a Hoot's

Funky and fun! Recalling the '60's and '70's, when even the owls were feeling groovy, Give a Hoot's wool yarn is hooked and tufted into soft shag and chunky loops. Ladies and Gentelmen, it's a limited edition. More: www.companyc.com

Caroline Swift and her glass bubbles

Her philosophy for her products are that.. 'all materials are natural, all products are made with integrity, often inspired by nature, and that every piece is unique'. Glass Baubles are handblown in Italy in Mandarin, lime green, pale rose, or black-amethyst. Black or white Porcelain Hanging Flowers come 30 to a string. Recon that those glass bubbles are delightful objects to grace every home! All available on Caroline Swift's website and online shop: www.carolineswift.com

Curiosities

Vintage prints of plants, birds, and insects , inspired the latest pillow collection, Curiosities by Thomas Paul. Each cushion displays large birds or botanicals on the front, with a more graphic array of insects or eggs on the back.More:thomaspaul.com

Spring to life

The Prunt Vases, from Esque Studio, are inspired by animation. These hand-blown, knobbed beauties—designed by Justin Parker—indeed look as if they could spring to life. They come in indigo, orange, and smoke. More:esque-studio.com

Pressed Vinyl

It’s not good news for traditional woven patterns. The delicate connections and empty spaces of classic doily design provided creative fodder for Sandy Chilewich to create her own graphic version. Dots, a table runner of circular pressed vinyl forms contained within a rectangular framework, represents the designer's first excursion outside the realm of woven materials. In my opinion, Pressed Vinyl is a completely new category that opens the door to infinite possibilities. Why? Because, it’ s created using a revolutionary interpretation of an outdated manufacturing process. The result is a product reminiscent of fine linen but with the benefit of easy care for everyday use. Brilliant! More:chilewich.com

Like a puzzle

Youthful and energetic but first of all… comfy cushions launched this year by Tineke Beunders look deadly. The foam-filled tufted oblongs come in three sizes, which can be pieced together like a puzzle to create a lounge pit. For fabric, specify a Pollack wool-nylon in 15 colors or a Kvadrat wool in four. More: pode.nl

Something is not- rotten in the state of Denmark

Isn't it fantastic way to bike-share ? Think it's brilliant! Bikedispensers come from Denmark and exist in a few Dutch cities right now.They need only a minimal space for the storage of the bikeshere, moreover there is an opportunity to add an elevator, to make underground or upstairs storage possible. This solution offers an extra space at ground level. And how easy and fast it is: only identification and pressing a button will do. The intake or issue of a bike only takes 25 seconds.

Summarise, I find De Bikedispenser well designed.

More: Bikedispenser on their website