The globally recognized Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman was introduced back in 1956 and has remained one of the most iconic pieces of modern furniture since. While the chair is available to purchase new, you can still come across them secondhand in a variety of conditions, from like new to RIP. Creative agency Reed Art Department (RAD) recently collaborated with furniture restoration company Parc to restore and customize three of the recovered mid-century classics with a custom gradient that goes from dark grey to white. With a nod to New York City asphalt and the visual play of early morning fog, the limited edition chairs feature rosewood shells with premium full grain leather that starts at its darkest by the headrest before transitioning to white on the ottoman. For an added pop, orange trim and buttons finish off the custom design.
The three limited edition RAD x Parc Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman designs are available at RAD Shop for $10,000 each.
OSSO Architecture overhauled an apartment in a former paper factory in Brooklyn, New York, that had not been touched since the 1980s. At that time, the industrial building was converted into make-shift artist apartments that now needed extensive renovations for modern day living. The Boerum Hill Loft is now open and modern, complete with original details that add both character and charm.
A load-bearing brick wall came down to double the living room space, which is outfitted with mid-century furnishings.
The original spiral staircase leads to the second floor main bedroom, bathroom and outdoor terrace. An additional ladder-like set of stairs in the kitchen provides access to a loft bedroom for overnight guests.
The overall palette features neutral colors and architectural finishes that include natural oak, maple, American walnut, reclaimed brick and blackened steel.
Named Kali, for her “energy” in Swahili, this design by Forbes & Masters is a vibrating collection of shapes. It’s a bold, modern pattern created by Monet Masters and Tavia Forbes of Atlanta-based interior design firm Forbes & Masters, in collaboration with Mitchell Black. The superbly talented duo designs repeats that we love and that are available as wallpaper, fabric and more. We always look forward to seeing what’s next from Monet and Tavia, patterns and interior spaces alike.
As someone who has tested and reviewed a multitude of alarm clocks, I’ve got strong opinions of which features to look for when choosing a bedside companion tasked to wake you up each morning. Ideally an alarm clock awakens our conscious part of our minds gently, mirroring the circadian rhythm attuned to sunrise rather than relying upon the scare factor of an annoying blare. Starting each day with a hormonal adrenaline surge is not only stressful, but unhealthy. Which brings us to the concept behind Loftie, one of a new generation of bedside clocks designed to shed the “alarm” in alarm clocks, and help wean sleepers from their phones.
Loftie’s minimalist and featureless front is the first sign this alarm clock is designed with calm as the centerpiece of its features. The clock’s numerical digital display is intentionally modest (though my nearsighted eyes would benefit from the option to increase the display size).
A warm and adjustable night light situated at the bottom of the Loftie can also be set to turn on/off in parallel with your sleep and wake cycles. While an app can be assigned to control the clocks settings, no phone is required to access options with the clock’s physical layout of three buttons. Whether by clock or app, users are offered an assortment relaxing aural cues to choose from. These include white noise, meditations, sound baths, stories and breathwork.
Loftie’s selection of soundscapes is indeed calming (and surprisingly a welcome accompaniment to listen to while working throughout the day), a mix of natural world soundscapes. For the majority of human history, people both fell asleep to and woke up alongside sounds of the natural world rather than the violent cacophony of traditional alarms and the human landscape, and every tone acknowledges this fact with satisfying serenity.
Similarly, the clock’s assortment of wake up tones are gentle, a mix of nature sounds and ambient compositions. Noting most of us awaken in stages (aka “I’m up, but I’ll get out of bed in ___ minutes.”), the Loftie has a secondary selection of “Get-up tones”, which cue users it is indeed time to finally get out from the covers.
Loftie says they will continue to add expand functionality over time via app updates, including unlocking Bluetooth speaker connectivity, adding additional alarm tones and customizable scheduling settings for alarms – all reasonable expectations when purchasing a $165 clock ($140.25 with the current discount code). But even so, out of the box today the Loftie makes for a convincing argument that technology doesn’t have to be an intrusive presence in the bedroom when consciously designed.
This Women’s History Month, we’re celebrating five inspiring and forward-thinking females who revolutionized the architectural field forever. In a time when women were expected to look after the home, these architects blazed new trails by designing homes (and iconic buildings) instead. From Los Angeles to Tokyo, they reshaped city skylines, shattered glass ceilings and built structures that speak for themselves. Here are their stories.
Portrait of Marion Mahony Griffin, 1935 \\\ National Library of Australia
Marion Mahony Griffin(1871-1961)
Born in 1871 in Chicago, Marion Mahony Griffin was one of the first licensed female architects in the world. As Frank Lloyd Wright’s first employee, Griffin worked on structures (such as the Fishwick House in Australia and Henry Ford’s personal home in Michigan) that expanded the American Prairie School architectural style in the United States, India and Australia. While Marion’s talents were not truly appreciated in her lifetime, she is now remembered as one of the greatest delineators in architectural history.
Marion Mahony Griffin design for suburban residence \\\ National Archives of Australia
Julia Morgan(1872-1957)
From being the first woman admitted to the prestigious architecture program at the Beaux-Arts de Paris to becoming the first licensed female architect in California, Julia Morgan was a pioneer in every sense of the word. At a time when most female architects worked at a firm alongside their husbands, Morgan opened her own firm instead and designed over 700 buildings. Her most prolific project by far was publishing tycoon William Randolph Heart’s Hearst Castle, which she worked on for nearly three decades. In 2014, she became the first woman to receive the AIA Gold Medal, which was awarded posthumously by the American Institute of Architects.
Julia Morgan \\\ Indoor Roman Pool at Hearst Castle, San Simeon, California \\\ Photo source
Contact sheet of Norma Merrick Sklarek (mid-late 20th century) \\\ Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of David Merrick Fairweather and Yvonne Goff. \\\ Courtesy Smithsonian
Norma Merrick Sklarek(1926-2012)
Known as the Rosa Parks of architecture, Norma Merrick Sklarek created a whole new blueprint for female architects. As the first African American woman to officially be licensed as an architect in both New York and California, she designed everything from the United States Embassy in Tokyo to the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles to the Terminal One station at Los Angeles International Airport. In 1985, she partnered with Margot Siegel and Katherine Diamond to open what was believed to be one of the largest women-owned architecture firms in the country. Sklarek is remembered not only for her architectural prowess but also for her unwavering support of other women in the field.
Zaha Hadid in Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre in Baku, November 2013 \\\ Photo: Dmitry Ternovoy
Zaha Hadid(1950-2016)
Described by The Guardian as “the Queen of the curve,” British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid was known for creating futuristic, curvaceous buildings that reimagined what design could be. (“There are 360 degrees, so why stick to one?” she famously quipped.) From the Guangzhou Opera House in China to the Heydar Aliyev Centre in Azerbaijan, Hadid envisioned bold, boundary-pushing designs. In 2004, she became the first female architect to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Hadid passed away unexpectedly in 2016, but her buildings remain a lasting testament to her vision and endless creativity.
Kazuyo Sejima(1956-)
In 2010, Japanese architect Kazuyo Sejima became the second woman in the world to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize (alongside her male colleague Ryue Nishizawa, with whom she founded Tokyo-based architecture firm SANAA in 1995). Sejima is known for designing clean, modernist buildings that draw inspiration from her Japanese heritage. Sejima has worked on a number of projects across the globe, from the United States to Spain to Japan. Some of her most notable works include the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa in Japan and the New Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Kazuyo Sejima \\\ Sumida Hokusai Museum, Tokyo 2016 \\\ Photo: Kakidai – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
Rebekah Bell is a writer who lives in Los Angeles.
The following post is brought to you byECONYL. Our partners are hand-picked by the Design Milk team because they represent the best in design.
What are you doing in 2021 to design or manufacture with sustainability in mind? What materials are you using in your designs or fabrications? These questions are ones that every designer or brand should be asking at the inception of every new project.
We’d like to introduce a smart option to you: ECONYL®. This versatile, sustainable nylon yarn can be recycled and regenerated infinitely, making it a smarter solution than virgin nylon that depletes natural resources. ECONYL is made from 100% waste that’s been pulled from landfills and oceans and performs the same as new nylon. Pre-consumer textile scraps and industrial plastic, as well as post-consumer waste, including used carpets and fishing nets, are what ultimately make up the material. What does this mean for us? That we can create and buy new products without ever tapping into new resources by using a material that can be endlessly recycled, reused and recreated. It exists and it’s ready to be used in your next project.
ECONYL’s parent brand, The Aquafil Group, is a leading manufacturer of synthetic fibers in the textile industry. Over the past decade they’ve invested in the research and development of sustainable materials, leading to the creation of ECONYL in 2011. Currently in use by more than 1,000 brands, you can rest assured that it’s been thoroughly tested and deemed a durable success. Because it’s created through chemical recycling, it’s possible to purify the collected waste and go back to the chemical building blocks of nylon. Possibly the biggest benefit of using ECONYL, rather than virgin nylon, is the 90% reduction in global warming it provides when directly compared, creating a positive environmental impact.
For every 10,000 tons of ECONYL raw material, 70,000 barrels of crude oil are saved and 65,100 tons of CO2 equivalent emissions are avoided. These are a few of the qualities that help ECONYL contribute to LEED credits in four different categories.
Behind the scenes it takes four steps to create the material—what’s referred to as the ECONYL Regeneration System. It starts with rescuing waste that’s then sorted and cleaned to recover all of the nylon possible. Through a regeneration and purification process, the nylon waste is recycled back to its original purity—making ECONYL exactly the same as virgin nylon. Afterwards, it’s turned into carpet yarn and textile yarn for the interior and fashion industries. The final step is on designers to create brand new products with nylon that has the potential to be reused again and again without losing its quality. In short, ECONYL’s production will increasingly be connected to the way the nylon products are designed and to their recyclability.
Sustainable textiles are a reality, and our desire to create and consume new products is seemingly endless. Today’s carpets might be next season’s trendiest clothing collection, eliminating waste and use of new resources. Designers are responsible for controlling the first phase of product development, and that can determine up to 90% of a product’s environmental impact.
Photo courtesy of alcarol
The possibilities and fabrications really are endless for ECONYL in the fashion, carpet flooring, furniture, automotive industries and beyond. alcarol is an experimental design studio based in Italy who create innovative home furnishings that have been inspired by the environment and natural living. They also use avant-garde techniques. For example, their Ocean Networks Low Tables are multicolored as a result of various nets that have been tangled and melted together to create a transparent marbled effect. The glass slab legs and aluminum fixings can be easily removed to make each piece 100% recyclable when the time comes.
Photo courtesy of alcarol
Photo courtesy of alcarol
alcarol also used ECONYL to create their Fluctus Suspension Lamp; its illuminated surface meant to represent the ocean as seen from an underwater perspective. The light’s intensity can be changed and light animations can be created using an app on your smartphone, giving you the ability to create individualized light scenarios. In the detailed image of Fluctus, you can see the delicate details meant to portray the fragility of our oceans.
Photo courtesy of alcarol
Photo courtesy of Zanotta
In celebration of the design’s 50th anniversary, Zanotta created a green edition of the popular Sacco seating in recognition of a need for global change. The numbered, limited-edition collection – SACCO GOES GREEN – replaced its internal padding with BioFoam microspheres, a biodegradable bio-plastic (PLA) derived from sugar cane. The outer cover is made of ECONYL that features three new patterns designed by Pierre Charpin, inspired by the netting used in the material.
Photo courtesy of Zanotta
Photo courtesy of Interface
Carpet flooring brand Interface has focused on premium products inspired by Earth’s natural habitats for years. Their latest, The Human Nature Collection, falls right into line with this ethos, and is made with 100% regenerated ECONYL fiber.
Photo courtesy of noho
Furniture brand noho believes your space should be filled with pieces that look good while simultaneously doing good for the planet. Their noho move chair brings together comfort, versatility and earth-friendly design. Use it for everything from enjoying breakfast at the dining table to relaxing at the end of the day to powering through another workday from home. Each noho move chair is made almost entirely from waste plastic, including ECONYL’s nylon.
The proof of ECONYL’s high quality is clear, and the benefits evident. So, take a look at the projects on your to-do list and see where a 100% recycled, regenerated nylon material might make a difference in your industry and the future of the environment.
