.....Summer Break

Dear Readers, it is finally time to take some days off, I will be back at the end of August with more "design" notes. Have a nice & creative summer break. Anna

Kapteinbolt

I have just discovered this amazing furniture, Dutch studio Kapteinbolt really managed to save some space!!!

Anna Maria Cornelia

Designer Anna Maria Cornelia van Gersem (Belgium) did contribute recently to a very special magazine launch. In one of the hangar of Schiphol Airport, (NL) , people were entertained with an original “flying away" breakfast, hostess and Stewart were welcoming the guests; the food was also designed for the real fly containers...... See more work of Anna Maria Cornelia here.

Alexander van Slobbe - Orson+Bodil

Last week I was between the lucky selected guests at the Orson+Bodil fashion show, designed by Alexander van Slobbe. I knew a bit the previous work of this Dutch Fashion designer, but the catwalk pieces I saw were almost all new. I really loved the beautiful minimal shape of each garment, silk and organic fabrics were just sculpted on the models body, becoming elegant and original clothes for day and night. After the show I just wanted to go home and start to work with textile, I was so inspired!

RCA Show 2009

It is Graduation Shows time again.

Here some projects from the Royal College of Art, London.

Dominic Hargreaves

Going Up - bike lock system

Lucia Massari

Aminor Library Tumtable - paper

Aysenaz Toker

playing with forms - glass

Olivia Flore Decaris

Drop - fabric, birch plywood and steel

OIive

Colourfull sweet pillows from OIive, I would use them in my studio and they would help me to hadle the stress of these busy weeks at work! see more products of Fallon Akers on her Etsy shop.

Droog Design last news

Gijs Bakker, founder and director of the famous Dutch design platform Droog Design together with Renny Ramakers, is stepping out. The decision seems to have to do with a disagreement between the two about the vision for the future of the platform.

Is this the end of Droog?

Yoko Izawa

Extremely beautiful and poetic pieces of jewelery by Yoko Izawa. Yoko designed a flexible knitted tube band wich raps the objects. You can hear and see the artist vision here.

Legeron flowers

From a friend who is working in Paris I did hear about the maison Legeron and their beautiful flowers. A quick research on line opened my eyes and brought me to discover this incredible atelier. If you are not familiar with their work please make sure you visit their website. This maison is a treasure! Their silk flowers are still made completely by hand, using traditional tools. The atelier is now managed by the grandson of the founder and their clients are the super selected fashion houses around the world.

Bottega Veneta and the leather school

Surely you all know the Italian Bottega Veneta brand and bags. What you perhaps do not know is the incredible craftsmanship behind these bags, like the "intrecciato" (woven) motif which is one of the brand styles since 1966. This beautiful and complex pattern takes two artisans and two days of work in order to complete weaving 70 leather strips.

In 2006 Bottega Veneta decided to support the Italian Leather Craft School of the Venice area - Scuola Arte e Mestieri di Vicenza, where it is possible to attend a leather program for learning the old techniques.

I personally think it is very important to save these craftsmanships and I am very happy to see that one of these mega brand is taking action.

Jack Brandsma

Jack Brandsma (NL) designed these super interesting pieces. He thinks this furniture, so easy to set up and move, can be a practical solution for temporary spaces or temporary living. I like them and I am so sorry I missed his exhibition in Milan last April, I would loved to see the furniture live!!!

Neri Oxman

Neri Oxman. architect and researcher at the MIT University, won last january the first The Earth Awards for her FAB.Recology research which combined principals of biomimicking with the design and construction of built enviroments. Naomi founded Materialecology in 2006, interdisciplinary research initiative that undertakes design research in the intersection between architecture, engineering, computation, biology and ecology. Some of her research results were exhibited last year at the Design and the Elastic Mind, MOMA NY. I think her work is extremely interesting, definetely someone with a NEW vision.

Oxman's "Cartesian Wax" is a material designed to replicate the multiple functionalities of living tissue. It uses a combination of flexible and rigid resin to create a building "skin" that evokes living matter and responds to its local environment; its transparency level is modulated based on local heat and light conditions

"Monocoque" represents another approach to the fabrication of a skin-like membrane. The entire weight of each object is supported by its skin, with thicker areas that are reminiscent of natural vascular structures bearing most of the load. As such, they require no internal supports. The objects are fabricated through computational algorithms that, when output through a 3-D printer, produce structures that stand on their own