ere’s a bookshelf that really makes a statement. It was designed by Save Our Souls, the Swedish design duo Johannes Carlström and Magdalena Nilsson. I love this, not because it has the most amazing design — it probably could have been constructed better — but because it’s a piece of furniture that’s honest. It speaks. And really, who doesn’t love furniture designed around typography?

panish designer Jaime Hayon continually impresses me. His latest project, the Smart Grid Gallery, is a lovely showcase of objects inspired by solar and wind energy — just in time for Earth Day, which is happening today. Hayon teamed up with Enel, an Italian power company that produces, distributes and sells electricity and gas. Enel is known for implementing a smart grid system in Italy that was completed in 2005, the earliest and largest example to date. A smart grid, according to Wikipedia, “delivers electricity from suppliers to consumers using two-way digital technology to control appliances at consumers’ homes to save energy, reduce cost and increase reliability and transparency.” Like the internet, smart grids are like networks that allow exchange of information.

Hayon’s little “imaginary world connects various forms of renewable energy” and is described in more detail below:

The pavilion is a luminous grid that constantly transforms, creating an aseptic environment but one that is dynamic and enveloping at the same time. The furnishings inside, heterogeneous in terms of form and function, represent the different energy sources and their concatenation: luminous elements power a table whose top is made with photovoltaic panels (solar energy) that, in turn, is connected by colored wires to a cabinet completely covered with small propellers (wind energy) and rotating vases (nuclear energy), all moving with self-produced energy. In the development of the details of each single work, with great creativity and a very high level of productive quality, Jaime Hayon wants to make the most complex technology more human and comprehensible.

ittle is known about Catherine Bujold, except that she lives in Montreal, loves science fiction, and has fantastically good taste in 60s & 70s Artemide molded plastic decor. She has transformed her living space into her own Moonbase Alpha, an environment that pays homage to the classic sci-fi television show, Space: 1999. Even the Alphan wall panels are custom made, cut from MDF and painted white to match the rest of the clinical interior.

Catherine’s passion to simulate her own futuristic world was first sparked by visiting the 1967 World Fair Expo, an expo so full of awesome that designers my age might be bitter about simply because they weren’t born yet.

“My passion for modern design furniture goes back to my childhood when I first went to EXPO 1967 WORLD FAIR during Summer and Fall of 1967. How beautiful the future would look according to that exposition. The France Pavilion (now transformed in “The Montreal Casino”) was pure candy to the eye. In there you could see the newest furniture design with a lot of Oliver Mourgue (Red Djiin chair in 2001: A Space Odyssey) and the fabulous chairs of Pierre Paulin like the Ribbon chair as seen in Space: 1999. All those pure and bold forms, beautiful and intriguing shapes were totally new at the time, but somehow, I felt totally at home surrounded by them.”

Her website, Sorellarium 13, catalogs every piece of furniture in her home, from chairs to lamps to tables. There are also many more photos of the interior that I didn’t include here. It’s quite impressive, actually, and you might find yourself perusing the content for hours like I did.

hile browsing the Herman Miller site yesterday, I wandered upon the Airia Desk and Media Cabinet and immediately fell in love. Not only is Airia well-designed, it’s also highly functional. The Airia desk gracefully combines the dual-level desk top architecture reminiscent of Nelson’s Swag Leg Desk with the sculptural curves of Jamie Hayon’s Artquitect series. This desk, among many other notable works was designed by Kaiju Studios based in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded by Ayako Takase and Cutter Hutton in 2001, these partners have taken an interesting multidisciplinary approach to design that Colorcubic is similarly working towards, creating everything from furniture to graphics to websites. I haven’t yet explored their works beyond industrial design, but if it’s anything like this desk or the Kotatsu Table (further below), it’s probably really good stuff.

To me, well-designed desks should always take cable management into consideration. There’s nothing worse than having a desk growing vines of cables that take away from the beauty of the design. Like everything, it’s certainly dependent on context though. In very industrial settings, naked cables and wires look natural to the environment and can add to the aesthetic. In any case, it’s always a good thing to have a means of organizing in clever ways. With Airia, the elevated secondary surface provides hidden storage for small peripherals and smart cable management. A center cork-lined drawer includes three removable organizer trays for small items.

Airia is built to last, too. It’s constructed with finely crafted millwork of the solid walnut frame that sits atop cast aluminum legs. I particularly love the companion media cabinet, too. There’s something awfully elegant and all the while humble about the harmony of the ivory and walnut finish. I can’t help but imagine Airia to have been a yacht in a past life whose purpose was to evolve into a classic piece of furniture that somehow lacks pretension. The only thing that might be pretentious is the price. Unbeknownst to me at this juncture, I may just keep it that way and admire it from afar — at least until I decide to upgrade my office setup.

In the photo above, the elevated secondary surface is exposed, revealing a collection of cords and cables, later hidden with the cutout cover.

Another piece that caught my eye was the Kotatsu table. Influenced by the traditional Japanese kotatsu, a low family gathering table, it sits low and serves as a gathering point for informal collaboration. My favorite part about the design is the recessed table top storage for small items like pens and clips, as well as the lower shelf storage for books or even drinks. Always a fan of molded plywood, this table has a certain Eames appeal that I adore.

came across this really clever, custom made Table & Tennis concept over the weekend. Produced by Hong Kong Procurements, this table has two functions.

1. Your run of the mill office table for meetings, etc…
2. A hearty game of table tennis.

I certainly wouldn’t mind having one of these for our office. I think it would make for great client meetings, as well as the complete humiliation of me versus Christy, as Christy rules Table Tennis healthy competition between me and Christy. I especially love the hideaway drawer in the side of the table to hold the rackets and balls. Very covert.

The philosophy behind the vision of this table is definitely interesting as well. Definitely worth looking into over at Table&Tennis. Also, it looks like the table was hosted in the office of James Cooper from Saatchi & Saatchi, who just so happens to also run the free magazine, Celebrity Ping Pong. Coincidence? nah.

decided to revisit Interstuhl, one of our favorite furniture design companies, touching on what we’ve considered to be the absolute pinnacle of industrial design perfection. Honestly though, what can I say that Christy hasn’t already covered previously?

In this particular post, I want to curate specifically, the White Silver Chair from Interstuhl. This mark of beauty and elegance. An absolute masterpiece. I’m almost afraid to mention the price tag (a hefty $5,000.00+ for just one of these chairs… easily). Now you’re probably asking yourself, “why would anyone EVER pay that much for a chair?” Well, beside the obvious fact that no other chair can hold a candle to this (except for maybe the Eames Lounge chair), take into consideration that these chairs are made to order, they’re ergonomic, and they’re made with the absolute best materials. The white one specifically, (my gem, goddess, temptress) is made with a white-silver coat over brushed aluminum. They’re also 98% recyclable, so in a moment of insanity, you decide you don’t want this chair anymore (and I’m not around to take it off your hands), you can rest assured knowing that it can be disassembled and kicked to the curb to be picked up for recycling. The orange seating also comes standard with this one particularly, but if you don’t fancy the orange seating, you can swap it for their other custom colored seating options.

Well, I think it’s time to wrap this up, as I’m beginning to cry over the realization that I may never own one of these stunning beauties. But… If I ever come into a hefty sum of money, I’ll most certainly be purchasing a couple. Specifically this model.

he Silver Chair was designed by Hadi Teherani for the company Interstuhl. Teherani is an Iranian-born architect by trade who recently embarked in the design of consumer goods and interior design. Teherani is best known for his famed architectural achievements such as Munich’s Swiss RH Centre and the Dockland office building in Hamburg. On silver-chair.net, the chair’s own website, a wonderful statement captured the soul of this chair:

“Design needs to make an emotional connection with the character of materials and their use; layer by layer must be peeled away in order to reach the heart of meaning and discover a new context. It was our aim to make the technical complexity in Silver invisible and reach the poetic plateau of perfection in seating. A chair which is only suitable for use in an office is not enough. Aesthetics without ethic is deception.” Note that the Silver Chair is 98% recyclable.

This is no ordinary task chair, dinner chair, reading chair, or anything chair. Silver’s design is so versatile that with customization of various materials (aluminum, wood, leather, glass, fabric and more), the chair can adapt to any environment. Could you imagine using an Aeron chair as part of your dining decor? It probably wouldn’t sit too pretty.

I’m not too worried about Silver becoming a common seating solution like the Aeron. The Silver Low costs $4625, Silver Mid is $5040, and Silver High is a hefty $5610. Even the damn foot stool costs $1811, which is more than the Aeron Chair itself! To have the chair customized, it’ll cost you even more.

Some of the Silver’s design influences included classic Mercedes-Benz coupes, the sharp angles of fighter jets, and the Sydney Opera House, all which can be summed up in Interstuhl’s words as “Security in technology, hidden function, shell concept, and futuristic baroque.”

fter relocating the Colorcubic office to Old Town in January, we had planned to outfit our environment with new decor and furnishings; specifically task chairs. I recently discovered that our old chairs were partially made of polyvinyl chloride, otherwise known as PVC or vinyl. Further research had determined that PVC products (more specifically flexible PVC) contains chemicals known as additives that slowly leach out, possibly resulting in health complications. I had also read on the FDA site that the additive DEHP has produced a range of adverse effects in male reproductive systems and production of normal sperm in animals. No tests have been done on human males, but my advice to kung-fu kicking males is to avoid the Macho Sewn Vinyl Groin Guard. Needless to say, all this information made it necessary to upgrade our seating immediately.

Like most modern and aesthetically-inclined design studios, we looked to Herman Miller as a viable solution. No, we didn’t want to be just another card-carrying member of the Aeron Chair club. While the Aeron is a fine chair indeed, it has lost its appeal over the years as a banal solution. I must admit that I only prefer the Executive Aeron with the polished aluminum frame. The other models just fall short of meeting my expectations. Another item that fell short of expectations was our chair budget — at well over a grand a pop, the aluminum Aeron wasn’t an option at the time; neither was the Silver Chair: my Unicorn, the mark of absolute perfection. I shudder as I write this.

Chair criteria included ergonomics, aesthetics, sustainability, and price. After browsing through Design Within Reach, I came upon the Celle Chair (pronounced cella) designed by Jerome Caruso for Herman Miller. Made from 33% recycled content and 99% recyclable, this product immediately caught my eye. At a mid-price of $749 each ($629 on Amazon.com), the Celle was ergonomic, attractive, and Greenguard Certified.

I was initially worried about the comfort of a chair that is constructed mostly of polymer, but the system of cells and loops conforms to the sitter’s body and flexes with movement. Since the Portland DWR didn’t carry the chair in-store, I had to trust in the idea of the chair description and the reputation of Herman Miller. We placed an order and a month later (yes, it takes 4-6 weeks for this product to arrive), we received the pre-assembled chairs in Brownstone (looks brown in online photos but is more of a light graphite in real life) and it was everything as expected, except for the color which had worked out conveniently.

Durably constructed and highly adjustable, it was more comfortable than I had expected. Although the Celle chair is very flexible, it is still very firm. If your butt can’t stand some firmness, then I’d suggest a different chair, or purchase the optional fabric seat covering to alleviate your proctological issues. We did however receive a damaged chair, most likely cracked during the shipment process. I’m not surprised since the chair packaging was crappy as it was placed in a big-ass cardboard box with one small piece of styrofoam on the chair back, all strapped together with plastic strips. The way some UPS delivery guys throw packages around should be a liability. Luckily, DWR has a pretty good return policy and had scheduled to have the chair picked up while a replacement was ordered. Bad news was, we had to wait another several weeks for the sucker to arrive. Why so long, DWR? I wonder if this chair is made to order. Anyway, we have been enjoying our Celle chairs very much and have had no problems. The overall design is not too pretentious, the color Brownstone (or Graystone as I’d like to call it) is attractive, the ergonomics and comfort is copasetic, and the footprint, although wide, won’t domineer your workspace, as long as you’re not working in a cardboard box. And if you are, you’ve got bigger things to worry about.