Day 2 Salone

It may be impossible to sum up a full day at the Salone in one blog posting. At first, I thought I might just pick one thing, my favorite, but there are too many wonderful ideas and beautiful things. Then I thought I would try to spot trends, but honestly that is just too much work. I come to get inspired and see what is going on in the rest of the design world, so that is basically what I will share here, in no particular order.

I also realize it will be difficult to credit all of the entries with designers and manufacturers, sorry about that, but I will do my best. Day two started at Euroluce the biannual lighting show.

This installation at Quasar, not sure of the designer, caught my eye first thing, for obvious reasons.



This little lamp at Ingo Maurer is a charmer.



This ceramic hemisphere at Almalight is quilted on the inside creating a pretty pattern on the outside:



I love Ron Gilad's work for Flos:



Likewise Fredrik Mattson at Zero:



I ran into this group of friends from the Cooper Hewitt at Nemo.
From left to right Lisa Roberts, Caroline Baumann, and Cara McCarty.



My second stop was Salone Satelite, the young Designers section of the show, which was very good this year. It usually depresses, me all of these kids trying so hard to get noticed, but this year it was strangely uplifting. It feels like something new is brewing, like all of the green design and simple living narratives have coalesced. I hope the consumers of the world find it inspiring too.

I love these wall rings from a company called, of all things, Holm.



The tone of this installation at Brikolor seemed very 2011 - raw wood, grey, and pastels.



There are also some great thinkers, such this young designer who decorates with electricity. I'm not really sure how it works, but from the video it seems he gave the wood a charge and it actually burnt the pattern of the electrical charge right into the wood.



Who could resist this florist/hairdresser dream vase?



Back to the hotel for a quick nap and then off to the Foundation Prada with my friend Tanja Solci and her team. The Foundation shows art, and this year it featured a collaborative group called Rotor who are fascinated with " ... material flows in industry and construction. " In this show they put on display all of the various parts from Prada's runway shows that had been in storage. Not my cup of tea, but the space is fantastic.



It was me and the girls all evening. Here is Tanja and her crew, Ludovica, Agnese, Marialuisa, and Camilla, including their mascot, Mario, in front of a stack of foam seating.



Next we went to the Lambrate area. This is a new area of off-site events. We went specifically to see our friend Emmanuel Babled who showed an impressive body of limited edition pieces. One was more beautiful than the next.



It was here that I found the first thing I really coveted. The would-I buy-it-test is one of my most stringent tools when judging design, and these glass and marble vases passed.



I also coveted these wood and thread constructions by a designer named Ella Robinson from the Royal College of Art in London in Talking Textiles, a show curated by Li Edelkoort.



From the sublime, to the most incredible bathroom I visited all day. It sums up the Salone in so many ways.



The night with a slice. More carbs and cheese. I feel fat, and exhausted. Goodnight.

Day 1 Salone

I arrived Tuesday morning in Milan for the Salone del Mobile, a week-long festival of design. After a rest I headed out to a few places in town. The main fair is out of town at the fairgrounds, but the off-site events in and around the City are often some of the most interesting. I stopped at Driade and Skitsch to check in on my Home storage unit that launched last fall. Skitsch also carries all of my REALITY products. Then I wandered around the Brera in the evening.

I spotted these amazing new glass pieces by Richard Meier at When Objects Work, one of my favorite accessory manufacturers.



Also at When Objects Work, glass vessels by Kate Hume. I'll take them all, please.



The best thing about Salone is the commitment level. No bars held installations like this show on copper, in a small space next door to When Objects Work. This set up depicted the same room in white and copper.



Dilmos Gallery was showing many things, but these plaid tables stood out to me (sorry, I did not get the name of the designer).



Moroso's installation in the city featured a chair by Tokujin Yoshioka, and lots of machine generated smoke.



Outside everyone was smoking too, and I spotted my second beautiful-woman-with-a-shaved-head of the day. I think it may be a trend.



Understate Gallery featured many beautiful things old and new, including an installation by the incredible Belgian case goods manufacturer, Pastoe.



And as happens in Milano during Salone, I ended up the evening at an impromptu dinner. From left to right at my table were Patty Johnson, a designer who specializes in work with developing countries, Ruso Panduro Reategul, Sam Bigio, Cheryl Durst, S. Russell Groves, Mari Balestrazzi from Morgans Hotels group, and DB Kim.

OFF TO MILANO FOR SALONE 2011

Harry Allen Design is saving all of its Spring launches for the ICFF in May, but I am off to the Salone del Mobile. Its always interesting, and lots of friends are showing, so look forward to some blog coverage.

Beastly Things

New York Spaces was all animals this month.

We love being featured in the same issue as our Areaware pals Salvor Studio.

Twin Reality

When I started my REALITY line in 2004, I took the name from the burgeoning entertainment genre, "Reality TV."



Survivor and American Idol were just coming into their own and I saw a correlation between what the TV executives were doing, deriving entertainment from real-life situation, and what I was doing, borrowing form for products from real-life. The name REALITY was tongue-in-cheek, but as both mediums have thrived I now get weekly alerts from friends and family as my REALITY products appear on reality programs. Some have already been posted, but together they are quite an impressive list of REALITY on reality spottings:

1) My friend Benjamin Budde spotted a blue Pickup on the set of Andy Cohen's Watch What Happens Live.

2) Bank in the Form of a Pig was spotted by a reader named Pat on the bookshelf of one of the Realtors (Josh Altman) on Bravo's Million Dollar Listing.

3) My friend Rune spotted a Pickup on Million Dollar Listing too - in the "schmuck's office."

4) I spotted the gold Banana Bowl on RuPaul's Drag Race.

5) And Rune skyped me again last night with the news that he spotted a Skate Stop on The Real Housewives of Miami.

All I have to say is "Rune, you are watching too much reality tv," (but to his credit he also spotted the pig in Italian Vogue) AND I am amazed at how these two reality genres have found themselves like lost twins.

Gift of Greed

Check out the gift ideas inspired by the Seven Deadly Sins in the LA Times blog. Saving a little here and there always adds up.

Swimming in Tokyo

Last weekend in VT I was shopping for season end skiwear bargains at the Burton store in Burlington. John spotted this bathing suit on the rack at the Burton store - board shorts with an image of Tokyo printed on them.



I loved them so much I paid retail.

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.

Thinking Big in Brooklyn

Spring 2010 is a perfect time to visit Brooklyn.

Three of our designs, the Kila Lamp, Rubber Lamp, and Clamp Table are being shown in a temporary exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum called Thinking Big: Recent Design Acquisitions on view until May 29th, and you can celebrate the month long Cherry Blossom season next door at the Botanic Garden (April 2 - May 1).

Slow Plastic Reward

This has been my week of putting in time. First Wagner's Das Rheingold on Wednesday night. Opera rewards, but only after you endure the claustrophobia, uncomfortable seats, lack of intermission, and brief head nod about half way through. In the end the music is epic, you feel like you have made a journey, and you emerge inspired. Then on Thursday I headed off to Permanent Change: Plastics in Architecture and Engineering, a conference on all things plastic at Columbia University - another slow burn - but equally inspirational.

First of all, the conference is free. And then they gave out the best gift I have ever received in a gift bag ... a mini architectural scale, already very useful, but this one is made from recycled plastic from the Gates project in central park! It was love at first ponder. The recycled billboard laptop bag is very nice too.

The roster of speakers includes architects, engineers, scientists and historians. I missed most of the famous speakers - Greg Lynn on Wednesday night (I met him yesterday), Michael Graves last night, and I will miss Paola Antonelli today - but honestly, I know their work - the less-famous speakers are where the information is. The only issue is that there is not enough time and too many great ideas.

I'm heading back this morning to hear the material scientists speak. My main impetus is to research green alternatives to the resins and RTV products I like so much. Not sure if they exist; I have some leads from yesterday, and the journey has been fun.

Das Rheingold

I saw Das Rheingold at the Met last night. I've always wanted to "do the Ring Cycle" and now I am a quarter of the way there.

I love the Metropolitan Opera. They keep threatening to tear it down, and someone might design a better building, but it is a pretty great modern expression as it is. It is always exciting when the starburst chandeliers go up.

The Robert Lepage sets proved that money in the right hands is money well spent. The production was a little set-heavy, featuring large creaking piano-key-like structures that proved a technical challenge to the performers - but ultimately they stole the show! So minor distractions are all forgiven in the name of new creative vision. Julie Taymor needs to see this.

Only weak link were the costumes - way too traditional for the brave new landscape.

Molto Chic

We are very pleased to see our Bank in the form of a Pig as the main accessory for the cover story in Italian Vogue - photographed by Steven Meisel.

Truck

A friend of mine was watching Andy Cohen's "Watch What Happens Live" and saw our blue Pickup in the background of their set.



Let us know if you see any of our products out there!

HDL

Pipeline recently featured in Israeli magazine HDL.

Canadian Modern

I felt like a traitor diverting our ski trip from Japan to Canada last week, but the news from Japan was just too bad. Mt. Tremblant in Quebec is an easy get away with direct flights from Newark. We stayed at a cute little B&B, Le Gite Roupillon, and enjoyed three days of spring snowboarding.

The design highlight of the trip was the Scandinave Spa.

It is both modern and rustic, and it delivered on the spa therapy with a sauna, various hot and cold pools, a steam room located in the red turret (up on the left in the image), and a very cold river to plunge yourself into!

Love to Japan

John and I were supposed to be skiing in Japan this week, but the tragic events there prevented our travel. My work has brought me to Japan many times, I love the people and the country, and my thoughts go out to them.

A couple of times I hit the cherry blossoms just right. In April 2004 my friends Dara and Sojiro took me to the spa, and on our trip home we crossed a bridge in Tokyo, and this scene unfolded on either side. Hundreds of cherry trees dropping their petals.

That night, I celebrated with a huge group from Idee under the cherry trees in the park. Teruo Kurosaki was there, as well as Casey Lurie and Colleen Murakami. This is not a great pic but it captures the spirit.

My thoughts go out to all of my friends in Japan.

May Spring bring cherry blossoms, renewal, and hope for happier times to come.

New Love

In limbo after our trip to Japan was cancelled, I headed to the New Museum on Saturday with some friends. The building was just fantastic in the sun, and we saw Bette Midler in the galleries.

The highlight was the George Condo show. What a surprise. I did not know the work, and the images I had seen in the press did not do the exhibition justice. All of the creepiness, in context, is very sympathetic. In addition, Condo is a great technician, the drawings are wonderful.

And I love the work of Lynda Benglis, the second exhibition, but the installation was not so great. It could have used more room, and more content.

Texas Talk

On Monday I spoke to students at the University of Texas School of Architecture in Austin.

Despite midterm exams, a good audience showed up.

I stayed at the Hotel San Jose on South Congress Avenue. It was one of the first places in town to undergo a hip transition, as featured in the documentary "The last Days of the San Jose." Its hipness was contagious; a whole neighborhood popped up around it, and helped cement Austin's reputation as a very cool city.

The City is permeated with music. Last night the hotel lobby had a great vibe; locals mixed with guests, and a fantastic guitar player entertained the crowd.

Music posters are used as decoration all over town. The printing business in Austin must be alive and well with the SXSW Festival set to start this weekend. I would have liked to stay.

In like a Lion

March 3 was a good night for design in NYC. My partner in crime, journalist Melissa Feldman, and I headed out into the cold to attend some openings. Our first stop was Suite, the Park Avenue showroom that features a very sophisticated selection of European furnishings. Here is Melissa with owners Kris Fuchs and Maria Sepulveda.

Brian Messana of Messana O'Rourke was in the house.

And then it was off to Moss. My friends Murray and Franklin have long been showing work that crosses the line between art and design. Last night they made a stand, right on the line.

If art is out of bounds, then let it be Arthur. The lighting in the window was a beautiful play on the hanging lamp by young French designer, Christian Haas. If you need a reading lamp, look elsewhere, this one is a beautiful tangle of rope lit within by LEDs. Many of the objects inside straddled the line between art and design with elegant ambiguity.

I ran into Charles Brill, of Rich Brilliant and Willing, whose Bias clock was on display, and also the design czaress of Philadelphia, Lisa Roberts who is filming a TV show called "My Design Life" that will air on the Ovation channel in August. She and I pose here before the work of my favorite arthurist, Massimiliano Adami.

My final stop for the night was at my new favorite restaurant, Heartbreak, on the corner of 2nd and Second, my old stomping ground. I've been watching the space transform for more than a year. The red metal facade is of a quality rarely seen on a NYC restaurant. Heartbreak is a surprising eatery, like one encounters in Europe, where the cool design belies the warm ambiance and food. I love it.

Chef Ingrid serves up her signature Swiss fare. She owned AG Rotelle, the dearly-missed East Village eatery that closed in 2002. She's back and has created something special here. At first I hated the bold signage, but it has grown on me and is destined to be a NYC icon. And just you wait until the summer; that big red facade rolls open. The beautiful details just keep revealing themselves, last night I noticed that the pipes on the ceiling are foiled in bronze, gold, and silver.