I saw this at Yatzer, and I really appreciated the above piece for where it brought my imagination.  The piece by metal garden furniture DeCastelli is not meant to be a dining table, I don’t think. I think it’s meant as pure vision of landscape on a miniature scale. But it occurred to me that this design could make a perfect dining experience. The mountains and the forest represented in this work could bring new rituals and new sensations to a dining experience. For instance, the plant could be a fragrant herb used to complement the food’s flavors. The mountains could be perfect vessels to cook Indian breads or simply to remind the eater where their food comes from. Maybe new forms of dining tables could arise based on the way their structures interact with the cuisine presented to them.

The small gardens of DeCastelli | yatzer | Design Architecture Art Fashion +more.

Yet another remake of everyday objects as precious little trinkets. I like them all, so keep them coming. I’ve seen clorox bottles in ceramics, water bottles in glass, but the lightness of Kutchamuch’s egg crate, for instance, exceeds the quality of any i’ve seen. I hope i’m right in saying that taking an everyday object and turning it into silver is only something accomplished by painstaking work done by a true artisan.

tithi kutchamuch: reincarnation.

The Puma Store is an inspiration to all architects out there with lots of time and energy and access to a supply of old shipping containers. I consider this store to be a sort of dialogue with some of the past stores Ive seen where the designers have stacked 6 units high by one wide. This one answers the gravity challenge by creating a massive cantilever with no visible support. How’d they do that? Look back at some of Rem Koolhaas’ earlier works to remind yourself ho.

This Just In-box: new Puma VS new Nike VS new Adidas – Core77.

Studio L I B E R T I N Y.

I saw this bench, and it immediately spawned a thought about dieting and weight loss. I’m getting fatter. I’m not feeling like a real chunky, but I’m slowly creeping up from a slender 190 lbs. (I’m 6′-4" BTW) to something more than this, let’s say. I think the name is interesting because my first thought was the designer named the fail bench because this was a botched project that he or she made, and didn’t want to pass it off as a mistake so they named it "Fail Bench". My more deep seeded meaning for it’s name is that I’ve failed as a human being to get my weight to an acceptable level and I’ve bought this bench to act as my scarlet letter, of sorts. Well, fuck you Fail Bench.

Fail Bench | Design Milk

N-7 is another beautifully built table that takes on the current trend of what I call origami or faceted design. Where did this trend start? I seem to recall a modern building in Hong Kong built about twenty years ago that sort of kicked off this trend in my mind. Since then, I’ve seen so much faceted design that ranges from the Cadillac to cell phones. I’m waiting for toilet paper. Now that would be something. Making something that is normally so round and soft into something more angular and asymmetrical. For today, I’ll just appreciate this table by Casamania. It has an Escher-like quality in that you just can’t quite get a handle on it visually. It feels like it could slip away on you.

I’ve been looking for decent modern outdoor furniture for quite some time now. Outside of Europe, quite frankly, there is very little choice when it comes to where you sit on an aesthetically modern surface. Modern Outdoor gives me choices. And they give me choices like this beautiful bench above that are green to boot. There is some piece of mind that the wood that is used to make this was not clear cut. (I just hope the IPE trend doesn’t bite all of us in the ass when there’s none left.)

List Price: $1099.0
Price: $1099.0
“Modern Outdoor’s Etra Small Bench is available in your choice of material for the base: ITTO or IBAMA certified Ipe, a beautiful Brazilian hardwood that is three times as hard as teak or 100% recyclable polyboard, a UV-stabilized high density material that is also non-corrosive, non-conductive, and chip resistant.Also available in your choice of size, frame and optional cushion color.Notes:Etra Small Bench shown in ipe and stainless steel.Material swatches appear in same order as drop down menu.”

I received this email about a year ago, and just never had time to post this. Sandy Lam has created an ingenious system. The pieces of furniture are built into the floor of a terrace and easily slide up to create a table or a bench. This is the perfect furniture solution for people who have minimal space, and don’t want their precious room to be cluttered with furniture all the time. This is essentially on-demand furniture.

This is not necessarily a new idea. I think the first time pop-up furniture comes to mind is in my grandfather’s bass boat. On this vessel, the seats popped up out of the floor. However, I really have not seen such a simple and useful device as Spaceless for some time now.

The current trend is over-the-top baroque furniture, and this piece focuses on spartan utilitarianism. After this simple idea, though, designers my be inspired to rethink possibilities with concealed furniture.

Looking to get a little more green in your life? You could plant some grass in your back yard, or you could just buy one of these rings by Hafsteinn Juliusson. One ring is sort of the brass knuckles for greenies. I can imagine a new brand of superhero who respects the environment by punching oil company executives in the face with this invention leaving a welt in the shape of blades of grass.

sub-studio design blog: Hafsteinn Juliusson