Knock Knock

We created this suite of hardware for SA Baxter in 2007 and even though it has been a commercial success, it never really had much time in the spotlight. So, we thought we would share it with
you again.

Referred as Suite 5900, the design features a unique human modernism. The basic form is a spare geometry, but the grip is an imperfect stack of discs. The effect is slightly romantic and they feel great in hand. It's amazing what a little misalignment can do. People have told us they look like they are wrapped in leather, or a stack of coins. The design is the perfect compliment to SA Baxter's manufacturing capabilities. Their brand-new upstate New York foundry produces an exceptionally high quality product.

Look What I Made

We're loving the plaid-on-plaid styling of Harry's full-page spread in Interior Design's Market Tabloid. What better way to show off his latest creation, the Paperwork Lantern, a combination of low-tech papier maché and high-tech LEDs.

Eclipse

We are happy to announce that our Eclipse lighting for Vialight will be available for purchase online at Vialightdesign.com in October 2012.

During Harry's travels in Brazil, he visited many tropical gardens and was inspired by the vegetation. The form and structure of the lamps were originally inspired by the concentric growth rings at the base of palm trees. The forms are sensuous and modern, and the finishes run the gamut from fun to sophisticated.

Eclipse 1, Twilight Blue and Eclipse 2, Sunrise Yellow

Eclipse 1, Midnight Black

Eclipse 2, Timeless Metallic

COIL AND RECOIL

My friend, Tim Convery's rope tattoos were my original inspiration.
                                                                                                                                                                        

Tim has been at it for years, adding knots and flourishes. He is a graphic genius and just started an amazing venture in Provincetown called Tim-Scapes. Check out his website and Facebook page.

Lindsey Adelman's Knotty Bubbles chandelier also caught my attention early on, but I was midway through my rope project when I realized the larger zeitgeist. Art Basel Miami was brimming with rope. Stephen Burks showed his rope stools and around the fair it showed up in various forms. Everyone I mentioned 'rope' to, suggested I read an article in the NYTimes about an artist who only works with rope. I have yet to dig it up and read it, but I will.

Honestly, the prevalence almost made me want to abandoned the project, but I can certainly stake my claim on rope. My love affair started as a child, sailing on the NJ shore, making Turks Head bracelets, and tying bowline knots - "up the hole, around the tree, and back down the hole again." When I discovered Ashley's Book of Knots last year it stoked the fire.

Rope is the perfect utilitarian symbol, beautiful in its spiral structure and endless associations. It's a reminder of simpler times, and our REALITY take on the subject, Coil Rope Vase and Coil Rope Bowl, for Areaware launched at the ICFF in May.

And there is more coming at the NYIGF in August ...

Paperwork

If you have been following our work at Harry Allen Design, this might feel like déjà vu. We started making these paper lamps in the studio back in 2005 and subsequently tried to manufacture them in China. The project stalled, and it was not until Kenneth Cobonpue and his talented team at Hive took over the project that they came to fruition. Together, we basically invented a manufacturing technique.

Our Paperwork lighting for Hive speaks of the past, present, and future. The production technique is an innovative take on age-old papier-mâché, at the forms are lifted from traditional lamps. However, the molded-lamps have a very contemporary feel and they are lit by cutting-edge LED technology - an environmentally-friendly combination that will serve for years to come.

The lamps fall into Harry Allen's REALITY series, which consists of objects whose form is "sampled: from existing sources. Harry has never been attracted to overly-formal design. His design process emphasizes the inherent beauty of things - from beauty from concept, beauty from materials, and beauty from structure- REALITY takes his quest one step further and borrows forms from the world around us.

Paperwork will preview March 22-25 at the
Architectural Digest Home Show: Kenneth Cobonpue, booth #327.
Pier 95, 55th Street at 12th Avenue, New York City

David Rockefeller Award for MoMA

The David Rockefeller Award is presented annually by Museum of Modern Art to an individual from the business community who exemplifies enlightened generosity and effective advocacy of cultural and civic endeavors. The award is named for the Museum's honorary chairman, and early advocate of and successful pioneer in developing strong and enduring links between the corporate community and cultural organizations

We were asked by MoMA to re-imagine the David Rockefeller Award,. We figured the best way to honor these individuals was with MoMA itself. MoMA is a great example of philanthropy, and the great things that come of corporate giving, so we used it very literally as the decoration on the award. A little model of MoMA, rendered in an interpretive variety of materials sits on top of a cement base. It's our way of saying, thanks to the people who build, house, and preserve our culture.

Reality Production

I visited the resin factory last week in Dongguan, China. 

They make my REALITY line for Areaware, and production was in full swing. 

With any luck, there soon will be some additions to the collection. 

Monday Cocktails

My first ever Cocktail Table is complete.

I got it back yesterday from the sandblaster. I am putting the prototype up for auction in the 2011 Design Trust Art + Design Benefit Auction that Cindy Allen, the Editor of Interior Design magazine, organizes every year. This small table (14" x 14" x 17") will complete any room. Look for it on their website soon (I'm a little bit late with my entry), and bid on it there, or you can attend the event and bid live. It is a fun evening.

There will be more Cocktail Tables to come, they are part of my REALITY work. In this series, instead of casting from life, I re-use the vestiges of our lives. The Can Clusters I created a few years ago are a similar idea. Waste transformed through order and finishing.

To me, these liquor bottles connote good times, some may see danger and sadness in them, others may relate to the particular brands, or just to the iconic nature of bottles in general. Whatever the association, meaning is latent decoration. The beauty, however, is not fully tapped until the artifacts are ordered and finished. In a batch of random bottles there are many sizes and shapes so each one of these pieces will be unique. This table for example employs all rectilinear bottles and I was amazed at how this selection went together as a perfect square. I had them sandblasted to get them one step away from reality.

There is much potential in trash. These bottles are extremely structural, reuse redeems the energy that went into making them, and prevents the energy needed to recycle them. However, reusing waste is not as easy as it sounds. Production is much more difficult than I had imagined. For the moment, my cocktail tables will all be unique creations. Of course, not every bottle will do, so I dumpster dive at our local recycling center selecting only clear liquor bottles, clean them, and arrange them. They are
sandblasted and UV glued together. The tops and bases are solid virgin glass. I have always been a proponent of mixing reused and new. Silicone stoppers and bumpers complete the table.

A Penny Saved

Our new coin jar for Steuben featured in David Report.

Project Waffles 4

Yesterday we made glass waffles:

The process was pretty simple by glass-making standards. In fact, it worked so well, that it was sort of anti-climactic. We cracked a few of the "molds" - someone commented on how waffle irons were just not made to withstand 2000 degrees - and we had some sticking problems this morning. When the mold gets too hot the glass sticks, but these are all issues that can be worked out in production. The waffle maker that worked best in the end was a cheap, modern two-part model.  Some of the vintage models had more interesting patterns, but everyone agreed that the grid pattern was the most recognizably waffle-y.

The result was beautiful. Here are the pieces we made yesterday:

I certainly did not need such a talented team of glassblowers to bang these glass waffles out. Special thanks must be made to Eric Meek and his team of very professional glassblowers, and to Rob Cassetti and Steve Gibbs for inviting me up to Corning in the first place.

Color Report: Reflective Pigs

This season we have gone hog wild with the colors on our Bank in the Form of a Pig:

                                                                                                  

It all started with a Christmas-ball red limited edition by Toby Wong as few years back, but it has been hard to stop. This week at the New York International Gift Show, Areaware had this colorful group of colored chrome piggy banks on display. The combination of our standard chrome and gold pigs with and an array of Limited Edition colors made a big impression. Not sure how we will follow this one up.

Project Waffles 2

I'm busy buying waffle irons for my glass waffle making session at the Corning Museum of Glass.                                                                                                                                        

                                                                             

As with most of my REALITY projects the research and hunt of the master has proven very interesting. These projects are less about design and more about collecting. My concept is to use cast iron waffle makers to make glass waffles. I think they will make useful trivets and coasters and maybe even nice components for lighting, etc. I anticipate the waffle pattern in glass will be beautiful and refract light in addition to referencing the beloved waffle. Of course, I brought the project up with my mother this weekend and she assured me she would not buy glass waffles, which to me is the sign of a good idea!

I got online and started to look at "cast iron waffle makers" and it turns out it is a very active category on ebay. To cast glass one needs cast iron molds with no coating, no new-fangled aluminum with teflon, and just my luck there are some very active vintage-waffle-iron collectors out there. I also realized that there are many different waffle patterns too. The first one I bought was this one, it is new, but it is cast iron and has a classic waffle pattern.

The next one I saw was this one, and I wish I had gotten it. Interestingly it went for about $50 and was promptly re-posted for about $450 as a "Pilgrims Waffle Iron," or something like that. It has a very nice radial pattern that I think would look great in glass:

Then I bought this one with holes in the shape of hearts and diamonds. I'm not so sure about it, it lacks a strong graphic pattern, but one never knows what it will look like in glass:

And then I got this one. OK, I'm obsessed, but the more patterns we have on hand, the more interesting the project will be, and I think production will go pretty fast:

Don't tell Shirley, my office manager, how many of these I bought! This one got away, maybe for the best. It has a very desirable Heart/Star pattern which I'm sure is adorable at breakfast, but it might have just been too cute in glass.

Then I got these two miniature irons for a song, I think they might make some nice coasters:

And finally, last night I found this one, a very nice graphic pattern:

I'm done buying for now. All are on their way to Corning for our big day of glassblowing on Thursday morning, the 18th. (I hope they make it in time.) Full report to follow next week. And again, if you are in the Corning area on Thursday, 8:30-11:30 am we will be making glass waffles!

PROJECT WAFFLES

On August 18 I will work with the Corning Museum of Glass glassblowing team on a new project.                                                                                                                                                                       

I do not normally blog about ongoing design projects, but since this one if self-instigated, based on a fun premise, and involves some skillful glassmakers, I thought it might be fun to share. If you are in Corning area on August 18th, 8:30 -11:30 am, you are welcome to come watch. We will be making glass waffles!

REALITY is my line of goods that are cast from existing objects; most of the products are made by Areaware, but recently because of my work with Steuben and Glasslab, I have been thinking about how to make REALITY products out of glass. It is difficult to give glass a truly realistic form. There is a very labor-intesive process called Sag casting, which is how I made my Sticks and Stones decanter set for Steuben. The other way is to make a metal mold - which is very expensive. The difficulty forced a search for a pre-made mold, anything made of steel that could be used to give a realistic form, and lead me to the waffle iron. It was just there for the taking - a waffle iron is basically a two part mold.

I have a love of waffles that goes back to my childhood. It was the breakfast that my Dad made, I love their texture and taste, and it is associations like this that make for good REALITY products; they are more about ideas and less about just being pretty. Ultimately, however, they need to function too, and it seems to me that a glass waffle will make a very useful trivet. In addition, I am hopeful that glass waffles will look amazing, like a reflector, or cut glass. So I brought the idea to my friends at the Corning Museum of Glass and they invited me up for a waffle making session as part of their Hot Glass Show on August 18th. 

Making a REALITY product is not traditional product design, and it is never a sure thing, it is more about finding the right thing to cast and coaxing it to be a new product. Making glass waffles trivets will be a fun experiment, and you can follow the process here. Look forward to a few more postings before the big day, and of course a full report on the glass fabrication  - maybe even a movie or two. 

OINK

Bank in the Form of a Pig, my previous piggy bank effort, is very conceptual, but for Steuben I just wanted to capitalize on what Steuben does best - hand made glass.

I found myself working in a whole new vocabulary - dollops of glass for ears, lumps for the rump, and a twist for a tail. My basset hounds inspired the gesture, they have the same basic proportions as a pig.

The only innovation here is that rather than a standing glass pig, with a slot, I sat this pig down, and gave him a big mouth. That is where the money goes in, and when it is capped the stopper has nostrils. Admittedly, it is not my most modern design, but you must agree, he is very cute and very Steuben.

We've designed a whole suite of "change management" objects for Steuben that will be launching in the coming months. All very different designs. Stay tuned.

Modern Luxury - Miami

Our banana bowl was spotted in a gift guide for Miami magazine. They took inspiration from Hollywood's strongest loves. Our bowl listed under Mick & Bianca.

OH BOY, PIPELINE WINS

So the last party of the week, turned out to be the best.

The Best Of Year, or BOY, Awards was double the fun for Harry Allen Design this year as we both designed the awards and were up for an award for Pipeline, our new seating system for Dune. Despite a huge effort to get the awards done in time, and a less than adequate finish job on the new orange base, the awards looked pretty good all lined up.

Cindy Allen was at it again as Mistress of Ceremonies, and the video wall in the IAC Building, designed by Frank Gehry, is amazing. I have to say it is a little nerve-wracking to wait for these academy-like awards to unfold. Winning would be great, but I hate the thought of losing. Cindy assured us that "we were all winners," but there seemed to be alot of losers. FYI, the awards are voted on through the Interior Design website, so a win is a design world vote of confidence.

AND ... PIPELINE WON BEST OF YEAR!

IN THE SEATING: CONTRACT/GUEST CATEGORY!

Richard Shemtov and I celebrate with our BOY award. Richie owns Dune, is a fine designer in his own right, and makes amazing products. His Rebel chair was up for an award in another category - Dune had a total of three nominations. I am very proud of our Pipeline collaboration.

I even shared a moment with Karim Rashid, who I don't always see eye to eye with aesthetically, but who is a very nice guy. He won two awards, and I actually like his new stainless tiles for Alloy very much.

Rosie

Stopped by Rosie in New Canaan, CT last night to see our friends Rose and George Nammack, the owners. Harry Allen Design helped them with identity development when they opened. We designed their logo and helped them get the restaurant together. Now, seven years later, they were having an opening for artist Emilia Dubicki. I really liked the work, the place looked great, and Rose, as always, served up some fine food.

www.rosienewcanaan.com

www.emiliadubicki.com

Spotted across Elm Street in the design store, Mason, my Peanut and Walnut Bowls.

www.masonstyle.net

Skitsch Launches "Home" at 100% Design

Skitsch launched "Home" at 100% Design in London in September. "Home" is our new storage system based on the icon of a house. It can be purchased whole, or in parts, and configured as you like it. It is available at Skitsch stores in London and Milano, and for delivery in Europe at www.skitsch.com.

BANG

Harry Allen Design for Real Simple