As regular readers will know one of our favourite design festivals is Vienna Design Week.
And one of our all-time favourite Vienna Design Week projects is LacesLamp by Antoinette Bader. Because it delt so playfully with statics.
And believe us, we've suffered for statics. And so anything that presents it as something to be enjoyed is to be celebrated.
Consequently it was a particular joy to discover Antoinette at Salone Satellite 2012 with three new projects: projects which although technically not related to LacesLamp, certainly all arise from the same gene pool.
If we're honest we didn't ask Antoinette what the products are called. It didn't occur to us, so we'll call the two that most appealed to us "Sofa" and "Lamp".
Because they are.
Sofa is constructed from three pieces of upholstery lain atop a wooden frame.
The complete construction is held together by cords that run through the piece and which are neatly tied in a knot at the back. As such the shoelace analogy is inescapable. If not specifically intended.
We were instantly attracted by both the form and the inviting warmth the work emits. Indeed we saw and liked Sofa before we'd registered the name of the designer.
We openly admit that we fear we would lose an awful lot of peanuts in the cone like corners. And for a market ready project the upholstery probably needs to be a little more robust. But as an object we were definitely impressed and hope that Antoinette can develop it further.
Lamp in contrast attracted our attention because we thought it was a straight further development of the LacesLamp project
Antoinette doesn't see it is a such, even if there are parallels in the construction.
Although we're calling it Lamp "6 Lamps" would be more accurate; three pointing up the way and three pointing down.
In addition to the obvious aesthetic joy of Lamp its design means that you can generate an awful lot of light with a relatively small object. Thus making it perfect for spaces where you don't want the lamp to dominate the room.
If we remember correctly, Antoinette was invited to participate in Vienna Design Week after the organisers saw LacesLamp at Salone Satellite 2010.
We hope that 2012 is equally successful. Although this time a producer would also be nice.
