Brooklyn-based company VOLK introduced some new pieces this year during New York Design Week that feature hand-painted designs full of geometry, color and pattern.

Gorgeous, hand-selected wood pieces are embellished with hand-painted patterns on linen in sun-washed colors. Brass details further adorn them, adding a bit of elegance.

VOLK’s popular Cerused side table has been refined with brass legs and pulls.

These modular tables create triangular and hexagonal shapes when joined as a whole, but look great no matter how you decide to arrange them.

This week’s Friday Five is with Joel Roos, the founder of One Nordic. Trained as a lawyer, Roos entered the design field in 2008 when he was called upon to help out with his family furniture retailing business in Finland. His strong entrepreneurial drive took hold, and in 2011 he founded his own company, One Nordic. The firm produces high-quality design furniture created by Nordic designers and others, including Hallgeir Homstvedt, Staffan Holm, Luca Nichetto, and Form Us with Love. Following the Nordic principle of simplicity, there is a no-tools-assembly policy. Let’s see what he treasures.

1. My background is not at all in design. I am actually a lawyer by education. When I graduated from law school in Finland, I received this collection of statutory orders from 1718 as a gift from my mother’s husband, who had received it from his father. At a later stage I also did an LL.M at University of Chicago Law School. It was very interesting to see how different judicial systems work. For a European like me, the logics of case law was sometimes very hard to understand. This book is an item I treasure very highly, and look at whenever I need strength in life and business.

2. Being invited by Eero Aarnio to his summerhouse 35 miles outside of Helsinki was an amazing experience. His age might be 80+, but his soul is 15, tops. His house is situated in this idyllic countryside setting, with a beautiful small sauna by the lake. That’s where we are sitting in this picture. His house is full of his products—everything from prototypes to the classics we all know. We are planning a small collaboration this fall.

3. There are few things that are more relaxing than cross-country skiing in Finnish Lapland. Here we met a deer during our 40 kilometer trip around a small mountain close to a place called Ylläs. During that particular day we met more animals than people.

4. This is an artwork by Finnish artist, Jani Leinonen. Our first year in business we shared office space with him. His pieces are, to say the least, very different from the norms of art in Finland. Here is a piece where a lady got to wear Swedish soccer superhero Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s jersey. Usually artists undress the models; Jani instead gives them clothes.

5. Most young people from Finland grow up with the typical Nordic furniture by famous names like Aalto and Tapiovaara in their childhood rooms. Not me. This was due to the fact that my mother at the time was (and still is today) the CEO of our family company, working with retailing design furniture in Finland. One day my mother brought home this wild chair designed by Stefan Lindfors called Booa, which was designed in 1991. I think it really influenced my design thinking, however, nowadays I lean towards more minimalistic furniture :)

During New York Design Week, I curated an exhibition and popup shop at Bobby Berk Home full of West Coast designer, makers and artists. Entitled East, Meet West!, the idea behind this exhibition is to introduce more West Coast design not only to New Yorkers, but to the country’s biggest modern design audience in town for NYCxDesign, beyond what they’ll see on the trade show floor. As you walk around the city during Design Week to parties and exhibitions, you often see a lot of the same names, or, at least an overwhelming majority of designers who are based in New York. Bobby and I have always been very supportive of West Coast design, and his store’s vibe feels very LA, so it was the perfect setting to introduce New York to some of the best stuff that Seattle, Portland, and California have to offer. The exhibition featured 14 designers, and everything from furniture to artwork to jewelry, including custom colors, one-of-a-kind pieces and prototypes. We’re really proud of it.

Artwork by RedHeaded Mess (Cailen Guhl), tray and pillows by Wolfum, chair and table by Eric Trine.

More art by Cailen Guhl, pillows by Nell & Mary and table by Jared Rusten.

Chair, side table, and sconce by Brendan Ravenhill.

Jewelry by Tanya Aguiñiga.

Bowls and coasters by 100xBtr.

Stools by Urbancase.

Textiles, candle holders and wall hooks by Grain.

Wall hanging by Tanya Aguiñiga and teepee by Wolfum.

More Wolfum housewares.

Lamp by Matt Gagnon.

Lamp by Bend Seating.

Furniture by Thomas Wold.

Lamps by Graypants.

Stools by Tanya Aguiñiga.

If you were there, thanks for coming, and if not, you can still stop by–it has a really great vibe. Products will be on display and for sale May 18-26, 2013.

In recent years, patios have morphed into outdoor rooms, used as essential square footage for living, playing, and entertaining. This is especially true on the West Coast, to the dismay of those back East. (It just doesn’t pay to gussy up for three mere months, never mind the unavoidable rain in summertime.) Well-designed exterior doors elevate how a patio looks and functions. There are a ton of options: collapsible glass walls, garage doors with an industrial vibe, and the ever elegant pivot doors, of which I present you a dozen options below. When you’re finished scrolling, you may want to re-visit last month’s roundup of modern pools.

Above: A pivot door opens from a living room to the cacti-planted patio leading down to a fire pit at the Brown residence in Scottsdale, Arizona, designed by Lake | Flato Architects.

Architect Robert M. Gurney designed the poolhouse and patio here, rich with plantings, pool, and long slabs of stone. The standing-seam metal roof and series of pivot doors complement the textured stone façade of the poolhouse exterior and hardscape.

Photo by Susan Wides

T Space by Steven Holl Architects is a newly constructed gallery onto an existing home from the ’50s located on four acres in Dutchess County, New York. The entrance door, covered in two-by-two cedar planks like the rest of the structure, pivots to reveal a plywood clad floor and sparse staircase.

Bayden Goddard Architects designed this two story, open-plan, riverfront home. The recycled timber used in the interior echoes that of the patio fencing, reached through a wide pivot door at the end of the bluestone entry.

Another view from the Brown residence designed by Lake | Flato Architects shows a closeup view of the pivot door off the dining room, which leads to the desert garden.

Chu Gooding Architects, an Los Angeles-based firm, re-imagined this historic, 7000-square-foot residence in Beverly Hills designed in the 1950s by architect Harwell Hamilton Harris. A pair of supersize pivot doors open from an indoor/outdoor dining space to the pool patio, with no change in flooring.

Architectural firm Graux & Baeyens added an oversized, modernist pivot door encased in black to this 19th century house located by the old city harbor docks of Ghent, Belgium. The project started by stripping the dilapidated house of all excess. While the interior was gutted, the antique façade was preserved.

Photo by Karen Mendoza

Mexican firm Dear Architects’ 4 Plan House in Santa Cantarina, Mexico is a four-level, minimalist structure with luminous light effects. Here, a large glass pivot door on a stainless steel frame opens onto a walled, grassy area with a lone tree.

This is the Mill Valley, California home of Dwell Magazine founder Lara Hedberg. The facade was designed by Bob Hatfield in 1996. A new glass and steel pivot door was designed by her husband, Chris Deam and fabricated by Sand Studios, was added in a renovation.

Sheldon Harte of Harte Brownlee and Associates designed the glass entrance to the patio with lush plantings and small pool in this desert residence. The stainless steel pivot door and frame glows at night, thanks to the fiber optic lighting.

The Carillo house is another California home, this one in Pacific Palisades with pivot doors. California-based firm Ehrlich Architects chose to incorporate many smaller sized models off the living room, allowing access to the pool and distant ocean views.

Sourced from The Selby, this incredible bathroom extravaganza belongs to gallerist Sarah Cottier and photographer/gallery director Ashley Barber. A more traditional, painted white framed pivot door separates the indoors from out. Again, this is in the warmer climate of Sydney, Australia.

Want more doors? Check out Montage: 20 Exterior Glass Doors on StyleCarrot.

INTRO NY was a side show from the designjunction team in partnership with smallpond featuring a handful of international designs in an all-white space on the edge of Soho.

Resident is a NZ-based company specializing in lighting and furniture, but I really fell for the hexagonal pendant and the spinning mobile by Jamie McLellan. Watch it in action here.

Bing pendant by Gidon Bing

Castor was showing tons of amazing lighting and a few select furniture pieces.

I especially loved the brass details on the stool and table. How cool are those doorstops?

This lamp is brilliant! It uses the Mac plug instead of a traditional cord/plug. :-)

UK company Very Good and Proper showed some colorful pieces paired with light wood that make the colors really pop. I especially loved seeing these in the bright white space. It felt very fresh.

Massproductions had a little grouping of their furniture.

Council had a great selection, as they always do, but this time they showed their outdoor pieces in an outdoor space (see below)! The red and blue felt playful enough for children, but sophisticated enough for adults.

The Twig chairs also stack.

Modus’ seating makes a big statement when you walk in. They also had these great white modular shelves, too (not pictured). I love that high seat back on the sofa. It reminds me of a cocoon.

neo-utility also hosted a cute popup shop. They were showing a new product from Krizzl, which allows you to frame your own sketch or artwork inside your iPhone 4 or 5 case.

I also loved these gold playing cards from Japanese company IDEA, also available through neo-utility.

If you recall, we shared Texas and NY-based artist Jay Shinn’s work previously here on the site, and I have always wanted to talk to him more about his work. It’s everything I love about art and more: geometric, minimalist, and totally unique. Jay has been a self proclaimed artist since age 7. Growing up, he spent many hours playing and working on his father’s hotel construction sites making temporary sculptures. Watching how structures came together profoundly affected his work. He now creates his own architecture, in a sense, building with a different medium than brick and mortar—light.

Image courtesy of Jay Shinn

He begins his work on paper using pencil and marker and gradually refines it into a final idea, which he then executes using light, light tubes, or Plexiglas. He began with all-white neon pieces and has only recently begun experimenting with color.

Photo: Teresa Rafidi

Photo: Teresa Rafidi

The process is an iterative one: taking the forms that come into his head and drawing them repetitively and coloring them in to finally come to a resolution. He hangs them up on his studio wall so he can meditate on them as he works. While his geometries might feel simple, there is a great complexity in the process, noting that his work loses power if there are too many elements. I spoke with him about materials, minimalism and impermanence:

How did you discover light as an art form?

I was always fascinated by light and reflections and how they possess a sense of infinity. The abstract expressionist Milton Resnik, back in art school, told me to bring light into my paintings and sculptures. I was painting flat colors on shaped wood at the time. That comment started a conscience search for the energy found in light.

Why have you focused on geometrics?

Architectural logic of how forms support one another and fit together interested me from the beginning.

Photo: Teresa Rafidi

Photo: Teresa Rafidi

Image courtesy of Jay Shinn

What role do mirrors play in your artwork? How have they enhanced it?

Mirrors are as much about illusion as anything can be. My work has long been concerned with the illusion of space and spatial relationships. Mirrors can remove the physical being from an object.

You also create works on paper and with Plexiglas. What’s your favorite medium to work with?

Drawing with pencil and paper is a favorite medium because it is so immediate and direct. Light is also a favorite because of its ability to transform itself into many forms quickly.

Photo: Teresa Rafidi

Photo: Teresa Rafidi

How do you feel when you take down an installation and not have a true, physical whole piece of art to take away with it? What is special to you about the impermanence of your art?

I always liked to “plant the garden”, not maintain it. I like to move forward with my work. I don’t dwell on the past. Impermanence is freeing and keeps me flexible. Dimensions should always be variable to time and the situation.

Your work is very minimalist and uses fairly simple materials like light, mirrors and neon, yet in terms of installation and depth, it’s very complex. Would you consider yourself a minimalist or a maximalist?

More of a minimalist. It is best to keep the elements simple to be as clear as I can. It is Important to me to create more with less. Hopefully the layers are complex.

Photo: Teresa Rafidi

Photo: Teresa Rafidi

Much of your work requires multiple things to harmoniously work together and interact. Do you also feel as though the viewer plays a role in this interaction? How so?

I love the viewer’s interaction and reaction both physically and mentally. This is the fun in showing the work to a broad audience. I like the work to not fit in particular categories. Viewers often ask “What is it? How is this done”? I think that is positive.

Which work is your favorite and why?

The painted projections. I still have a lot of ground to explore with these. They merge many of my concerns and become architecture to me.

How has your style and work evolved over time?

I have worked with geometrical abstraction for a long time. Working both 2 and 3 dimensionally, the two seem to be merging over time.]

Image courtesy of Jay Shinn

Where do you draw inspiration?

The high that comes with the emotion of satisfaction of certain finished works. This is what inspires me to continue and keep the search of what lies ahead alive.

What are you currently working on?

I am working on a 12’ x 22’ projected wall painting for the lobby of 55 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

What’s next?

Exploring moving color through animation on wall paintings.

Image courtesy of Jay Shinn

Photo: Teresa Rafidi

You can watch a studio visit with Jay here. 

This post made possible by MSN. The new, faster MSN keeps you in the know.

I am pretty smitten by the Mategot Coatrack by Mathieu Matégot for Gubi. The design reminds me of the Eames dot pattern or mid-century jacks (jax) designs.

The coatrack center is made of brass and the three arms are made of black powder-coated steel.

Available to purchase at Matter or DWR.

Dock Tray is a minimalist design created by Belgium-based designer Alain Berteau for Objekten. The design was presented at this year’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York City. Objekten displayed its newest and greatest designs including this multifunctional accessory made for the iPad. Objekten produces its products in Europe, and is designed by well-known industrial designers such as Lehanneur, Willenz, and Berteau.

The focus on Objekten is to utilize quality materials while being aware of the shipping and manufacturing processes. With that said, Dock Tray is constructed of varnished natural oak or dark stained oak sourced directly from harvested forests in Germany. The multifunctional aspect of the design is unique in that an iPad, or similar digital device, can be propped upward by the indented crevices on all four sides, or also laid flat and flush with the border of the tray.

The iPad can be propped either vertically or horizontally, depending on which side of the tray is being used. The designer has also allotted additional storage in the middle of the tray to allow users to place phones, wallets, and other small accessories. As an advocate of minimalism, I truly love how simple yet functional a design such as this can be.

Knock Knock is a playful calculator made for children by designer Khalil Klouche. The interactive wooden box lets you “knock” out math problems by using the standard arithmetic symbols displayed on the device. Using an Arduino board, contact microphones, and solenoids, you “knock” the math problem and it sounds the answer back to you.

Watch how:

For example, say you want to subtract two from a number, you knock the ‘minus’ symbol two times and it will then give you the answer in a knocking sound.

VELO—2nd Gear is a new book published by Gestalten that celebrates international bicycle culture.

The editors wanted to explore the double meaning of the bicycle. Used daily by many, it can be viewed as both a practical object and a literal and figurative vehicle for self-expression. Word.

In the book, bikers from New York all the way to Berlin express themselves through their carefully-made machines.

Riding a bike is something that – once you learn how to do it – you won’t forget it. I, for one, can go years without riding a bike, but every time I hop on one, riding becomes a natural thing! It’s almost like I pick up where I left off.

Whether you’re a fan of old-fashioned bikes, high-tech machinery, beach cruisers, or mountain bikes you’ll definitely find a little piece of yourself in VELO—2nd Gear. You might just learn interesting facts about other kinds of bikes and lifestyles too!

Human Bike by Jan Gunneweg

The book shows the connection between lifestyle, culture, function, and machine in a modern and visually stimulating way. All of these ideas combined, communicate what we really use bicycles for. They can help us express who we are and why we are.

Situated on the shores of the picturesque lake in northwestern Michigan where Ernest Hemingway frequently spent his summers, the 3,800-square-foot Walloon Lake House turned from a small 1960′s home into the perfect family house on the water. Honoring the original structure during renovation, DUDZIK Studios used swan douglas fir, helping to connect the new home with the landscape.

The lot the home sits on slopes towards the lake making it all about the view of the blue water the lake is known for. Inside and out, wood and stone are key components helping to tie it to the natural surroundings of the landscape.

The interior spaces were rearranged, combined, and expanded to make it work for modern times.

Douglas fir was used on the ceilings and walls giving it the cottage feel of the original house, as well as bringing a little bit of the outdoors in.

Large expanses of glass provide a seamless view of the lake and the landscape while providing ample light for the interior.

DUDZIK Studios pulled double-duty on this job by handling the interior design of the project as well. They even designed some of the furniture, like the desk in the office.

Love the copper pendents in the stairwell!

Photos courtesy of DUDZIK Studios.

Lenovo teamed up with three design teams to create collaborative table stations for their IdeaCentre Horizon Table PC. The idea was that because their high-concept PC created a real-life togetherness and technology, that it would be fun to fuse form and function to showcase the possibilities and use of this type of computer.

IdeaCentre Horizon Table PC

The Treehouse (also top photo)
Designed by Judson Beaumont of Straight Line Designs, Treehouse creates a magical world of whimsy to bring children and people of all ages together.

The Nest
Input Creative Studio designers Brooke Lichtenstein and Yiannos Vrousgos blend a modern take on the nesting table idea with the Lenovo Horizon, redefining family game night.

AT-UM
UM Project designer François Chambard wanted to give people a central hub to power their creation engine with a digital twist.

I can imagine a lot of options for a PC like this, especially when it comes to giving work presentations or demonstrations, classroom learning, and creative uses such as art, movie-making or web development. What would you use it for?

Ugo Rondinone’s stone figures temporarily stand in two New York City locations, yet they feel timeless, as if they existed before the sidewalks and will stand long after we’re gone.

Outside ’30 Rock’, nine massive sculptures range from 16-20 feet. Best enjoyed in the strange quiet of an early New York morning, their imposing presence is hardly diminished by the mid-day flood of tourists (the most common camera poses are the “cool lean” and the “rock hug”). The artist’s choice to minimally cut the stone preserves as much of the weather-worn surface as possible, highlighting the material’s unfathomable age.

A short subway trip downtown, 37 more figures occupy the Gladstone Gallery. Though their scale is smaller, the impact is far greater in this sky-lit concrete-coated, cathedral-like space. The typically white walls of the gallery have been skimmed with a thin layer of concrete – catching the light beautifully and harmonizing with the polished concrete floor. Humble cast concrete pedestals at various heights reveal their own wonderful imperfections and air bubbles, contrasting with the natural pitted surface of the stones.

Ugo Rondinone “soul”. Installation view: Gladstone Gallery, New York

Adding a touch of humor and warmth, Ugo has assigned a simple title to each figure, giving these solemn stones delightful personalities (and in my mind, entire backstories). In the image above, from left to right: “The Loving”, “The Surprised”, “The Blessed”, “The Thankful”, and “The Interested”.

What: Ugo Rondinone: Human Nature
Where: Rockefeller Plaza, New York City
When: April 23 – July 7, 2013

What: Ugo Rondinone: soul
Where: Gladstone Gallery: 520 W 21^st St, New York City
When: May 11 – July 3, 2013

All gallery images photographed by David Regen, Copyright Ugo Rondinone, Courtesy Gladstone Gallery, New York & Brussels

All Rockefeller Plaza images photographed by the author on a very early New York morning.

San Francisco-based Upwell, led by designer Justin Porcano, launched its first product that aims to make your life just a little bit easier. The Walhub isn’t your average switch plate though, this one becomes a dedicated site for your essentials – keys, mail, or your umbrella – by having a spot right by your door.

You generally turn your lights off when you leave so your eyes automatically go to the light switch anyway, making it the perfect location for your important items.

It comes in two versions, the Hang (with two hooks) and the Keeper (with two hooks and a mail holder), and they’re also a variety of options depending on what type of light switches you have.

After Architecture, a collaborative design house founded by two Cornell University seniors in the Bachelor of Architecture program, designed the Twofold bench, seating to accommodate two user groups, along with two types of behavior.

The all-in-one table slash bench design can host the average person of average height and seat them comfortably 18″ off the ground, perfect for resting your feet or playing a game of chess. The other type of user would be children, with space for the child to slide in and have the table be chest high for game playing or just to feel like a big kid.

The bench is milled from plywood profiles, basically inverting the way plywood is traditionally used, causing the linear layers to be exposed. The edges were then painted with a bright, neon color making the curved geometry of the piece pop.

Twofold was designed for a site outside the Boston Children’s Museum at Fort Point Channel and is currently on display as part of the Design Museum Boston’s Street Seats: Reimagining the Public Bench Exhibition.

Designed by Italian company Mussi, this chair is more than just a comfy place to sit. Not only does it adapt to your body, Kangura’s base folds out to become a reclining chaise lounge. I’d say this is the perfect napping solution!

The removable covers come in any of the Mussi collection fabrics and leathers on an oval steel revolving base.

Swiss design firm BERNHARD | BURKARD recently launched a super fun floor lamp that was inspired by the tallest living animal there is – the giraffe. The GIRAFFE | floor lamp adapts to whatever lighting situation you might have by extending its neck out to create a reading lamp or a spot light.

The light sits on four wooden legs and contains a system of metal scissors that expand out in a curved arc or contract back, depending on your preference. The hand crank lets you adjust the lamp.

What was already a house with rich history in Winchester, UK, became even more so when AR Design Studio came in to renovate the old servants’ quarters of a larger home they’re a part of. When excavation began, bodies (yes, bodies) were discovered buried underground. Police brought in archeologists who determined that the site had been used for Roman burials. The artifacts and bodies were cleared and taken to a museum for research and The Glass House project was once again back on track.

The servants’ quarters had fallen apart over the years and when the occupants of the larger house decided to downsize, they chose to tackle the project and realize their love of glass. The designers took it from there and created a glass staircase and glass extension sandwiched into an alcove in the rear of the building that opened up into the garden.

They managed to seamlessly add the frameless modern extension on to what appears to be a traditional brick house and did it well. The glass-covered structure allows light to flood the first floor communal spaces, while the original, cave-like spaces remain private for the family.

I’m wondering how much sunscreen they have to wear…

They installed a staircase to connect the ground floor with the cellar.

The light carries through to the double-height entrance space which features that unbelievable glass staircase.

The floors are covered in a ceramic tile that looks like wood instead of a more traditional wood floor because it won’t discolor being exposed to the bright sun so much.

Photos by Martin Gardner.

Designer and illustrator Kim Johnson of Buttercup Press sent me a link to her new graphic pillow designs. I love the pastel rainbows that look like blurred digital images of natural phenomenon.

The 18″ x 18″ pillow covers are sold in her Etsy shop. Each pillow cover is printed on 100% natural heavy cotton twill with eco-friendly water-based inks and printed in the USA. She handmakes each one.

Your old plastic bottles no longer are useless when they’re being made into the felt that forms the Torbuschka family of bags by Kaaita. Each Torbuschka comes with two slightly smaller bags fitted into the largest one giving you a trio of totes handmade exclusively in Slovenia.

The durable bags aren’t just for carrying around, you can use them as storage around your crib for things like toys, firewood, newspapers, linens, etc. It’s available in three versions – Torbuschka L (wearable edition), Torbuschka L (furniture edition), and Torbuschka XL (king size furniture edition).

Inspired by Op Art’s use of color and geometric shapes, Alessandra Baldereschi Design Studio created Poppins – a bench with some mighty colorful personality. The bench gives the illusion of patterned pillows laying there when, in fact, the fabric pushes through the wood giving it a three-dimensional effect.

The padded areas provide comfort while sitting but also give it the geometric shapes needed to give the look of a pillow.

Design Store(y) visits a beauty of a shop in L.A. this month, called Garde. Owner Scotti Sitz, a native Angeleno who has also worked at top fashion houses in New York, opened the loft-like space last summer. Offerings are eclectic, but expertly curated. Even better, it’s not the usual boutique fare.

Why did you pick this city/neighborhood/storefront?

I used to live in this neighborhood in the Beverly corridor a few years ago and I have watched it evolve. It’s become a destination for high-end vintage furniture, great restaurants, and accessories. We looked at this space. It was a dump. The building is from the early 1940s and it had not been touched. The first business here was a bank of operators. It was the pre-411. So if you wanted to know who sold apple pies in Los Angeles between Fairfax and La Brea, these operators would tell you where to go. When we got this space there were the old phone jacks all along this wall. Then 30 years ago an electronic repair shop opened here. There was linoleum and false ceilings. The skylight was boarded up. We gutted the space.

Where did you get the name for the store?

We named the store Garde, keeping the idea of something new and different, and I also like the definition as it applies to en garde, the stance in fencing to prepare for your match.

What’s one of the challenges you have with the business? 

The biggest challenge is to constantly vary the offerings of merchandise. From the beginning, I have sought to feature designers that have little or no retail presence in Los Angeles and even the United States as a whole. I’m constantly searching for new products to feature at Garde. Not necessarily in the sense of finding “the next big thing”, but rather special items that work with my look and feel and will make for a great story.

Michael Veryheyden G55 Lounge Chair

What’s your favorite item in the store right now?

I have a soft spot at the moment for a clothing collection from Miller et Bertaux in Paris. Two older French gentlemen who have a great eye, and design beautiful clothing. Also, I am happy to have a full collection from Michael Verheyden in Belgium which consists of handbags, furniture, stone objects, and leather goods. All exceptionally handcrafted and beautiful.

What is this season’s theme or inspiration? 

Not really a theme necessarily, but at the moment I have quite a few designs in the shop from France, Belgium, and The Netherlands, which at the moment is providing me with the greatest amount of inspiration.

Left: Michele Quan Throw Bell | Right: Dunes & Duchess Candelabra

Are you carrying any new products that you’re particularly excited about? 

Yes, the Dunes & Duchess candelabras designed by photographer Michael Partenio and stylist Stacy Kunstel out of New England. The lines and silhouettes of the pieces—they’ve recently expanded into furniture—are really unique.

What’s been a consistent best seller?

Michele Quan’s Throw Bell.

Does the store have its own line?

Not yet! To date, Garde has been a great success by featuring designers with a great story to tell and products that really epitomize our aesthetic.

Lindsey Adelman Curiosity Vessel

Do you have anything from the shop in your own home? 

Yes. I have one of the beautiful glass jars with a sculptural stopper by Lindsey Adelman.

Visit Garde at 7418 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90036.

Portugual-based designer Daniel Duarte’s Time Machine seems appropriately named as I could imagine getting mesmerized and transfixed watching the layered bars rotate around as time passes. The abstract clock will hypnotize you as the constantly shifting geometric patterns change and evolve as the minutes tick away.

The yellow-tipped bar represents the hour, while the orange-tipped one signifies the minutes.

Metaproject, the student challenge created by designer and Rochester Institute of Technology professor Josh Owen, is back again for another round. Last year’s focus was on using glass in partnership with the Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG), but this year, Owen partnered up with hip New York-based company Areaware to present the students with the challenge of working primarily with wood and creating contemporary wooden toys geared toward adults. Areaware, who distributes some of Owen’s own designs, has had great success with its wooden products, like David Weeks’ jointed toys.

Throughout the semester, students researched wood and examples of culturally specific historical and contemporary toys to define the meaning of Universal Toy. Then, each student develops his or her own toy, and one will be chosen by Areaware to possibly be manufactured and sold by them. The projects will be on display this year during ICFF.

Areaware Creative Director Laura Young spent a significant amount of time with the students throughout the process. “I visited with the class several times over the course of the semester, which included a rigorous concept critique where I reviewed collections of drawings and models from each student and addressed the students as a whole on what worked, what didn’t and why.”

“She [Laura] was heavily invested in the outcomes and as such became very attached to the students of the course. This was a treat because the students built a relationship based on mutual admiration,” said Professor Owen. He believes that working with an actual client is an excellent experience for students to prepare them for the industry. “Metaproject adds into the mix the tenants of ‘good design’ espoused by the Vignellis’ teachings which further guides the students towards making sustainable choices. Strategic placement of the class output in the ICFF in NYC further positions the students to connect with potential employers and with media contacts. When viewed as a constellation of assets, the course offers an elegant immersion into the field, under expert faculty guidance.”

I asked Professor Owen why wood was chosen as the material. Josh explained that wood is ideal because it can be easily manipulated and student models would “closely approximate their would-be mass-produced counterparts and can be tested as such.” I respect his answer when asked about the possibly disadvantages of using wood: “In my view there were no disadvantages. As designers, we typically focus on the brief we are given – we are in the business of defining opportunities.”

This year’s winner was James Paulius, whose design was called Blockitecture (both photos above) is a collection of hexagonal blocks that nest together in various formations, allowing them to counterbalance each other and create unique cantilevers found in modern and contemporary architecture. Blockitecture is a toy that allows users to enhance their understanding of physical laws by using their creative and imaginative processes.

The other winners included Jay Liu (second place), Katharine Beyerle (third place) and runners up Megan Lin, Blair Prietz, Jaclyn Jacobson, Jeffrey Burrell, Nanxi Yu.

Here are all of the student designs:

Alexandro Flores

Alexander Cloutier

Aaron Jackendoff

Blair Prietz

Ashley Valenti

David Buchanan

Gonzalo Ciurlizza

Jaclyn Jacobson

Ian O’Neill

Jay Liu

Jeffrey Burrell

Kathrine Beyerle

Kevin DAmico

Lindsay Randall

Sean Petterson

Rob Fish

Ryan Erbe

Megan Lin

Nanxi Yu

Nicholas Kelemen

Paula Garcia

Get more information on all of these designs on the Metaproject website.

Keeping the original shell of the home, the Cosgriff House was given an environmental and economic renovation and extension designed by architect Christopher Polly. A ground floor living area was inserted beneath the original living space and an extension was added on in the rear that opens up towards the garden.

Located in Annandale, Sydney, Australia, the modestly-sized house expands with the two-story extension that features a uniquely-shaped roof form that allows light to flood both floors.

The lower floor completely opens up to the backyard with sliding glass doors that dissolve the boundaries between indoors and out.

White walls and ceilings and polished concrete floors unify the long, narrow space.

Blinds can be lowered for privacy on both floors of the extension.

Skylights fill the stairwell and upper hallway with light.

The upper floor renovation adds a new main bedroom, bathroom, and an adaptable bedroom that can work as a study in the future.

Photos by Brett Boardman Photography.