Last weekend was the first ever “Design Milk Presents” event, Reinvention; Writing History Through Aluminum, featuring new works by Brad Ascalon and Frederick McSwain (AM) for Neal Feay Studio, an exhibition at Bobby Berk Home (it runs through May 27^th so you can still catch it!)

The objects, made of solid aluminum (quite weighty!) came from an accidental meeting between Brad Ascalon and Santa Barbara-based Neal Feay Studio. Alex Rasmussen, third generation owner of Neal Feay, has been exploring new ways to push aluminum manufacturing to a whole new level. He’s recently partnered with artists and now, he’s pioneering Neal Feay’s first venture into modern product design.

Turntable slatted tables with optical illusion

Closeup of the underside of Turntable

One of my favorite pieces is Achilles, a shoehorn. The AM team decided to design a shoehorn for the single reason they wanted to design a sexy shoehorn – named Achilles because their “Achilles heel” is that sometimes they like to design for the sake of making something beautiful.

Uluwatu hanging pendant/sconce

Henge the deconstructed fruit bowl – the pieces are magnetic

Timber tables with wooden legs pushing through surface, inspired by the idea that we develop land, and yet if we don’t tend to the concrete jungle, the grass begins to creep up through the cracks, trying to reclaim the space.

Lumen multicolored vase/candle holder/ash tray

Bonnie bracelets – named as an homage to the history of Neal Feay after they discovered an old bracelet stamped with the name “Bonnie” manufactured by the first generation of Neal Feay.

Thank you so much to Brad Ascalon, Frederick McSwain, Alex Rasmussen and the Neal Feay Team, and Bobby Berk for making this event possible and a special thanks to all of my friends and colleagues who came out to support it! If you’re in Soho this weekend – stop in and check it out!

See more images from the event and exhibition on our Facebook page.

We stopped by the Nervous System booth while at ICFF to check out their brand new lamp. I especially love all the energy and thought that they put into their booth design – that wooden pedestal is amazing.

Hellman-Chang brought their Brooklyn workshop table and tools and set it up right on the floor. An HC worker spent the day shaping Z-table legs, giving you a peek into how their beautiful wood furniture actually gets made.

Their new Avery chair that took four years (!) to design and perfect, hits you right in that lumbar region where you need the most support. It was just what I needed after a long day walking all around NYC.

Newcomer Gabriel-Scott didn’t disappoint. Developed by two architect brother-in-laws with some background in jewelry, the company’s sophisticated yet affordable furniture has some lovely details, yet comes flat-packed.

We thought their lamp was off the chain (har har).

Trove’s Chroma wallpaper, which looks like fuzzy DNA, is actually photographs of people stretched and blurred.

In the Designboom mart, Richard Elaver was selling some cool 3D-printed pens and modular jewelry. I wanted to buy multiple sets so I could have it climb up my arm. It snaps together using a very simple, organic connection system.

Johnny Hermann was there selling his Wooden Popsicles, but he had light bulbs, too!

Phase Design was clearly inspired by architecture with its newest collection, including some lovely tables with modular tops. I love the planters, too.

Cosmopolitan Glass had glass that appeared to be cracked or smashed – we loved this treatment.

Resource Furniture created a free-standing murphy bed – in case you need extra room in your bedroom for “other activities.”

I stopped by Iacoli & McAllister to show Jamie I was wearing their necklace! I want them all.

I also loved Debra Folz’s magnetic felt cabinets and tables. So clever.

Read all our ICFF posts here and check out our full coverage of New York Design Week.

London Underground
London Underground was Tom Dixon’s first satellite show in the US, which took the Bleecker Street Theatre’s basement level space (i.e., “underground”) and turned it into a showcase for his lighting. The geometric shadows thrown onto the walls from his Etch Light Web fixtures were especially mesmerizing. Besides the lighting on display, there was a Fab.com pop-up shop where a selection of his lighting could be purchased. We were a little bummed not to see him on the main floor at the Javits, but this was an entirely different experience. And, once again, I didn’t get one of those safety orange messenger bags! Drats!

Bec Brittain + Fort Standard
At 22 Bond Street, the exhibition of Bec Brittain’s lighting and Fort Standard’s (Gregory Buntain and Ian Collings) furniture and lighting featured new pieces, as well as a collaborative project that was designed exclusively for this show.

Areaware
We all know Areaware for their supercool and often kooky objects and they didn’t disappoint with their two-room installation. One room featured various Areaware objects with the most adorable Nickelodeon-esque stacking blocks video and, in the other, a video that introduces Harry Allen’s Bank in the Form of a Pig GLOW. And glow it did… neon green to be exact.

DMY Berlin Products
These products were handpicked to represent the most unique and diverse designs that Berlin has to offer. These are some of our favorites:

Shrank by Aylin Kayser

Cane LED Hook Lamp by Roomsafari

Rings by Zascho Petkow

The $99 Store
This pop-up shop gave the average Joe an opportunity to own a piece or two of affordable art and jewelry by Brooklyn-based Chen Chen and Kai Williams.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our Noho Design District coverage… read all of our NY Design Week adventures here.

We really loved the Kohler booth; it was probably our favorite booth (and not just because they had a phone charging station!) I think they did a great job of embracing and promoting their collaboration with Jonathan Adler.

The booth, which was actually a shipping container painted chartreuse, was over the top: the staff were colorfully dressed and when Jonathan himself stopped by, they served fancy blue drinks and blue and yellow cotton candy. Oh look here he is:

Plus, the colorful vintage tub sofas were a huge hit… we might see them available for sale soon!

I’m always interested to see what Benjamin Rollins Caldwell is up to. This year, he had these amazing copper tubing chair and table as well as this concrete chair. The most interesting part about the concrete chair is that it’s made by pouring concrete into a chair-shaped dirt hole, so the entire chair is made upside-down, and then removed from the hole when the concrete is dry.

Design House Stockholm has a new magazine table that allows you to stack mags all the way from the floor up to the top of the table, as well as a chair that comes apart in five easy-to-assemble tools-free pieces.

Eastvold Furniture had a simple, stacked booth with some beauties.

Urbio was one of my faves – I’ve been coveting these since Sabrina Soto mentioned them in her Friday Five… They are modular magnetic containers perfect for plants, tools, supplies, just about anything! Now that I’ve seen it in person, I need it even more.

This outdoor wallpaper by Tracy Kendall is amazing – made from Tyvek material.

Nolen Niu fully embraced a black, gray and yellow booth. Great stuff, too.

Loved Blu Dot’s new Hot Mesh (ha!) chair – only $99!

I stopped and chatted with Jake Dyson about his new light, which has the most amazingly fluid one-touch motion. It’s fantastic. And what a great guy! Stay tuned for more from him…

New rope vase and bowls by Harry Allen for Areaware

New lamp by Paul Loebach for Areaware

ROLLOUT worked with the MTA to create an urban-inspired series that takes transportation to a new level.

This is a great new collab between Objeti and Mark Moskovitz, maker of that fabulous wood stack chest of drawers.I also liked these cute hinged step tables by Objeti:

We also were drawn to these textured tiles by Interlam.

Read all our ICFF posts here and check out our full coverage of New York Design Week.

Another year, another ICFF. To be entirely honest, I thought last year’s show was a bit of a downer but in contrast, this year’s show seemed more upbeat, positive and there were quite a few things we absolutely loved.

I have seen oversized knits and crochet before, but Neò’s new woven collection was one of my favorites.

Plexi-Craft collaborated with designers Brandon+Bradley – a rocking chair and bench with inset cushion.

Flavor Paper’s new wallpaper including collaborations with Simon Page, Rex Ray and Mike D from the Beastie Boys.

We loved UK designer Margo Selby’s textiles.

Laurie Beckerman shows a new take on her acrylic Butterfly chair from last year.

Cube lights by Marc Trotereau

Wrapped stick lights by Pierre Ospina

A great angular chaise from Designlush

Every year, Wilsonart challenges students to create chairs using their products and this year’s chairs were pretty nifty. The winner (above) was highly conceptual – called the Torrey Chair by Kaii Tu.

Jeni Tu

This kid climbed right up on there. Funny story about this piece by Hannah Quinn is that when the convention center worker unpacked it, they were very confused and almost cut the straps because they are the same kind of straps used in packing! Good thing he asked first…

The Parsons x Carnegie booth had a great installation using Carnegie’s Xorel textile.

I love these hanging bag sconces from SkLO.

I want this rug from Warp & Weft.

Read all our ICFF posts here and check out our full coverage of New York Design Week.

Hated having to take an elevator up to the hot 4th floor, but was happy to be greeted by this.

The Tambour Table by Michael Bambino that we featured this morning!

David Hsu’s Desk 117

Chair from the University of Pennsylvania Architecture department

Goodjoy hooking toothbrushes

Loved this smoke pillow by Studio DKS

Shapeways had some cute stuff, including these teeny tiny chairs. I wish I’d stuck my finger in the photo for scale. They were so small!

I loved this geometric hot pink bracelet and these stone rings:

And, of course, this necklace, because I probably use the word “awesome” in my vocabulary 100 times a day.

Turn Table lamps by B.Light Design – they get brighter and then dim as you spin them.

Glass rocks and paperweights by Niels Cosman Design

Design Hype’s Metro Cuffs

Jeremy Pickett’s gorgeous MORKT SAMFUNN console / audio cabinet

Domenic Fiorello’s Plant Pods

Taper candle pencil sharpener (smart!) and EVK Light by Colleen & Eric

The Cosmic Quilt by The Principals

Loved this so much…

Watch the video:

Italian designer Diego Grandi does a little bit of everything – surface design, interiors, and even exhibition design. Prove di Stampa is an exhibition he designed for the 15th year celebration of SaloneSatellite 2012 and it’s all about a print laboratory.

More about the exhibition:

A print laboratory will be held in a 25 m2 area, a setting made of magnifying lenses, colour gradients and typographic memories. The space is a summary on digital printing experienced through mutant surfaces: colour shades, defined by different white grids, create an installation based on the CMYK system. Laminate, ceramic and wallpaper express their possibility of customization and the opportunities of surface design nowadays.

Photos by Andrea Martiradonna.

Kartell’s Salone del Mobile stand showcased an iconic range of products, deconstructed. Every phase of the creative process was on show, from initial sketches, through prototyping to the final manufactured products.

Products from Philippe Starck, Piero Lissoni, Ferruccio Laviani, Patricia Urquiola, Tokujin, Yoshioka, Mario Bellini, Ferruccio Laviani, Eugeni Quitllet and Rodolfo Dordoni were included in the exhibition. I have chosen the Foliage chair and sofa from Patricia Urquiola to follow.

Brands are often very protective and secretive about what goes on behind the scenes, especially big brands like Kartell, so this exhibition was a bold move, and very exciting to see for anyone who is interested in the mechanics of the design process.

Patricia Urquiola’s Foliage range was inspired by nature, and intended to look as if each piece simply “grew” from plastic, with “leaves” resting on a framework of “branches.” Seeing the design process like this makes you realize how much more complicated it is than that to create something which ends up looking so simple.

The seats are made from polyurethane foam padding with quilted fabric upholstery, and the legs from tubular painted iron. I loved seeing all the markings and comments on the prototypes where they were being adjusted until they were just right.

I think by revealing so much of what goes into the design and manufacturer of a product, Kartell has actually been very clever. It’s only by understanding the process and the effort it takes to bring products like these to life, that people will appreciate their true value.

The top-stitched embroidery covers the entire surface, including the back, to make sure it looks gorgeous from any angle.

And it’s now joined by a smaller, and very cozy, armchair. Both come in a choice of  yellow, green, turquoise, red, grey, black or brown upholstery with legs in white, black, red or acid green. I want a yellow one with acid green legs!

Our trip to Milan was supported in part by Airbnb.com.