After receiving lots of negative comments regarding Bucky’s Nightmare—some with so much vitriol I feared for my life—I am once again assigned to cover a Mathieu Lehanneur product. Let’s hope nobody takes exception to this creation, though I am already envisioning loads of hate mail from the New York Association of Hot Dog Vendors (a dangerous group). French Designer Lehanneur is stealing some of the infamous Manhattan foodie’s thunder by turning the shiny, lovable hot dog cart into storage units.

Delicious. Designed by Mathieu Lehanneur.

His stackable storage comes in four sizes, each composed of a wafer-patterned stainless steel sheet “re-styled in a de luxe package.” Everyone will recognize the material from the metropolitan sidewalk cart serving chien-chaud, though Lehanneur has used bright colors to redefine the shine. In lime, champagne, aqua, or the original silver, Delicious looks good enough to eat. Another culinary-sparked product from this week is the Olivier Chair, though its inspiration point is much healthier. Ah, but the hot dog has done much for the Manhattan cityscape—and Lehanneur’s Delicious Storage recreates the shimmering metal box for your personal landscape. The color varnishes broaden the units appeal: green is as gleaming as a Cuban Iguana; blue is as bright as sailing stripes; and gold is as grandiose as Ceylon sapphires. Perhaps I’m unduly mixing metaphors. Lehanneur might appreciate a continuation of his Delicious theme. In that case, green is as gratifying as Carrie mangoes; blue is as blissful as Curacao liquer; and gold is as gourmet as Arlaux champagne.

Whatever the color, whichever the flavor, Lehanneur’s Delicious units offer great storage options. With their boxy shape and industrial handles, they can be dressed up or dressed down. A group of stainless steel makes a great hidden library in a loft. Choose a variation of colors and sizes for a sculptural closet. Use only rows of champagne Delicious to form kitchen cupboards in high style. The tastiest tidbit here is that Lehanneur’s storage is part of a growing trend in designer storage. Finally, we all have options for displaying (and caching) our tempting trappings (and delicious demons).

As regular as rain in its re-visitings/re-issuings of the enduring icons of modernity, the design world is forever obsessed with its seminal classics. Here at 3rings we enjoy these periodic historical celebrations as much as anyone, believing it does a body good to recall that the Eames Lounger, for instance, inspired generations of designers to aim for clean lines and elegant simplicity; or that the Party Lounge taught us a thing or two about multi-use pieces.

Contour Rocker. Designed by Vladimir Kagan.

But it doesn’t end with Kiesler and Eames. The short list of classics we’ve paid homage to includes work by Walter Pabst, Edward Tuttle, Alvar Aalto, and Henrik Thor-Larsen. Today, it’s my great honor and privilege to add another luminary to this growing pantheon: German-American wunderkind Vladimir Kagan and his inspired Contour Rocker.

Kagan got his start at East End avenue and 81st. st., under the able tutelage of his father, Master Cabinet Maker Illi Kagan. Combine this early appreciation for the beauty of wood with a budding interest in architecture (he attended Columbia) and a studied immersion in the trends of the era, and you have the makings of a singular talent, whose “fascination with organic shapes into furniture catapulted him to the forefront of modern design” (New York Spaces). It’s exactly this incorporation of nature’s curves that lends the Contour Rocker, its—well—contours, the lengthy, languorous, serpentine, and synergistic single expanse of walnut forming a frame the likes of which had not been seen before.

Kagan perhaps does not have the reputation of an Eames, but in some ways that’s fitting, since his designs reached a bit beyond the Eamesian geometricity for a borderline-bizarre elongation that may not have appealed to everyone but certainly generated a cult following. At 82 years young, Kagan has re-emerged on the scene in a big way. His rocker was recently exhibited in Los Angeles at the Ralph Pucci Gallery, and a crewel upholstered version of the same (by needlework artist Erica Wilson) fetched $10,000 recently at auction.

Now I’m not sure I’d fork over that much (even if I had the means), but Kagan’s lovely, sculpted, and eminently functional Rocker belongs in the new milieu of this new millennium to be sure. After all, “relaxation in the truest sense is the reward when seated in this amazingly designed chair… the sleek curves of the seat and back combine to provide maximum comfort.” I don’t doubt it for a second.

It can turn corners, change elevation, provide indirect light or invert for direct lighting, mount to the ceiling or suspend beneath it. SPI Lighting’s Lightruss was designed as a versatile, adaptable and flexible lighting system consisting of indirect light modules spaced in a continuous truss system. From small retail spaces and corridors to natatoriums and airport terminals, Lightruss affords commercial spaces more lighting flexibility. 

Lightruss. Manufactured by SPI Lighting.

Lightruss is basically modular lighting: a series of building blocks that can be assembled to create the most appropriate configuration for the space, managing elevation changes, twisting and turn as needed. The systems can be designed as a bold sculptural statements or to discretely blend in. Durable, eco-friendly powder coat paints, available in a variety of colors, further customize the aesthetic. It was designed as a base upon which a multi-purpose, integrated ceiling system can be built. Track lighting, emergency lighting, audio hardware and other features including motion sensors, security equipment and signage can easily attach to the truss system.

Lightruss is available in two sizes: Lightruss 1 for compact areas such as retail spaces, cafes and corridors and Lightruss2 for larger public spaces including airport terminals, athletic spaces and open office areas, it can fit in any commercial space. According to the company, Lightruss 2, made entirely of aluminum, is particularly well-suited for natatoriums. “Evenly dispersed indirect light eliminates surface glare on the water making it easier, safer and more comfortable to see.”

From design to installation, the process is remarkably easy regardless of your degree of familiarity with lighting design. A specific team, dedicated to this product line, handles design, photometric layouts, shipping and customer service. Lightruss is pre-wired, each light module aimed and every section pre-assembled in the factory- making installation a cinch. In the words of SPI Lighting, “Whether you need IES recommended light levels for a recreational water park atmosphere or for digital TV sports coverage, Lightruss can deliver.”

The Lacava Company marries two countries and their strengths—Italy and the United States. Using the Old World techniques and design of one country and the contemporary needs of another, Lacava offers modern and transitional bathroom products for residential and commercial markets. While their washbasins and faucets are made in Italy, all their furniture is made in the USA by skilled master craftsmen. What they take from Italy is a strong aesthetic history: “The foundation of each civilization is its love for the arts (Lacava creed).”

Flou Double Vanity. Manufactured by Lacava.

What they take from the United States is an emphasis on customer service and technology—their Chicago location enables Lacava to offer local, personalized service. The result of all this globalism speaks for itself. Take, for instance, Lacava’s new product, the Flou Double Vanity. With curves as dramatic as Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot and lines as smooth as Rock Hudson in Pillow Talk, Flou might make your mouth water. This free-standing base has five drawers, each of which employs soft closing glides—so it’ll be as quiet as you need it to be, should you be arranging illicit rendez-vous in the powder room.

Concealed European hinges are as secret as your desires. In ebony macassar, Flou looks even sexier, its gorgeous striations forming the elaborate patterns of some exotic animal. At 76” w x 22.5” d x 31.5” h, the Flou Double Vanity accommodates two intimately. Choose any wood you like and pair it with any countertop. Flou puts you in control; you can customize it to your particular wishes (penchants even). If you haven’t already figured it out, Flou is sexy—or should I say steamy?

It’s true that I have gone on at some length about everything egg-shaped. You can see my reviews of Ovalia’s Egg Chair, the LOMME egg bed, and the Uovo Lamp-if you require proof of my penchant for the ovate. Yes, the shape is very pleasing—connotative of fertility, birth, and rebirth. All these metaphorical impulses make the egg quite perfect for a bathroom sanctuary.

Aveo Collection. Manufactured by Villeroy & Boch.

Villeroy & Boch have recognized this in their line of bathroom furniture and ceramics, sensually named Aveo. With oval-shaped bathtubs, washbasins, WCs, and bidets, Aveo capitalizes on the appeal of the ellipsoidal object, which they call “a distinctive form with a unique charisma.” Available in three shades of white, the Aveo Collection features everything oval. The washbasins come in surface-mounted, built-in, and free-standing models, though I have a particular preference for the built-in version, whose generous lip rises in a soft convex that’s as smooth as an egg. The WCs are quite lovely, especially the wall-mounted alternative whose lack of a tank takes full advantage of the ooid form. But the bathtubs are the real stars of Aveo. With a good length of almost 75” and a generous width of almost 38”, the Aveo bathtub feels like “an oasis of regeneration” (notice how Villeroy & Boch haven’t ignored the reproductive imagery of the egg shape).

The furniture that’s paired with the Aveo ceramics is equally peaceful. The matching vanity units come in bamboo or walnut veneers, capitalizing on the organic. Together the Aveo line “exudes a sense of calm.” The furniture uses straight lines to highlight the oval pieces, a combination that should please everyone obsessed with balance. A great collection for spas, Aveo takes one of my favorite shapes into the bath, where it will surely affect “a natural, sensuous atmosphere” without anyone knowing why—the egg shape is just that elemental.