Table of contents for Sep-15 in Dwell

“Success…seems to consist of an object’s ability to transform the atmosphere of surroundings in an unusually powerful and pleasing way while managing not to exclude or overpower the other objects in the room. Though this may be the goal of every project, it’s not often the result.” —JASPER MORRISON The quote above appears in the British designer’s recent tome, A Book of Things, in reference to the marketplace’s afinity for the Glo-ball lighting pieces he created for Flos in 1998. As he gratefully nods to the collection’s persistent success over the past 17 years, Morrison acknowledges that he can’t pinpoint exactly why it remains a best seller—noting also that if he could, he would like to repeat such a favorable outcome more often. It’s intriguing to use the words of…

Fractal for DesignByThem, $188 per unit The eight petals of this modular table can be magnetically linked to form a large octagonal surface, or separated and aligned into different arrangements. designbythem.com Self-Made Seat for Campeggi, starting at $259 per cushion The plush poufs of this sofa system can be freely stacked and arranged. Each cushion can also be carried like a suitcase by its bold, bright orange strap. campeggisrl.it Contrast for Blk Pine, $1,100–$1,400 The Seattle workshop’s debut furniture collection uses a pared down, kit-of-parts construction that allows a lounge chair to easily morph into a side bench. blkpineworkshop.com Crescendo C2 Maximus for Stilvoll, $4,500–$15,830 A modern reinterpretation of the traditional writing desk, this piece comes with top-storage compartments and legs that can adjust from 21 to 34 inches in…

Mention modern Brazilian furniture and names like Sergio Rodrigues, Joaquim Tenreiro, and Jorge Zalszupin come to mind. Yet the most prolific Brazilian furniture designer from the early 1960s to the mid-1980s is arguably Percival Lafer, comparatively unknown in the USA despite the examples of his work for sale today on 1stdibs and eBay. Lafer credits the availability of his work here to the 35 Brazil Contempo stores that existed stateside from 1970 to 1985. When he began making furniture in 1961, his vision was to “bring good design to everyone, not just the intellectual elite” with modern, wellmade pieces that were mass-produced and affordable. That he did, with “an incomparable product for the price,” says Joanne Podell, cofounder of the now-defunct retailer. “Percival’s furniture not only captured the modern aesthetic…

Tom Gaffney won’t tell me where he is. We’re talking on the phone and I know he’s on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, but he won’t give away his exact location. Gaffney is on-site installing a safe room—something most of us know as a “panic room”—but revealing the address, even the street, would defeat half the purpose of fortifying a home in the first place. After all, if someone knows you have a panic room, they know there’s something you’re trying to hide or protect. Gaffney runs a private security design firm called Gaffco Ballistics, based out of a small town in central Vermont. Hailing originally from County Sligo, Ireland, Gaffney still speaks with a rolling brogue, quickly and concisely. He is not in the business to waste time.…

“ We love to stay up here because you have a lot of sky and all the trees around you. It’s another world.” —Eglantine Charrier, resident If you hop on a bike in central Copenhagen and head southeast, you can expect to ride over a canal, past an opera house in the distance, and through a hippie enclave before eventually hitting the sea. What you might not expect is that a 20-minute ride from the city center could lead you to a colony of industrious, round-the-clock workers. Those workers— who happen to measure roughly an inch long, and who have yellow and black stripes—reside within a few homemade hives at the edge of an emerald lawn, in the shadow of an ivy-covered Tudor-style house on the island of Amager. The…

64 Profile Vintage armchairs and sofas by Percival Lafer for Brazil Contempo 1stdibs.com chairish.com ebay.com 80 Profile Tripp Trapp chair by Peter Opsvik for Stokke stokke.com 100 French Fix Pod Lens pendants by Ross Lovegrove for Luceplan luceplan.com Bed, bedside tables, desk, shelf, console, and bookcase by Abigail Turin kallosturin.com Fronzoni ’64 chair and bed by A.G. Fronzoni, Extra Big Shadow floor lamp by Marcel Wanders, Steel Box by Carolo Colombo, White cube side table with cast apples by Ilaria Marelli, Satori round side tables by Mario Mazzer, Rainbow chair by Patrick Norguet, all for Cappellini cappellini.it Flight recliner by Jeffrey Bernett and Nicholas Dodziuk and Line credenza by Nathan Yong for Design Within Reach dwr.com Vintage coatrack by Fontana Arte fontanaarte.com Fogg rugs by Gunilla Lagerhem Ullberg for Kasthall…

What does your favorite song look like? BeatWoven, the music-inspired textile line by London-based designer Nadia-Anne Ricketts, might just have the answer. “It’s bizarre, but I always get a bit of a color palette in my head when I hear music,” says Ricketts, who transforms songs into silk using a proprietary software that helps her visualize sound. From there, the designer intuitively adds color and edits the patterns before they’re woven on digital jacquard looms at a British silk mill that dates back to the 18th century. “I usually think of an interior story and then choose music that fits within that story,” says Ricketts of her audiovisual inspirations. British pop music served as the starting point for the collection she debuted stateside at this year’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair,…

Present Perimeter by Jonathan Nesci for Patrick Parrish Gallery, from $800 Part of a larger collection of tables and accessories, Nesci’s limited edition of powder-coated, steelframe mirrors combine the geometric forms of hexagons, trapezoids, rhombuses, and triangles. patrickparrish.com Not since the days of disco have mirrors been this hot. As signs of other movements from the 1960s and ’70s continue to reemerge through a contemporary filter— think tufted cushions, pastels, and illustrative, all-over patterns—mirrors, too, have become ripe for reinvention as an underexamined staple of interior design. This was especially evident this spring, as the annual orbit of trade fairs saw designers introduce pieces that looked beyond the form as more than a mere reflector. Abstracted shapes, fine materials, finishes, and color-blocked accents all made an appearance, as did Op…

“You don’t have to drop $50,000 to get a cool building.” —Tim Ferguson Sauder, resident Tim and Meg Ferguson Sauder had two problems: Like many parents, they wanted more space for their active family. They also needed to get rid of a deteriorating, hornetinfested storage shed sitting in the yard of their home in Gloucester, Massachusetts. So the family devised a solution in the form of a gift-box-size modern outbuilding that’s more of a weekend retreat than simply a place to park the lawn mower. The project was started out of pure necessity. Tim, the creative director of a student design studio at nearby Gordon College, where he is also an instructor, needed a home studio of his own. The couple’s children, Cole, 13, Olive, 10, and Asher, six, who…

Since 1999, brothers Erwan and Rowan Bouroullec have run an independent practice from their Paris-based studio, working with furniture brands such as Vitra, Kvadrat, and Cappellini. This year, they launched the Officina collection with Magis, using wrought iron to achieve the modern, elegantly functional pieces for which they are known. We caught up with Erwan at the Milan Furniture Fair to get his thoughts on the use of an ancient technique for a contemporary collection, and how production choices hold the power to shape the industry. How did you first approach the idea of using a traditional method for a contemporary line? If you compare it to cooking, to play with wrought iron is just like having an incredible fish—a beautiful one, like whole tuna. You shouldn’t do anything. You…

With studios in Hong Kong and Brussels, British-born designer Michael Young uses the latest technological tools to push furniture forward. This year alone, he created a chair for Coalesse, launched his own furniture and lighting line, EOQ, and debuted a glassware prototype in memory of his dear friend (and fellow British expat) James Irvine. Here, he shares his take on material matters and reveals what he finds so exciting about the business of design today. How does experimenting with materials play into your practice? It’s pretty much the reason my studio is in Hong Kong, because you have some great factories. Anyone can design a classic chair and bang it out and there you go. I think to be involved in technology as it progresses through time is more relevant.…

An artful reminiscence of Rietveld’s 1934 Zig-Zag chair—with a spare, wooden geometric frame in the shape of a letter Z, and bearing a name equally alliterative—the Tripp Trapp, designed by Peter Opsvik, distinguishes itself from other high chairs in that it allows children to sit closer and more intimately to the family dining table. “I tried to find a chair that allowed our [then-] two-year-son to sit comfortably together with us at the table,” the Norwegian industrial designer recalls. “So I had to figure out the solution myself.” Selling more than 9 million chairs to date, the Tripp Trapp has remained in continued production since its launch in 1972. With movable seat and footrest panels that can be adjusted to a user’s growing height, the timeless design is built to…

The product-packed Modern Market section of Dwell just got even better with a fresh look and an innovative crop of new modern designs. In this highly shoppable section, you are guaranteed to discover that one unique item or special gift that makes you feel at home in the modern world! For more products and services, visit us online at dwell.com! Pop Light A faithful redesign of a flea market find—– right down to the vintage plug—– the Pop Light’s colorful acrylic planes and sculptural presence deliver a modern update to any interior. This cantilevered table lamp leans boldly toward the unexpected without straying from the Schoolhouse focus on thoughtful, vintageinspired design. Toll-free 800-630-7113 schoolhouseelectric.com kül grilles Modern Grilles for the Modern Home Your design is a reflection of your personality…