London Design Festival 2014: this angular steel chair by Georgian designer Sandro Lominashvili has a seat with four corners, but only three are attached to the frame.
Chair 3/4 has square-sectioned steel tubes that have been welded together to leave one corner disjointed from the backrest. The seat floats above an angled leg that gives the appearance it has been wrenched away from the frame.
Related story:David Adjaye creates Stool 7 for new online design platform Standseven
“My intention was to create a chair by breaking rules and standards,” Sandro Lominashvili told Dezeen.
While the chair may look unstable because of its disconnected outline, the angled leg balances the object to prevent it from falling over when sat on.
“Some people find it a bit difficult to sit on the chair for the first time, they think it might not be able to withstand their weight and collapse,” Lominashvili said.
According to the designer the chair has been approached tentatively, but users are surprised to find it sturdy and even “quite comfortable.”
“After using it for a couple of times they become more comfortable with it, because in reality, it’s a perfectly balanced and quite comfortable chair,” the designer told Dezeen.
Sandro Lominashvili presented Chair 3/4 on the Ventura London stand at the designjunction exhibition during London Design Festival, which ended on Sunday.
Other balancing furniture pieces include a two-legged chair that requires users to constantly adapt their position to keep seated and a shelf that leans against the wall without the need for fixing from the Ikea PS furniture collection.
“I’ve looked at love from both sides now…” as the song goes. This weeks 8th episode of Outlander marked the “mid-season finale” of Season 1, which won’t return until April with eight more episodes covering Book 1 (also called Outlander) of the now eight book series. Starz has already announced their commitment to Season 2 (though I’ve heard they’ve only committed to twelve episodes). Season 2 will cover the second book in the series. There was a great hue and cry in the fandom when it was announced we’d be waiting until April 2015 for the remainder of Season 1. It does seem a long wait and it would have made more sense (to me at least) if they had simply said it was Season 1 and Season 2 versus a split season. But that’s how hit cable programs roll these days. Mad Men did it and we’re waiting nearly a year for the 2nd half of the final season.
Anyway, after last week’s wedding episode, we see Jamie and Claire doing a lot of romantic “bonding” out in the heather and she learns to defend herself with a sgian-dubh, a small dagger usually concealed in a sock or boot. Good timing since she has ample cause to need it in this episode. In a departure from the original book, this episode features Frank Randall – Claire’s 20 century husband – and the effects that her disappearance has had on him, his on-going search and belief, despite what those around him are saying, that she has not run off with another man. The book was written in the first person, from Claire’s point of view, which meant that while she conjectured that he must be frantic over her disappearance, we didn’t actually “see” it happening. Readers were treated to how wonderful, nearly perfect, the Jamie character is, but our Frank experience was thin, at best. The reality is, however, that they had a marriage – separated by five years of war – and were working on re-kindling their romance; there was no reason to think that anything was particularly wrong between them. A flaw in Diana Gabaldon’s first book (and it was the first book she ever wrote, written for practice having no though of it being published) was that the first person narrative left off an important aspect of Claire’s moral dilemma of choosing between Frank and Jamie – the one where we needed to see that it was a choice with deep consequences. As it was, many readers simply decided that Frank was somehow bad and Jamie was all good – thus no pesky moral dilemma to deal with. It’s a way more interesting story to be working in the “grey zone” than in such black and white terms.
Speaking of Grey, a funny that’s been going around:
Reading fan comments has only highlighted this issue. So many have not liked the greater presence of the Frank character into the storyline – they want it to be Jamie all the way and couldn’t see how Claire could have any kind of conflict over this. (hello, wedding vows, anyone?)
The other bonus of the expanded Frank character is that we are treated with the exceptional acting skills of Tobias Menzies in the dual roles of 20th century Frank and 18th century John “Black Jack” Randall. Double roles can often come across as campy with exaggerated differences between the two, but Menzies has developed two distinct characters using only the subtlest of traits. He has also shown how the two characters have more similarities than just their looks, which is a slightly new twist on to the story. In my mind, he’s the breakout among a very strong cast of actors.
So, this post will focus on a little of Frank’s 20th century world. In the story, Frank and Claire were taking a second honeymoon just after the end of WW2 in the Scottish Highlands where they’d spent their first honeymoon. Part of the trip includes a visit to the Reverend Wakefield, a minister and part time historian, so Frank (also an historian) can learn more about his ancestor, Jack Randall. It all seems so fun and romantic until those blasted standing stones got in the way!
The Reverends house – the manse – in the book is described as large, but old, a little shabby, and overrun with papers and historical minutiea. The house in the show is a little grander and tidier than I think it’s meant to be, but it sure is beautiful with its paneled walls and books galore. The last two shots above show Frank in what is presumably a guest room with a beautiful bed and gorgeous cabinets.
We’re also treated to the introduction of a new character – little Roger Wakefield, née MacKenzie, who will feature prominently in future books.
So, in honor of Frank Randall (since we might not see much of him through the remainder of the series) I wanted to share some beautiful libraries, especially one’s in bedrooms.
All images are linked here. If you’ve been watching, I’d love to hear your views of the show so far and if you’ve read the books. I just started #7 “An Echo in the Bone”. # 8, Written in My Own Heart’s Blood” was released this summer, so I’ll soon be caught up. I started with Book 1 this past spring and have been working my way through them. If you have read them, you will know that each are between 800-1000 pages.
If you’re looking to create the home of your dreams, contact me to discuss the possibilities! ::Surroundings::
We are slowly but surely ramping up for a brand new holiday season, which means parties, celebrations and lots of hostesses to thank! So I put together a simple DIY gift tag using an inexpensive roll of wood veneer from the hardware store, a pair or scissors, hole punch and ball point pen.
Whether you’re scheming for Halloween and Thanksgiving hostess gifts, or planning WELL in advance for the jolly season to come (87 days to go!), this tag tutorial will see you right on through to 2015. Grab the step-by-step breakdown on eHow!
I think this is the one room I have shared any pictures of yet with some fall additions to it. We added some corduroy and plaid pillows from HomeGoods to the bed and a cozy cable knit throw from Birch Lane. And then the orange branches, wreath and painting that I originally tried downstairs in our kitchen but didn’t quite like how it looked we moved up here. So now the room is ready for fall and ready for guests which is good seeing how we will have a few different guests this month. It’s still missing a rug but the rug that is down in our family room now will eventually end up in here. And we stole the dresser that was in here (where the chair is now) for our master bedroom a couple of weeks ago so now the chair is there temporarily until I find something.
Source Info: Trim Color – Simply White by Benjamin Moore in Semi-gloss FinishDoor Color – Mopboard Black by Benjamin Moore in Semi-gloss Finish Beadboard Wallpaper – Allen and Roth from Lowe’s Bed – Overstock (I still need to reupholster the headboard but I have it somewhat hidden in these pics) Coverlet – Have had for a long time not sure where it was originally purchased Bed Skirt and Shams – Country Curtains Nightstands – Pier 1 about 7-8 years ago, they still carry them but they are considerably more expensive than back when I purchased ours Lamps – Home Goods Roman Shades – Lowe’s (they’ve since been discontinued) Drapery Panels – IKEA Ritva Panels Drapery Rods – Lowe’s Navy cable knit throw – Birch LaneDuvet cover folded at end of bed- Target about 7 years ago Navy corduroy pillows – HomeGoods Long plaid pillow – HomeGoods Painting – Was a gift years ago Vase Holding branches – IKEA Basket under nightstand – IKEA Chair – Really really old =) hand-me down from a great Uncle that we had recovered 8 years ago I hope you all have a lovely Monday!
London design studio PostlerFerguson has collaborated with Viennese jewellers A.E. Köchert to make a set of bespoke microphone accessories for DJ Ken Hayakawa, being presented for Vienna Design Week.
PostlerFerguson created the microphone accessories for Viennese DJ and music producer DJ Ken Hayakawa, who bases his compositions on snippets of sound recorded in the field as part of Vienna Design Week’s Passionswege program, which pairs international designers with local craftspeople.
Related story: Buoy Lamps by PostlerFerguson
Matched with A.E. Köchert, a Viennese jewellery house founded in 1814 that once supplied jewels to the Imperial court, PostlerFerguson designed two attachments for the AKG C1000 microphones used by Hayakawa to record his samples.
To create the pieces, the designers and jewellers made 3D-printed moulds, which were used to cast molten brass.
“Since we are really an industrial design based outfit we wanted to push the boundaries of what a modern jeweller can do in case of applying its craft and skillset to an industrial product,” explained PostlerFerguson co-founder Martin Postler.
“The whole approach was extremely industrial from our side, which then got pretty hand-craft focused since Köchert made the pieces by hand in their in-house workshop.”
“We really thought of Ken as a brand as well. As much as people like Daft Punk have their helmets, we thought of him using these pieces during a process – field recording – that is normally pretty invisible as something visually more spectacular,” Postler told Dezeen.
A large brass cone with a flat covered end provides a shield for the microphone that also allows it to balance on a flat surface to record ambient noises.
The sides of the cone are formed from spirals of metal that merge into the circular base, which is perforated with small round holes. This design “both filters the sound as well as makes it possible to stand the mic upright while protecting the recording part and acting as a shock absorbing spring,” explained Postler.
At the top a solid circle of brass slots over the microphone handle to provide a secure attachment. A protruding triangular loop of metal forms a finger grip that can be used to help add and remove the cover.
A matching brass cable clip serves two potential functions – attaching the microphone’s cable to a bag or another item to provide steady support or creating a hook to hang the microphone off.
“The mix of functionality and style reflects the modern obsession of having our accessories, like phones and headphones, reflect our personality while also continuing the tradition of the Sisi Stars, a line of jewellery and accessories first created for the Empress Elisabeth in the 1800’s by Köchert,” added PostlerFerguson.
The pieces are on display as part of an installation at the jewellery firm’s store in Vienna during the design week, accompanied by a soundtrack by Hayakawa that was created by mixing recordings of noises made by craftspeople during production of the microphone cover and clip.
