New York, giancarlovalle.com An architect and interior designer by trade, Giancarlo Valle dipped a toe into the furniture world this year with an instant classic: his Smile Seat, shown above, covered in shearling, mohair, linen and suede. We’ve seen a peek of where his furniture collection is going next, and trust us — it’s gonna be great. What is American design to you, and what excites you about it? Generally speaking, American design has felt very experimental and open — in a way without the heaviness of European tradition — a true mixing pot. That is even more true today thanks to social media. Federico Garcia Lorca said that the ideas of poetry are floating in the air, available for everyone to use. In a similar way, the ideas of design are not owned by anyone but instead belong to a history of its own. It is not so much about creating something completely original for its own sake; it is the idea of creating something that can communicate with what is around it. I like to think design at its best is a conversation — between objects and styles, between objects and spaces, and between spaces and buildings. So much of it has to do with memory, and how something makes you feel. What are your plans and highlights for the upcoming year? We are a design studio rooted in architecture (following my background and formal training) with an interest in creating indelible interiors and objects. We look for projects and clients that encompass that immersive philosophy. For example, we are developing a hotel concept where we will be creating the overall building down to the door knobs and bedspreads. We are working on a home for a sculptor, as well as a country retreat for a painter, both in upstate New York. We are about to break ground on an exciting pool project for an estate in a historic area of Rhode Island. And, lastly, I’m wrapping up a three-year project of my own home in New York City. Until recently, our furniture had been mostly commissioned for specific projects, but we decided to bring some of those special pieces to life in limited edition. We are also making our inventory of antique and historical furniture available for the first time through our new Tribeca showroom. I’m very particular about the pieces I collect and say if I can … Continue reading Giancarlo Valle

Brooklyn, for-reference.com A longtime New York interior designer, Leilani Zahn got to design her own coming-out party this spring when she decided to move into furniture, lighting and objects: In collaboration with The Future Perfect, she created a temporary apartment space featuring her new lights, textiles, and soft goods and styled with work by friends and contemporaries, including De La Espada, Brrch Floral, and her husband, Karl Zahn.   What is American design to you, and what excites you about it? American design to me is a young, industrious, thoughtful, funny, amorphous category that considers history deeply and challenges it regularly. What excites me about American design currently is how it will change from this year forward. We have come to solidify our values pretty quickly over the last few months and I think this will inherently change the design landscape. There’s going to be a level of consideration that will raise the bar of quality, taste, and comfort that will hopefully produce not only better products but more social responsibility. What are your plans and highlights for the upcoming year?  Release of the Outlines lighting system I designed with The Future Perfect. Developing a line of furniture that includes re-thinking the formalized schedule of a day and the way we interact with these pieces.  What inspires or informs your work in general?  The future. I enjoy thinking about future landscapes and how we will evolve into them. It informs the way I think about the longevity of my ideas and how to adapt them to create something more than a trend. 

Seattle, erichginder.com We’ve shown work by Erich Ginder for years, but nothing prepared us for the stunningly original and sophisticated collection he launched this spring at OFFSITE, including lighting fixtures and room dividers covered in die-cut fabric and extruded aluminum tables in the deepest, most beautiful blue. What is American design to you, and what excites you about it? American design seems to be all about breaking rules, trusting your creative instincts, and cultivating your own audience. This runs contrary to the mode of working I was taught as a student, but has repeatedly proven to be the case throughout my career. Understanding this has allowed me to loosen up and take more creative risks in my work. What excites me most about being an American designer right now is the opportunity it provides to develop relationships with people who come from very different backgrounds from my own.  What are your plans and highlights for the upcoming year?  I’m making some significant changes to the way I produce work. In my studio practice, I’ll be focused on working directly with architects and interior designers. I’m also excited for the launch of my first lighting collection for Rejuvenation — a lighting company that assembles all of their fixtures by hand at a factory based in Portland, OR. The manufacturing capabilities they were able to bring the table allowed for a very liberating design process that was quite different from the scrappy nature by which I typically operate. What inspires or informs your work in general? Experimenting with materials is a significant part of my design process. Right now I’m expanding on some of the ideas I put forth during Sight Unseen OFFSITE earlier this year, but not sure what that will lead to yet. Stock aluminum extrusions still hold a lot of fascination. Although I haven’t found a practical application for it yet, I’m still fairly obsessed with a super textural metallic flame spray-coating used on the deck of aircraft carriers– think metallic silver popcorn ceiling. I’m also extremely fortunate to have family and friends who are wonderfully creative and, most importantly, hilarious. 

Los Angeles, erstudiola.com A onetime art director and graphic designer, Eric Roinestad channels inspirations like Mexican folk art, ancient Etruscan vessels, and the LA sun into a line of the most contemporary ceramic vessels, masks, and lighting. Soon, furniture — we hope? What is American design to you, and what excites you about it?  As a result of technology, the international design community is interconnected in ways I haven’t experienced before, and this truly excites me. Because of the ease in accessing international design — and the attendant growth in media coverage of art and design — I don’t see any one design style that is uniquely American anymore. That said, there is a sense of freedom and innovation that will always define American design for me. Since we aren’t as bound by history or traditions, we can be freer to innovate and experiment; through this practice of experimenting and absorbing the culture in the US, we are able to continually expand our design vocabulary. Also, America is such a large country, and what I am doing in Los Angeles is quite distinct from what other artists and designers are doing in other places, yet the common thread is that we all embody that sense of freedom to push boundaries. What excites me most about American design right now is the way the lines between design, art, and craft are all blurring. Design can be conceptual, one of a kind, and hand-crafted. What are your plans and highlights for the upcoming year? I will be showing a large group of new pieces at Design Miami with The Future Perfect, including hanging lights, floor lights, vessels, and masks. I am also planning to do a show at The Future Perfect’s gallery in New York in 2018, which will include work using some new materials, such as bronze and wood. What inspires or informs your work in general?  I have a wide range of inspirations from ancient Etruscan vessels to Southern California architecture. Most of my work references familiar classical forms that I manipulate and simplify to create something new. Being a former art director/graphic designer, I am very drawn to graphic shapes; I tend to concentrate on forms and proportions, rather than surface and color. Living in Los Angeles also informs my work a great deal, the way the light and shadows play off of the shapes, as well as the worn, bleached-out surfaces.

Los Angeles, elysegraham.com We’ve been following Elyse Graham’s experiments in resin for ages, which this year took the Los Angeles–based artist in a moody, unexpected direction. For her Black Magic collection, Graham pours, carves, sands and polishes pigmented resin into otherworldly planters, vases, and nesting tables. What is American design to you, and what excites you about it? American design is characterized by its inclusivity and innovation. It’s inspiring to have an unconventional practice that is appreciated and taken seriously. I thrive in not being constrained by a particular style or material and I’m excited by the freedom to experiment with materials and processes where the only limit is my imagination. What are your plans and highlights for the upcoming year? This coming year, I’m thrilled to be collaborating with several talented designers whose work I greatly admire. In the studio, I am always exploring different methods and ways to use my materials. Currently, we are prototyping some new objects (top secret for now) that are inspired in part by techniques developed in the Black Magic Collection. In addition to that, we are working on a series of vessels with a focus on pattern and translucency. What inspires or informs your work in general? Experimentation is the spark that ignites all the projects in our studio. Whether we’re developing a new process for working with a material, a new pattern or palette, our approach is always, let’s try and see! I like to say yes more than no and maintain a sense of curiosity and excitement. Our work is also driven by color. I am constantly searching for juxtapositions of hues that energize or excite me. Our forms are often vehicles for an exploration of our palettes—I think this sets our studio apart more than anything else.

Savannah, Georgia, enyleeparker.com This year’s breakout design star, Eny Lee Parker went from debuting her first collection at Sight Unseen OFFSITE to a T Magazine profile in the span of four months. Her innovative use of terra-cotta as a structural material for furniture — and her knack for sceneography — makes her a serious one to watch. What is American design to you, and what excites you about it? From an immigrant’s point of view, America is where you come to find your voice. There may be a few things I would classify as design Americana, but by no means are you tied down to a singular tradition, cultural specification, or rule. Well, aside from corporate capitalism, in which most designers are now defining their own economic structure (which, ironically, in its own act, is quite American).  I think it’s wonderful not be classified as one particular aesthetic. This way, 20 different designers may describe their influences and none are the same. We get to educate each other through our work in different cultures, craft, and resources. Some may think American design leads to cultural homogenization, but we’re still writing history. I’m excited to be part of this design movement that is helping shape our society today.  What are your plans and highlights for the upcoming year?  Currently I’m working on my next show in mid-January at Laney Contemporary in Savannah. It will feature a collection of mirrors and tables. Additionally, I’m expanding on my Artist Line Collection, which is all things wearable, and introducing workwear. The biggest plan though is my relocation to Brooklyn this coming January. I’m excited to go back to a cityscape and be surrounded by great design, but I’ll definitely miss my small community in Savannah.  What inspires or informs your work in general?  My family is very visual, but my mom was extremely tactile. Growing up, she always had a box full of fabric samples in the trunk of her car. She taught me to appreciate things on how they felt in your hands. I wanna say that’s why I fell in love working with ceramics; it’s been fun exploring unexpected ways to use this medium. I’m also currently obsessed with the artist and sculptor Mari Andrews.  Beach images © Gabriela Iancu

Brooklyn, chen-williams.com Perhaps no young American design studio reinvents themselves as much and as often as Chen Chen & Kai Williams, who continue to reveal new depths to their aesthetic thanks to constant material innovations. We love their new tables, mirrors, and more, which explore the idea of UV-bonded glass and stone.  What is American design to you, and what excites you about it? The main difference is that in America, a lot of designers also run small-scale mass-manufacturing businesses. That means a lot of new products aren’t just being designed but they’re also being put into production. While that causes things to be more practical for a broader market, it also means there’s no one to convince to produce something. There is no filter between the designer and the wider market. What are your plans and highlights for the upcoming year?  We have been working on revamping our entire small product line. They’re all machined metal pieces, and when we decided to go this route, we were having a hard time relating it to the focus on mixed materiality that our studio is known for. Our solution was to make everything with stainless steel and brass. Stainless steel is cold and unchanging in appearance where as brass is warm and will age with a unique patina from your touch. Showing the dichotomy in the metal properties allows you to see each material more clearly. We have a few objects we launched this fall and we’re looking to add more in February. We’re also working on new pieces with UV-bonded glass and stone, a process we used for our new Floating Rock tables at The Primary Essentials. There are also a few projects we’re working on for some manufacturers that we’re excited about, but we’ll have to wait to talk about those. What inspires or informs your work in general?  We’ve made a lot of work based on using materials for things that those materials weren’t meant for. What inspires us are the everyday solutions people invent using what they have rather than what is proper. For example, a neighbor recently made plywood trash can lids that have a door knob as a handle (probably because the factory made plastic ones that were too light and blew away). Wikipedia has lead to countless ideas. A good link to our brains is what’s in our eBay cart. Here are a few: Nickel Plating Chips Anodes – Falconbridge Nickel … Continue reading Chen Chen & Kai Williams

Los Angeles, charleshollisjones.com Jones, who pioneered the use of acrylic and Lucite in furniture design during the ‘60s and ‘70s — and worked with clients such as John Lautner and Frank Sinatra — is experiencing a resurgence this year thanks to a solo show of new work with Michael Jon & Alan at Design Miami. What is American design to you, and what excites you about it? It’s everything that everything else isn’t. It’s generosity in producing original design. It’s the freedom to express, touch, move. It’s also that which inspires others to take action.  What are your plans and highlights for the upcoming year? I just finished a new desk design. Like most of my work, it’s inspired by my parents. My father had a love of wood, and my mother, a love of quilting. The desk has a black walnut top and the tumbling block design (a quilt motif) shines through in its leg supports of polished nickel. Right now, there’s a lengthy article on my life and work in PIN-UP, a favorite magazine of mine. It’s written by Michael Bullock who I like a lot, he’s an excellent writer.  In February 2018, the Hearst House project I’ve been working on will be published in Tim Street Porter’s new book on Palm Springs. Also at that time, the Palm Springs Modern Committee is recognizing me for my contributions to design. I’ll install some new furniture incorporating color so that will be new. And Phaidon is including my work in a compendium, Chairs: 500 Designs that Matter, so that feels good.  What inspires or informs your work in general?  I’m pretty inspired by the present-day response and acknowledgment of my past work. And as I mentioned, my parents. When I was a teenager, my mother used to ask me, “Who are you Charles?” She wanted me to be passionate to my full capacity. I’d like to think I’m in a better position to answer that question now than I was back then.  Product images © Sky Burchard

Los Angeles, carlyjomorgan.com We featured Carly Jo Morgan on our Hot List two years ago, when she was working with her former husband on Only Love Is Real. Now solo, Morgan’s work meditates on specific materials — terrazzo, brass — and concepts, like spirituality and rebirth. What is American design to you, and what excites you about it? America is in an interesting exploratory space. Since the presidential election, so many of us have been in deep mourning. It feels as though America has experienced a death. But with every death comes a rebirth. I think design is being challenged with an existential crisis. We have to keep asking ourselves, for the cost of what? I’m not sure what my work will evolve into, but I’m experiencing a strong call to action and am committed to making conscious decisions and enjoying the process. Positive shifts are happening. The devastating effects of mass production on the environment are pushing us to explore sustainability, craftsmanship, durability, and deeper meaning. There’s also an urgency for community, and I really feel the design community is coming together to promote one another and share ideas.  What are your plans for the upcoming year?  I’m planning to stop always planning ;). Currently working on: sourcing recycled crushed cement and marble from demolition sites for new terrazzo snakes, furniture for the women of The Wing in New York for their two new locations, painting, being the best mama I can be. What inspires or informs your work in general?  Current Inspirations: Morning meditations. My daughter’s artwork. Snakes and the idea that we can transmute any poisons into medicine and shed the skins of the past. The ecstatic music of Alice Coltrane and her commitment to healing others with her art. Eagle Rock, Topanga. Krista Tippet’s On Being Podcast.

Los Angeles, anotherhuman.la By day, Leah Ring works for an up-and-coming, Commune-trained interior designer in L.A. By night, she crafts pieces for her year-old solo line Another Human, often exploring semi-mystical materials like obsidian and rose quartz as well as more workaday ones, like acrylic. Her collection debuted earlier this year at Sight Unseen OFFSITE.  What is American design to you, and what excites you about it? American design, to me, evokes an entrepreneurial spirit and a sense of experimentation. It comprises a wonderful mix of artists, designers, and craftspeople who are constantly pushing the boundaries of form and technique. America has always placed a great importance on innovation, and I think this can be felt in the American design scene — I’m constantly inspired by and in awe of individuals and small studios who are creating really innovative works, and also by the ingenious ways in which they’re bringing these products to market. I think the rise of social media has broadened the landscape in an exciting way. We now can connect with independent designers in rural areas just as easily as we can with studios located in major metropolitan areas. It makes you feel like anything is possible — just try something and put it out there and see what sticks. There also seems to be a shift in the way people consume. It feels like people are paying more attention to where something is made, who is making it, and the story behind the piece, which I find to be incredibly inspiring and motivating as a designer. What are your plans and highlights for the upcoming year? For the coming year, I’m just trying to push myself to keep trying new things and creating work that challenges me in some way. As Another Human is still quite new, having launched in May of this year at Sight Unseen OFFSITE, I can’t say I have a thorough business plan laid out for the next year beyond trying to make as many new pieces as I can. Right now I’m working on a coffee table design and two very different lighting concepts — one more playful and one that I think is much more elevated. I also hope to do more interiors projects and/or installations. On a small scale, I’m redesigning my bedroom right now, just for a fun design project. I’m also working on a small home accessory and I’m … Continue reading Another Human

Chicago, aniajaworska.com The architect, educator, and Cranbrook grad’s work only reinforces the sense that Chicago is America’s next big design destination. Her SET series for Volume Gallery, made from cylindrical wooden and fiberglass forms covered in an inky black lacquer, is the Darth Vader of furniture collections: cool, confident, and just a bit intimidating.  What is American design to you, and what excites you about it? It’s free, open, inclusive, audacious, fast, ever-changing, challenging, and inventive — and that is exciting. What are your plans and highlights for the upcoming year? At the moment, I’m working on furniture for a group exhibition curated by Juan Garcia Mosqueda and opening in January at Friedman Benda. I’m producing a shelf, which has a scalloped form where curves are achieved via a slotted arrangement of wood planks. The piece redefines the function and typology of furniture, and obscures the clarity of the object and the relationship it has with a person and the space of a room. The shelf is an independently standing object which is attractive on all sides, allowing for a less common use and placement within the room. It could be positioned as a freestanding piece in the center of the room, or against the wall, where all sides would still remain visible. The shelf also acts as a space framing device. My practice spans many scales – from drawings and furniture to full-scale installations and environments. In the next few months I’m anticipating an exciting expansion to incorporate interior design and architecture. What inspires or informs your work in general? I teach architecture at the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where the architecture faculty is constantly exchanging ideas and producing a stimulating environment that in turn motivates me to produce more challenging work. I’m currently teaching a studio titled “All Columns Considered,” where I ask students to perform extensive research focusing on a specific architectural column type, its function or material, and its implementation in relationship to the building’s structure, interior and exterior. Students are appropriating, undermining, and/or exaggerating, and therefore reinventing the column’s impact on an architectural form. This in turn informs my own research and work. I’m also interested in developing a skill set and knowledge of materials and fabrication techniques, which informs the work I produce. Another important factor is the collaboration with clients, institutions, and professionals who seek unconventional ways of approaching design. Those persons who … Continue reading Ania Jaworska

Brooklyn, andyanddave.com We’d been lurking around the Instagram of Andy & Dave — a collaborative architecture and design studio run by Andrew Miller and David Ruperti — for months until a collaboration with Chamber Gallery crystallized their aesthetic for us: cartoonish but not over-the-top, playful but not unsophisticated. Their Fictive Kin series of stacked-foam seats and tables might be the most fun design has had in years. What is American design to you, and what excites you about it? We’ve always been inspired by the dissonance and contradictions of American culture. Many of our favorite American designers — like, for example, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown —developed an appreciation for mass culture and used it to inform their work. While the Modernist tendency is to create order and clarity in the world, this impulse can often feel condescending and didactic. We have a sweet spot for “bad design,” or buildings and objects that exist defiantly as evidence of a world beyond the rules of “good design.” We hope that our work pushes design culture in a direction that is more open and responsive to a diverse society with a diversity of design strategies.  What are your plans and highlights for the upcoming year?  We are very excited to be participating in an upcoming design show at Friedman Benda gallery in New York. Curated by Juan Garcia Mosqueda, the show is scheduled to open in January and will feature furniture designed by eight architects. Another project we’re working on began with a private commission for a chair and has grown into a series of upholstered objects titled Soft Fragments. One of our major goals for the upcoming year is to find an opportunity to test out some concepts we’ve been developing around the future of retail design and cultural tourism.  What inspires or informs your work in general?  We’re both trained as architects, and we’re practicing at a time when the physical world has an invisible overlay of social media and internet culture. We’re continually looking for ways that the design of the physical space and objects is responding to more-or-less invisible global networks and cultural forces. We’re fascinated by “NIMBY” culture, for example; we’re equally fascinated by “starchitecture.” We’re also inspired by contemporary photography because of how some artists are able to capture and exaggerate the strangeness of contemporary vernacular materials.