2Modern Design Talk - Modern Furniture & Design Blog

Hoshakuji Station

Hoshakuji Station in Northern Tokyo is part building, part sculptural delight. Comprised of lauan-made plywood for the structure, and re-used Oya stone, it is a perfect blend of the natural and industrialized. Designer Kengo Kuma describes the project saying, "By using wood, I wanted to revive the humane and warm atmosphere once any station building used to have...Our emphasis was that by creating ‘pores’, things could be pulled together and restore the community that had been long fragmented." Learn more about the station here.

Furniturea :: Rural Modern Furniture

Am I the only one who's noticed a "rural modern" trend recently? It's an interesting subset of modernism that I find refreshing. If you lean more towards this type of aesthetic, definitely check out Furniturea, a furniture company based out of Portland, Maine. Their pieces reflect that sort of hand crafted look and feel of certain 50s and 60s trends, but with a fresh twist and a sense of cheerfulness. I really love the playful lines and angles of their pieces. And their color options are fantastic!

About:

Furniturea designs and builds colorful, contemporary painted hardwood furniture and home accessories in Portland, Maine. Our rural modern style is inspired by the traditional forms of rural Maine architecture and the decorative arts, re-imagined in a modern cast and imbued with a whimsical spirit. Custom designs and custom colors to order.

www.furniturea.com

Everything I Need to Know I Learned From a Children's Book

Recently came across this book Everything I Need to Know I learned from a Children's Book by Anita Silvey. A well presented and precise journey through various iconic children's books by some of the worlds literary and not-so literary greats describing in their words the profound influence and guidance that they had gathered from the reading of these books as a child. It was a pleasant and insightful journey through some of our favorite children's books! Would recommend spending some time with a copy, if nothing else it is a very charming and well designed work.

Car Lift

Need a lift? After you are done driving for the day in a crowded city, imagine not only having a coveted assigned parking space but a garage that lifts your car and your spirits, from the street to your modern luxury high-rise condo with you still in it? It is a daily amusement park ride for adults. Okay, wealthy adults.

A built in transponder locates and stops at your floor while you are still seated. Increases security, no struggling for parking and easy to unload groceries are just a few of the benefits other than being an exciting concept.

CarLoft® is a pioneering modular loft scheme with a garden and a garage on every floor. All these brand-new luxury flats come with at least one adjacent parking space known as the CarLoggia, reached via the CarLift.

The popular Paul-Lincke-Ufer in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin is where you can find the CarLoft® underway. Coming soon to a large German city near you. Seat belts required.

Have an infinitely modern day!

Peninsula Residence

Modernly designed homes are nothing new; they are popping up in nearly every city of the world. And while many of them are exemplary in a number of ways, still others are, well, boring. As a design professional, we see a lot of modern spaces, so when one comes across our desk that literally knocks us off our feet, we have to share. Prepare to be blown away:

You simply must visit this home's website to see all the photos; it was too difficult to choose a few to show you and these just don't do it justice. This is the Peninsula Residence, and it was designed by Austin's Bercy Chen Studio LP. The integration between outside and inside spaces, the materials used, the layout, the innovative details---all of it is amazing.

2Modern Design Brief

Spring and summer bring lots of events for design junkies. Chatting it up with people who share your passion for good design, architecture and art is always a nice break.

1. Architecture enthusiast in the New York area may be interested in this lecture (above), sponsored by Architectural League, Emerging Voices, on Wednesday night, 3/17.

2. And for our L.A based readers, pst~It's almost time for West Week! Visit the Pacific Design Center March 24 and March 25th.

(image courtesy of Apartment Therapy).

3. Industry buffs-yes yet again, another market in High Point is coming our way...

4. One of my favorites is on the horizon...ICFF in NY

Quick finds you can't miss...

1. Beautiful wood chest by Kai Linke found on MoCo Loco

2. Stunning organic ceramics by Emogayo, found on Cool Hunting.

3. A new favorite turnable -all Brit styled...found on OK blog.

The Open Source Car

Wikipedia is an open source encyclopedia that harnesses the collective brain power of millions of people by allowing the users to have editorial control. By giving people an interactive platform to express their own knowledge, Wikipedia has gathered a global army of volunteer researchers. The same idea animates all open source software. Open source communities of programmers develop a piece of software, exploiting its potential. As the software grows more useful, everyone shares in its success. There is lay claim to being the author. But why do people spend their time working on a project without pay? Because of the thrill they get from participating in the creation of something important- something for the greater good.

Enter onto the stage -- the open source car.

A consortium of Dutch universities and organizations have partnered together to create C,mm,n - an open source community to design a better electric car. Working within an on-line platform, designers who register on the site, can collaborate on a virtual model. Discussion threads unspool across the screen. All the ideas developed from the project can be freely used by anyone else, as long as they share their research back with the group. C, mm, n, sponsors live events called 'garages' where people can come together face to face with their fellow designers, and with an electric car. C,mm,n, is not about finding the single best design, but is instead an encyclopedia of ideas and solutions and a laboratory for testing out new ones.

QT Tribute Posters

Ibraheem Youssef has designed some amazing vintage-style tribute posters for Quentin Tarantino films. I am a huge fan of Tarantino movies and this illustrated, vintage aesthetic... DOUBLE WHAMMY!

Pretty awesome - make sure to grab them here.

--Ff--

Tank Chair

The Tank Chair. Very cool chair by Pharrell Williams. I’m not generally a fan of plastic but this chair is a great statement about a restful seat.

The chair is constructed of plexiglass with a leather rapped seat.

Paul Smith for Stelton

Genuine classic Danish Design with a colorful twist - Paul Smith has given Arne Jacobsen’s iconic pieces a modern and upbeat look.

AddColour is being produced in a limited edition in 2010.

The new Dot series include a range of bowls with and without lids, which are as decorative as they are practical.

Dot Bowls come in no fewer than nine color ranges.