Bobo Wing Chair with Reclaimed Tarp
Thanx to designsketchpad for turning me on to Bobo, an Atlanta-based company with a variety of furniture pieces made using reclaimed objects. They’ve given a new twist to several classics, including the Bobo Wing Chair, made with vintage tarp from South American trucks. Also amongst their reclaimed offerings is the clever Pigeon Basket Coffee Table, literally meshing the rustic with the modern.
If you’re a fan of classic, vintage and eclectic pieces in soothing neutral palettes, Bobo is worth a look.
In The Round by luflic at Interior Design Show ‘09 and Radiant Dark by MADE.
I’ve been trying to catch up on posts from the first half of 2009, during which I attended several design events and exhibitions that blew my mind [and overloaded my camera!].
luflic, creatively directed by Industrial Designer Brent Cordner, is one of the Toronto design companies that immediately caught my eye at the massive Interior Design Show and the cutting edge Radiant Dark exhibit by MADE.
First off, a mention about the company’s unique and clever name: “Luflic is the Old English word for ‘lovely.’ It is pronounced ‘loo-flick’. It was originally used to describe a desirable or attractive person. Over time it also came to describe material objects, suggesting some similarity in our feelings of attachment to both people and things.” Who knew?! Love it!
On to the company’s smart green philosophy: “Our primary environmental stance is simple: Make furniture that is desirable and durable so there is no reason to replace it or throw it away.”
“The longer our products last, the less we will have to remake things. But just as importantly, it is necessary that people cherish the things that we make so that they are cared for and they remain in use… [so that] They are just as much keepsakes as they are useful pieces of furniture. We are trying to bring back the concept that a piece of furniture can once again become an heirloom.”
In The Round takes its fitting name from the style of knitting that is used to create these signature pieces. Designer Cordner explains that the form “is derived from the use of circular knit as upholstery. The resulting form is a continuous loop, almost an outline of a chair that is composed of void as much as it is of solid.” Furthermore, “Each striped version of the chair is unique since it is made by hand which ensures that the size and placement of colours in the composition of the knit varies from piece to piece.” Thereby ensuring that each of these true conversation pieces is one of a kind.
The “high tech meets old tech” nature of In The Round’s manufacturing process is brilliant and an aspect of this collection that impressed me as much as its finished product. Cordner’s description is just too cool to not share with you here [those of you who love reading about the process will dig this]:
“The chair was conceived as one continuous line so that a single knit sock could be pulled over the foam cushioning. The unconventional appearance of the steel frame contrasts with the traditional craft of its felt covering. The frame is made by a Canadian automotive company to exacting standards with a computer numeric controlled bending machine. We make the felted wool knit ourselves with an eighty year old hand-cranked knitting machine of the type that hasn’t changed in design since the 19th century. These diverse ways of making things come together in the same chair to form a sensibility that is at once new and familiar; a ten thousand year old way of making material combined with a relatively new computer technology.”
A huge thanx to Brent Cordner for taking the time to provide me with such detailed information and for speaking with me about his work. As you can see from the above pix, he was kind enough to actually flip the tabletop to his In The Round Table at the Radiant Dark exhibit, so as to show me the fitting and dramatic “dark side” of his beautiful and versatile creation. This was met with great approval from the guests on opening night, who smiled and cheered Brent and his luflic partner David Kral on. Not an easy task to flip a heavy and fragile glass tabletop in the midst of hundreds of wine-sipping, design party fiends enjoying a rowdy weekend art prowl! We won’t soon forget it.
[note :: you can pause the slide show at any point to get a closer look]
NorthOnSixty @ IIDEX/NeoCon ‘08
[Reception Desk designed by Cohos Evamy. See next photo for info.]
One of the product highlights for me at last week’s IIDEX/NeoCon Canada in Toronto was discovering the exquisitely crafted works of NorthOnSixty, an eco.passionate team who work and design with the environment in mind.
Based in Dwight, Ontario, three hours north of Toronto and a few minutes from the majestic Algonquin Park, NorthOnSixty is an efficiently run woodworking and furniture making operation nestled on 100 acres of land. They sustainably manage their wood and also mill, dry and finish lumber. True to their their eco.friendly philosophy, the entire site is heated using their own scraps and sawdust while keeping a goal of zero waste in mind [impressively sending less than two garbage bags of waste to the landfill each week]. You can read more about their smart green operations here.
What caught my eye at the show was a binder full of beautiful images of their handcrafted furniture, most of it made using their own reclaimed wood, with the remainder being FSC-certified virgin wood from their own sustainably managed forests. NorthOnSixty offers their own designs, from modern to traditional, but they also create custom-made and built-in furniture.
For customized work, you can choose from a grand selection of over 20 in-stock Canadian species of wood. I personally love the concept of reclaiming wood and other objects, so I was excited to hear that they often collect and use materials salvaged from rivers, lakes, barns, factories and other types of structures. To complete your customized pieces, they offer the option of using low-VOC finishes such as milk paints, waxes, natural latex and oils.
NorthOnSixty has a great selection of other furniture and home décor items, beyond the gorgeous tables that I’ve posted here, so you can expect to see more of their eco.beauties on Green Design Girl in the months to come.
Another view of the Reception Desk designed by Cohos Evamy, this one featured in the foyer of the design firm’s Toronto office. Made using FSC-recycled Douglas Fir, the strips of wood are laminated using water based glue and splined at the corners with FSC-recycled Elm.
The beams for this Reception Desk “were salvaged from the old Alcatel wire factory at Eglinton and Laird [in Toronto] in 1996 when approx. 2 acres of buildings were demolished.” Making me love this piece even more, “the steel veil was fashioned from salvaged steel taken from the mezzanine floors during the Demolition of the Nelson Brothers Hamilton Steel Refinery in 2005.” Green, clean and modern, yet rich with so much history. I’m in reclaimed Heaven.
The contemporary Trestle Table. The above one features a table top made from Hemlock “thrashing floor boards”, circa 1855 [I was amazed to find this 1882 New York Times article on the subject]. The wood is finished using mineral oil and wax. The steel base is made of hollow steel tube with welded joints, all finished by hand and then waxed.
The Trestle Table is available in a variety of FSC-certified wood species and finishes.
This Trestle Table top was made using a recycled slab of Oak, giving it a more rustic and organic feel than the previous two versions.
InModern: Surfin Collection
I love the clean lines and bold colours of the Surfin collection by InModern. In fact, all of their products have a contemporary aesthetic and are truly eco.friendly, making them a perfect fit for Green Design Girl.
The folks at InModern use only North American sourced FSC-certified woods to create their products and take their eco status even further by ensuring that they are completely formaldehyde-free, using non-toxic water-based stains. They also explain that their pieces have a “UV cured finish to minimize greenhouse gases.”
InModern’s furniture is designed for fast and easy assembly and disassembly, touting a “no tools or hardware required” patented method. Furthermore, their products have the eco bonus of being able to ship flat, which conserves packaging and reduces waste — an area that is often overlooked in product design.
The above Surfin Desk/Table is multi-functional and works perfectly as a desk, but it can also easily accommodate two people for an intimate dinner arrangement. InModern’s pieces go on to include other furniture collections for adults, teens and children — all maintaining the same playful, eye-catching style. Stay tuned for more of their eco.mod designs here on GDG.
The Surfin Coffee Table in the Slate water-based finish. I appreciate the contrast made by exposing the natural wood edges in all of their pieces. The dark Slate finish is stylish, but the wood contrast and retro feel keep the look light and fun.
The Surfin End Table in Leaf.
The Surfin Stool in Slate.
The Surfin Magazine Rack in Fire [I like the cool names they’ve given their finishes]. Apart from the Surfin Desk/Table, this is my fave piece from the collection. I instantly thought of butterflies when I saw it.
The gorgeously crafted Vigna Table is also made from bamboo and is one of those timeless pieces that could probably last you a lifetime. This table obviously partners seamlessly with the Vigna Chair, but I could also see it working perfectly with a wide variety of chair styles.
Kirei:Mod Coffee Table by Iannone Design.
Green Design Girl first featured Iannone Design back in January of 2008, when their eco.chic Graphic Armoire and Signature 2.0 Console caught my eye.
Also bearing a clean-lined modern aesthetic, the striking Kirei:Mod Coffee Table is similarly constructed using the eco.smart kirei, which is made from reclaimed stalks of the renewable sorghum plant by bonding them together with a non-toxic adhesive. The interior structure of the coffee table is made from FSC-certified plywood, cut from normally discarded scraps. Its retro shaped legs are made from stainless steel and can be seen in a profile diagram here.
The Kirei:Mod is one of those pieces that inspires me because it proves that green design can be sleek, modern and drop dead gorgeous — and fortunately, we’re seeing more of it today.
Lotus Flower Chandelier with the Vintage Douglas Fir Table and Bamboo + Wood Dining Chairs @ Viva Terra.
Here we see the Lotus Flower Chandelier in a pearl finish, hanging over Viva Terra’s Vintage Douglas Fir Table, which was made from repurposed wood rescued from a salvage yard. The eco.smart construction of the table involved the use of non-toxic glue and a food-safe hard oil wax was utilized to bring out the wood’s natural vintage markings.
The Bamboo + Wood Dining Chairs were handcrafted using highly renewable bamboo by a “small eco-conscious furniture builder whose craftsmen meticulously hand-build each chair.”
