Glass Heats Up Modern

With new technology heating it up, glass has endless innovative applications like warming kitchen shelves (from Viking), and warming architectural windows. Hot glass, called ThermiqueTM Hot Glass TechnologyTM by Engineered Glass Products, is a heated sheet that's even gone into the bathroom. Now, towel warmers look as good as they make towels feel. This model, the ThermiqueTM heated glass towel warmer won “Best New Bath Product” at the 2005 KBIS show in Las Vegas.

ALNO USA Brings More Choice to Modern Kitchens

ALNO USA announced Monday that it will be adding two new kitchen lines, IMPUS and GEBA, to its staple Alno line. While ALNO USA CEO Kevin Henry says Alno will continue to be the "backbone and strength of ALNO USA," adding these additional lines will let the company expand in two important ways. With IMPUS, ALNO USA will offer the same style consumers see in Alno, but with a lower price point to appeal to a wider audience and encourage applications in apartment units and the like. GEBA takes the opposite approach with ultra high-end styling and the sort of up-to-the-minute finishes and accessories US consumers equate with European kitchens.

In the wake of the collapse of several European players in the US market, ALNO USA has launched a major marketing effort to acquire new dealership opportunities and strengthen consumer awareness through advertising and event marketing.

Top, a selection from GEBA, and bottom, from IMPUS, both by ALNO USA.

Musings with Cory Grosser

  He describes his style as pure and refined with a bent toward the young and cool, but  Cory Grosser's designs and company aren't summed up that simply. Positive Industrial Design has an agenda beyond creating clean pieces for companies like Dellarobbia and Magis; Grosser is also a brand strategist and takes as easily to projects like building the image of Ford Motor Co. as he does to building houses. But being able to work across these disciplines doesn't mean he'll take any job. His philosophy for always netting a positive result: Don't take all the projects, take all the right projects. Continue

Winner of MoMA/P.S.1 Young Architects Program Announced

For the sixth year in a row, the winner of the MoMA/P.S.1 Young Architects Program will transform the courtyard of P.S.1 on Long Island. Xefirotarch, this year's winner, will create SUR, a playful installation of rolling surfaces resembling a reconfigured skeletal design. The project, which expands across the courtyard creating vast spaces for rest and relaxation, will serve as the venue for the annual Warm Up musical series.

The submitted designs by the five finalists, all given a budget of $60,000, will be on display at the MoMA through August 22.

Modern Furniture, Alfresco

Modern design in the summer months. Sometimes it's best to just take it outside...

Father's Day has long been a BBQ man's holy day and a national reminder that, by now, your yard should be in full swing for some serious summer entertaining. Over the years though, our expectations for just what constitutes a party-ready backyard has changed. It no longer means hauling the old picnic table and rusty-hinged folding chairs from their dark storage hold and hosing them off for another lazy, sun-soaking summer. These days, a backyard has rooms, niches, and low, Asian inspired furniture. It has ponds and speakers and carefully placed lighting. Even the bottles of Off!, once strewn about on wobbling plastic side tables, have been replaced by copper, citronella burning torches.

For more on backyard trends, continue reading Modern Furniture, Alfresco 

Retro-Modern

Form, function and fun come together in the Tag'Liatelli chair by Quinze & Milan. With a modern take on the beanbag chair of yesteryear, a mixture of childish whimsy and sophisticated exuberance has emerged. Available in 16 colors, the bouncy creation adds drama and excitement to the contemporary pad.

Ball of Light

The well-rounded Bel’Occhio lamp from industrial designer Pablo Pardo sets the modern mood for any space. With its smooth design and soft glow, the multi-position light finds comfort on any floor or table. Available in white or orange, the Bel'Occhio with dimmer control is coming to a retailer near you this September.

Philippe Starck for Duravit

Duravit capitalized on fame and style finesse with its Starck Xcollection by industrial design guru Philippe Starck. His trademark mischevious minimalist look took center stage with this free-standing acrylic tub. A water channel around the rim of the bath changes the color of water at the touch of a button. Below, instead of a standard overflow, a channel of white stones - treated to repel dirt! - absorbs overflowing water. Fun, beautiful, relaxing and it gets you clean, too.

Technology Blossoms

It isn't just for iPods, aerodynamic vehicles and computerized personal assistants. Technology is lending itself to design in colorful ways. Carpet Creation takes custom work to a new level, using software to experiment with palettes, shapes and sizes.

This system of color-by-numbers allows Carpet Creation to work with several color palettes, creating winning looks and a custom masterpiece to fit any room. The circular rug was cut to complement the shape of this sofa by Weiman/Preview.

GUBI, Modern Art & World Trade

The Danish Design firm GUBI introduced its GUBI chair, the first industrial product created by moulding 3-D veneer, to enough rave reviews to earn it a seat in the permanent collection at the New York MoMA. But joining the ranks of Eames, Thonet, Panton and Gehry was just the beginning for the company that, though founded in 1967, just began exporting to the US last July.

When architects from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, commonly called SOM Architects, first saw the GUBI chair at the Cologne Furniture Fair in 2004, they knew they wanted to use it for some of their projects (SOM is the name behind The Empire State Building and Chicago's Sears Tower). What did they eventually decide to do with it? GUBI is the furniture of choice for their new building, 7 World Trade Center. The 25th of 52 floors will be "the office of the future"--furnished by GUBI.