Photograph by Tom Dixon
Home All-Stars: Hallmarks Of Style
January 1, 2006
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Christopher Farr Rugs
Rugs have long been thought of as artwork for the floor. London-based
Christopher Farr, however, has also made them highly collectible works of art by
recasting his own boldly colored drawings–as well as those of many fashion and interior designers, furniture makers and even scholars–into stylish rugs. Farr’s
landmark exhibition of contemporary rug patterns at the Royal College of Art in London
in 1991 reignited interest in modern rug weaving. Nevertheless, Farr, along with partner Matthew Bourne, always manages to stay one step ahead by essentially looking back to great Bauhaus and Art Deco designs from early-20th-century
weavers such as Gunta Stolzl and Marian Pepler, among others. “Artists and architects
had always done rugs on a small scale for high-end clients. So in a way I didn’t innovate at all; I merely resurrected,” says Farr. “I suppose the only thing
I can really lay claim to is the fact that I was the first to pick up the thread
that was dropped in the 1930s and 1940s.” (Click image to enlarge)
Christopher Farr USA, 310.967.0064, www.cfarr.co.uk; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
Rose Tarlow—Melrose House “Imagined” Antiques
When rose tarlow was building her antique furniture business in the 1970s,
the designer recalls finding in every truckload of furniture she ordered one or
two extraordinary pieces that were “just a little eccentric, a little large, a
little off-scale, that also gave flair to a room.” Wondering what it would be like
to have an entire shop filled with such designs, Tarlow took it upon herself to
start re-creating them to her own exacting specifications. “None of my pieces are
from antiques,” Tarlow says of her “imagined” pieces. “But they look like they
could be, because I see a chair with a fabulous leg and the rest of it is hideous,
so I make what I call a do-over. And then I increase it or make it smaller, or I
may use it as a table leg. Design is a whole dictionary of elements I use in my
own way.” (Click image to enlarge)
Rose Tarlow—Melrose House, 323.651.2202, www.rosetarlow.com
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Photograph courtesy B&B Italia. (Click image to enlarge)Antonio Citterio Floating-Back Sofas and Chairs
At a time when furniture seemed to be bulking up to accommodate bigger rooms in larger houses, Antonio Citterio put his designs for B&B Italia on a crash diet that instantly inspired others to start watching their weight. The catalyst for this furniture shape-up was the Italian designer’s spindly legged modular sofas and chairs with movable, floating arms and backs that enable one to adjust the depth and position to suit one’s individual needs. The concept of free-floating backrests and adjustable seat depths is part of the Freetime system that Citterio began designing in the late 1990s, and that continues to influence his and others’ modular furniture designs to this day.
Antonio Citterio for B&B Italia, 800.872.1697, www.bebitalia.it
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Philippe Starck Louis Ghost Chair
Furniture makers have been trying to reinvent the Louis XVI—style armchair
ever since the ineffectual French monarch was beheaded in 1793. Leave it to
irreverent designer Philippe Starck to succeed where others have failed. He saw right
through all the varied lines and formal geometry of the 18th-century original
armchair with the creation of his transparent Louis Ghost chair, which was designed in
2002 for Italian firm Kartell. Starck’s chair is a historical and technical
triumph, made of injection-molded polycarbonate, that some have suggested is perhaps
the most daring example of single-mold plastic injection since the concept was invented in the 1930s. (Click image to enlarge)
Philippe Starck, +33.1.48.07.54.54, www.philippe-starck.com; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
Photograph by Ron Arad for the Swarovski Crystal Palace Collection. (Click image to enlarge)
Swarovski Crystal Chandeliers
The design editors at the New York Times said it best when they wrote that Swarovski’s Crystal Palace collection of chandeliers “touched a nerve in
those who feel that much of today’s design is missing emotional weight.” Indeed, the fanciful collection, which debuted at the Milan Furniture Fair in April 2002
and continues to expand, is a remarkable collaboration between the leading
Austrian cut-crystal maker and 14 cutting-edge designers; Ron Arad, Tom Dixon, Andrée Putman, Karim Rashid and others were each given carte blanche to reenvision
the crystal chandelier. The idea was to make the chandelier “relevant for today without losing its fantasy and emotional power,” explains Nadja Swarovski,
who masterminded the concept that is reshaping the way the design world looks at traditional lighting.
Swarovski, 866.272.5423, www.swarovskisparkles.com; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
Photograph by Karl Petzke. (Click image to enlarge)
Conrad Natural Window Coverings
With its new landscapes collection of window shades made from abaca,
arrowroot, flax and other renewable fibers, Conrad continues to lead the green design movement that began 50 years ago, when Edie Conrad began importing hand-woven
Biri Weave wall coverings of wheat and barley from her native Norway. Despite the throngs now joining the environmentally friendly design movement, Conrad,
under the leadership of Jo Holland since 1985, remains one of the few to employ its
own cottage industry of artisan weavers in Japan, Korea and Indonesia, the
source of the naturally grown and reforested materials found on every shade.
Conrad, 866.426.6723, www.conradshades.com; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
Photograph by Tom Vack. (Click image to enlarge)
Ingo Maurer Lighting
Ingo maurer certainly did not invent the lightbulb. But given the kudos and commissions from museums and collectors that followed the 1966 release of his
now iconic table lamp–simply known as Bulb–the German designer may just as well
have. Bulb, which consists of one lightbulb inside another, began a three-decade
career of provocative lighting ideas, including Maurer’s Zettel’z wire chandelier
covered in Japanese paper love letters, and his Canned Light wall sconce made from a Campbell’s tomato soup can. Maurer revisited the idea behind Bulb in 1999
with his LED collection, which featured a desk lamp with the glowing word LIGHT
beaming from the head of a fixture the designer called (what else?) Light.
Ingo Maurer, 212.965.8817, www.ingo-maurer.com
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