Connor Renwick

Friday, September 29, 2017

Practice Practice Practice: Graphic 3D Ceramic Tiles by Zaven

Zaven, a multidisciplinary studio located in Venice, Italy, ventured into ceramic as a medium after discovering the work of Italian artist Nino Caruso a few years ago. In this project, entitled Practice Practice Practice, the pair gives nod to Caruso’s work by exploring scale and repetition in three-dimensional tiles that aim to “animate interiors”.

Using clay, Zaven was able to bring a bold, graphic element to a product that’s often got a flat exterior. The tiles play with positive and negative space through the mix of concave and convex surfaces. The result is three different modules that can be installed in different variations for a curated look.

Zaven debuted the Practice Practice Practice tiles at the London Design Fair as part of Brompton Design District.

Process photos:

Ceramics realized by Stylnove.

via http://design-milk.com/

from WordPress https://connorrenwickblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/29/practice-practice-practice-graphic-3d-ceramic-tiles-by-zaven/

SLIM Chair by Christophe de Sousa

Showing alongside Gencork in Associative Design’s Best of Portugal stand at the London Design Fair, French–Portuguese designer Christophe de Sousa exhibited the SLIM Chair, a seat he created out of veneered MDF. His intention was to design a simple chair that was also pleasing to the eye, while at the same time being easy to produce.

SLIM has a sleek silhouette appearing to be made of two molded components, one that makes up the legs, sides, and back of the chair, and the other that forms the seat. The smooth contours result in a minimalist and sculptural look. The chair comes in natural or painted wood veneered MDF and is available in an upholstered version.

via http://design-milk.com/

from WordPress https://connorrenwickblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/29/slim-chair-by-christophe-de-sousa/

Friday Five with Giulia Molteni

Molteni&C is a family-run design house founded over 80 years ago by Angelo Molteni, which also now includes Unifor (office furniture), Dada (kitchens), and Citterio (partition walls and office furniture), all under the Gruppo Molteni umbrella. Granddaughter Giulia Molteni graduated in 2003 with a degree in Economics and Business from Bocconi University and later on acquired a Marketing certificate from NYU in 2006. She spent four years in New York at Loro Piana before joining the family business in 2007 as Retail Manager of the global their flagship stores. The Como-born Giulia is now the Marketing and Communications Director of Molteni&C and Dada and has been on the Board of Directors of Aidaf, the Italian Association of Family Businesses since 2016. This week’s Friday Five takes a look at five sources of inspiration for the busy married mom of two.

Photo by Giulia Molteni

1. New York City energy
Where I used to leave for 4 years after university more than 10 years ago, Soho is my favourite neighbour. I love the adrenaline, the mix of people and cultures, the sky, often in a special blue colour because of the ocean wind. Something I miss now in Europe.

Photo by Giulia Molteni

2. Portofino
The small town near Genova, it is one of the most cosy place in the world where I used to go with my parents by boat, an old riva acquarama, from when I was a baby. Now it is the perfect place for an aperitivo with my kids during the summer weekend. A poetic view of the sea life.

Photo © designboom

3. Milan design week
The most popular design fair from 1961, Salone del Mobile, has changed Milan’s overview and prospectives. It is seven days of events, installations, from all over the world, a mix of furniture, fashion and trends. You can’t miss it if we talk about contemporary life.

Photo by Giulia Molteni

4. Tokyo and the Japanese culture
A place very inspirational for many designers, like Jasper Morrison or Patricia Urquiola, Tokyo architecture and design approach is very expressive. Graphic design is also always very innovative.
The Japanese tradition for sophisticated and detail oriented design is distinctive if you think about their attention to the small and with an attention to the human scale.
When you visit Tokyo you are immediately struck by the scale, size and intimacy of the things around you.

5. Gio Ponti’s Villa Planchart, Caracas
My favourite Milanese based architect and designer, is one of the big fathers of Italian design. The Planchart collectors’ villa in Caracas (1953-57) was one of the projects dearest to Gio Ponti. As he wrote in Domus in 1955, “I dedicated myself heart and soul to designing Villa Planchart, and in it I was at liberty to express my own approach to architecture, both outside and inside”. The architecture reflected the ideas he had gathered during his trips to Latin American in 1952-53. it is a complete work of art, a synthesis of art, decoration and design. It is “dedicated to Anala and Armando Planchart”, great collectors of art.

via http://design-milk.com/

from WordPress https://connorrenwickblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/29/friday-five-with-giulia-molteni/

Thursday, September 28, 2017

A Period Home in Melbourne with a New Modern Addition

Zen Architects were hired to design a rear addition to a home in Melbourne’s West Brunswick. The period home, named the Nest House, was extended to include an open living space and mezzanine, along with a partially covered outdoor space. Per the client’s request, the new kitchen was to be the focus with the surrounding areas branching off from it.

To meet the client’s needs, they designed a mezzanine studio that hovers above the living room area and rests underneath the dramatically sloped roof. The roof angle helps passive solar energy in both the addition and the older part of the house.