LOVE THIS – there you go, blog post done. Well actually, I saw Eva Menz’ Free as a Bird chandelier and knew it had to be in my wish list line up simply because it’s fabulous. Only later did I notice the intricate detail about this piece. It’s an origami design made up of 1000 tyvek cranes, yes cranes and yes 1000 of them, see detail below. So yes, can I have one please? Have a look at the other images as well for more color options and the effect created when the piece is lit.
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Some designers and architects have a love-hate relationship with light-emitting diode (LED) lighting systems. While they are innovative with great potential for energy-efficiency, they represent a major paradigm shift for the design community, and their true reliability and lifetime is not generally known. However, most designers and architects are moving out of incandescent toward LEDs. And the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) ban on 100-watt incandescent light bulbs, scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2012, will only serve to push more people towards the LED category in the coming months and years. Continue Reading…
Baby it’s cold outside….but who cares, when you have this masterful Master Bath complete with candle alcoves, Japanese soaking tub by Diamond Spas, enormous rubber ducky and as piece de resistance the amazing H2O chandelier from long time Modenus favorites and personal friends Zia Priven. In fact, while we adore the entire space we thought we’d focus in on just the H2O…. Continue Reading…
Scabetti keeps appearing in the most glamorous places. As part of their ‘National Treasure’ campaign Liberty of London asked British sea food chef and TV personality Rick Stein to make a contribution. A lovingly prepared Mackerel wasn’t going to fit the bill. As Rick says himself , “I was a bit stumped. A recipe, a piece of kitchen equipment or a picture of the Padstow Estuary, none of them filled me with enthusiasm.” But he remembered the Staffordshire based lighting artists who made the chandeliers for his much admired Cornish Seafood restaurant. The Rick Stein Shoal, as it is known, is a scaled down version of the restaurant chandelier with 288 fine bone china fish, including two John Dory, a fish some of you foodies may know as St. Pierre, by sculptor John Bromley. It is strictly a ‘one-off’ and is being auctioned as part of Liberty’s ‘National Treasure’ campaign with bids invited between October 21 and 30, 2011. Picture by Mark Wood Continue Reading…
Stanley Ruiz is a trans-disciplinary designer and artist based in Brooklyn, New York. I had heard of him before but will admit I never researched his work until a few weeks ago, when his Twitter account was hacked and I received a message that had clearly not been sent by him. A hacked Twitter account is annoying but in this case it drew my attention to Stanley and his amazing design work, so Mr. Hacker, whoever you are, you actually did some good for once, don’t you just hate that? Now back to Stanley’s work which is a juxtaposition of warm organic materials against cold steel, nature against man. The bowl above is from the New Organic collection and reflects the machined element in steel combined with carefully hand selected twigs “like a nomad with rudimentary tools fashioned his wares”. Continue Reading…
Tickets? Passports? High healed sneakers? All packed and ready as our party, and we suspect it will be a party, of some of the most influential and inspiring American interior design and life style bloggers prepare for five fantastic days reporting back from London Design Festival. Our previews continue to feature some of the work they will see. For the full story keep checking back both here and on the Blogtour site.
We seriously adore Curiousa & Curiousa who are exhibiting at Tent this year. Working from their studio in the Derbyshire town of Wirksworth, they create light pieces from cast bone china and hand blown glass and surface designs which are used on vintage or reproduction furniture. The results are beautiful but often challenging. There is a sincerity about their work which is missing from so much of the mass produced or marketing led design and manufacturing you see amongst the big big chains.
Alison Berger’s medium of choice is light and her material is glass. She uses age-old glass blowing techniques to create glass forms which feel simultaneously old world and modern. She says “Glass captures the process of remembering and, as the light fades, forgetting.”
Born in Dallas, Texas, Alison Berger trained and worked as an architect. But after apprenticing with glass artist Dale Chihuly, Berger began to devote herself to glass design and it is a pleasure to be able to show some of her work. This is a detail from her Crystal Sphere Chandelier, a piece that combines an essential simplicity of form with a sophisticated use of hand blown and crafted glass.
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We love when designers and design enthusiasts in our communities on Twitter, Faceboook, LinkedIn and other platforms can take some inspiration away from Modenus. Great design is about great resources and about finding new ideas with which to inspire clients and ourselves for that matter. What we love even more than sharing great designs with you, is when you share them with us. Shelley, researcher extraordinaire at The Daily Basics was nice enough to introduce me to Michael McHale Design on Twitter this morning and I didn’t want to waste a minute before re-sharing this little treasure with our readers. Thanks Shelley. Continue Reading…
One of the more interesting ways to display plants, has to be this fun number by Miriam August, one of the designers in the German company Wird-Etwas. The effect of soft lighting playing on water, roots and leaves creates an ever changing living sculpture, cool eh? Continue Reading…
We’ve started to think about all the lovely people and the wonderful work we will see at London Design Festival in September. OK, its a while away and there is lots to do before then but, and there is no point in pretending, London is our favourite City and London Design Festival has to be one of our favourite weeks. Without wanting to go all Julie Andrews, we started thinking about more of our favourite things and jewelry and beautiful lighting came to mind. And, with great synchronicity, our thoughts turned to Penelope Batley, who, in case you have missed her work, combines the two and, what’s more, she will be showing her work at 100% Design during the London Design Festival this year. This is her Big Bling, which she has made in various shades, in various sizes, for various locations. And if you are thinking that it needs a good pair of earrings, how’s this? Continue Reading…
