This Swedish Designer Uses a Centuries-Old Technique to Create Mural-Like Landscapes and Domestic Scenes in Wood

In the hands of Swedish designer Carl Martinson, the centuries-old inlay technique of wood intarsia is made modern with compositions that are representational — quiet domestic scenes or landscapes — abstract, or somewhere in between. What runs throughout Martinson’s kitchen cupboards, cabinets, tables, wall works, and sculptural pieces is the soothing palette of wood tones and a material richness and warmth.
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This Victorian Home in Melbourne is a Love Letter to Tile and Stained Glass

For its latest project, a full renovation and extension of a Victorian weatherboard residence in Melbourne, Australia, the team at YSG Studio — based in Sydney and founded in 2020 by Yasmine Saleh Ghoniem —was tasked with a distinct challenge. At the head of the client's family were two spouses with divergent styles: one Egyptian-Australian and drawn to the pattern, color, and shapes of Middle Eastern design; the other Danish and partial to Scandinavian minimalism. Even more? Both partners have a kind of color-blindness that makes neutral tones appear washed out. In addition to melding these two aesthetic tastes, YSG needed to make an older house complement and connect with a newer addition — the first built project to be completed by YSG’s in-house architectural team since its addition to the team in 2022. See the results after the jump!
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When Their Commercial Work Dried Up During the Pandemic, This London Studio Bought a Laser Cutter and Started Making Furniture From Aluminum Scrap

As Jamps Studio, a London-based design and fabrication consultancy, Martha McGuinn and Tom Pearson collaborate with artists like Marguerite Humeau and Yinka Ilori and help create the design environments for exhibitions at the Venice Architecture Biennale and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Friends for a decade, McGuinn and Pearson studied together at the Royal College of Art, teaming up on a few small projects while Pearson was employed in fabrication and McGuinn worked as a high-end cabinet maker. Six years ago, they made their own practice official with Jamps Studio. Post-pandemic, that sense of play, inventiveness, and fun has now led to By Jamps, objects and furniture McGuinn and Pearson make out of leftovers — mostly aluminum — from fabrication projects they’ve done. If it’s an exercise in letting nothing go to waste, By Jamps also springs from a love of a particular material: the versatility and mutability of aluminum.
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Week of August 26, 2024

A weekly Saturday recap to share with you our favorite links, discoveries, exhibitions, and more from the past seven days. This week: the New York debut of the Collectible design fair — featuring yours truly! — plus a sunny new store on the Aegean coast, R&Company's new American triennial, and the chicest reissue from Knoll.
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This Parisian Studio’s New Collection Turns Grandmotherly Flourishes, Like Tassels and Cords, Into Something Decidedly Modern

Imagine a place in the Mediterranean — where North Africa meets Europe meets the Middle East — and a time that can’t quite be determined, and you’ll get a feel for the latest collection from the Parisian architecture and design studio Ebur. Racha Guttierez and Dahila Hojeij Deleuze, who founded Ebur in 2020, conjure their respective cultures and histories in their designs: The two of them grew up in Côte D’Ivoire — Ebur means ivory in Latin ­— and the childhood friends spent their summers in Lebanon before going on to study architecture in Paris. Ebur’s first release of furnishings, last year, drew inspiration from their early memories of the seaside. This second act builds on that and continues an elegant exploration of form and material.
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Week of July 15, 2024

A weekly Saturday recap to share with you our favorite links, discoveries, exhibitions, and more from the past seven days. This week: a Prada Marfa-esque store in a decommissioned gas station in the Swedish countryside, a debut collection by an up-and-coming South African designer (now based in the US!), and a new lighting collection that channels a Ligurian summer.
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Designers in America Lack the Infrastructure to Help Build Their Businesses. A New Residency From Colony is Here to Help.

Putting creative work out into the world can be incredibly daunting. There’s not only the pressure to conceive of a strong artistic vision but also the challenge of balancing logistical production details — not to mention the cost, particularly here in the United States, where we lack structural and financial support from the government. The Designer’s Residency Program from Colony, a gallery and design strategy firm in Manhattan, helps guide up-and-comers through all of this. For their 8-month intensive incubator, Colony’s founder Jean Lin and creative director Madeleine Parsons draw on their experience as professors at Parsons and RISD to help emerging, independent designers navigate the stages of launching a studio and breaking into the industry.
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A Decade In, 3 Days of Design in Copenhagen is a Must-Visit on the Design Fair Circuit

There's an increasing sense in the design world that 3 Days of Design in Copenhagen is a must-stop on the design fair circuit — some have argued even moreso than Milan. And while we didn't make it over this year, we could see from our inboxes that there was no shortage of wonderful things to see at the 11th edition this past June. The annual festival featured more than 400 exhibitors, bringing together emerging, experimental voices and established global giants, sprayed across the city, each stop just a bike ride — or sometimes a boat ride — away. While Danish and Scandinavian talent was on full view, a roster of international designers also had a strong presence. The theme this year — Dare to Dream — brought forth new interpretations of classic forms and inventive uses of unusual materials. Here were some of the highlights for us.
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Week of July 1, 2024

A weekly Saturday recap to share with you our favorite links, discoveries, exhibitions, and more from the past seven days. This week: We're taking a deep dive into the first ever LA Design Weekend, plus a stellar new London hotel draped in Bode tapestries, a gloriously tangible furniture collection by a digital artist, and a summery group show at Tiwa Gallery in New York that takes its cues from the mossy ancient forests of Wales.
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Danny Kaplan’s Earthy Ceramics Meet Lesser Miracle’s Warm Woods in a Pitch-Perfect New Collab

What began as a one-off turned not only into a furniture collection but also a friendship when New Yorkers Danny Kaplan of Danny Kaplan Studio and Vince Patti of Lesser Miracle started collaborating last year. In early 2023, Kaplan, known for his ceramics-forward furniture and lighting, asked artist and designer Patti to help construct a bed for his own home. What resulted is the Paravent, both massive and graceful, featuring a brass-hinged floating oak headboard and base, accented with geometric, jewel-like tile detailing. As the two worked on the piece, says Kaplan, “it became clear that our combined vision and skills could produce something more substantial, merging my ceramics practice with Vince’s woodworking expertise.” And so, the Delf collection was born.
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How Do You Conceive Design That is “Correct” for Our Time? A New Exhibition Proposes Work by 10 Designers Answering the Call

Since opening in 2020, the Max Radford Gallery in London has consistently been showcasing some of the best contemporary and experimental collectible design from up-and-comers. With the Now 4 Then exhibition, ten of these designers are debuting new work at the recently opened 2000-square-foot gallery space from design store Aram. For this collaborative show, Radford was inspired by something Zeev Aram, the founder of Aram, once said regarding his enterprise, which is currently celebrating its 60th anniversary: "I decided that I will try my best to bring to the public designs which are contemporary and correct for the time.”
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