Yesterday morning couldn’t have started better, as I was invited by the Norwegian furniture reatiler Expo Nova to participate in the presentation of Zanotta. I know Zanotta quite well from when I lived and studied in Milan, but it was nice to get a reminder on just how great furniture they produce. Not only do they have many of my favourites  of design-classics from designers like Castiglione and Colombo, but they also have a limited edition every year with furniture made by young, new designers! Take a look at some of the pictures from their new catalogue; I love both the furniture and the styling! (more…)

Ok, this is not really a design-news, but I just have to tell you anyway. I’ve been working a lot lately and decided it was time to treat my self with something really nice. So today I bought this beautiful classical Eames chair! This chair was the first successfully mass-produced molded plastic chairs. Molded in fiberglass reinforced polyester and designed by Charles Eames in 1948. Last year Vitra put it back in to production, this time made out of a more ecologically supportable material; recyclable polypropylene. A great classical chair that I know I will love to have in my home for a long time!

Uglycute is a design and architecture office based in Stockholm, Sweden and just like me they like to work with concepts. On their page they says: ” We are working to expand the concept of design by crossbreeding it with our different professions and trying to analyze its impact on society by not only practicing but also writing, teaching and organizing workshops.” Not only do I love their philosophy, but I also love their work. Here are some examples of their furniture designs, but make sure to visit their site so see more of their amazing works!

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A chair is something you sit on – but what if you ad an extra shape to it, so that it doesn’t resemble the classical chair-shape anymore? It still maintain its function, but by giving it a different form, the main function switches over to be an aesthetic object, – a sculpture. The fact that you can sit on it, now becomes secondary. But is it design, or art, or maybe both?

Nacho Carbonell is a hot name at the moment- and with his strange, different and unique works he has made the design industry raise the question on what is design and what is art?  If you have followed this site for a while, you already know that this is a subject I am  passionate abut, and I love the fact that magazines are starting to talk about this. See more pictures of Naco Carbonells work after the jump, and be sure to visit his site to see videos and interviews of the artist/designer.

“I like to see objects as living organisms, imagining them coming alive and being able to surprise you with their behaviour. I want to create objects with my hands, then I can give them my personality. I turn them into communicative objects that can arouse one’s sensations and imagination. In short, what I want to create are objects with a fictional or fantasy element, that allow you to escape everyday life.” -Nacho Carbonell (more…)

As you might have guessed already I got quite excited about the portfolio of Danish Ditte Hammerstrøm. So to prevent my self from filling up all the post on Playmedesign only with her stuff, I have made this summary-post instead. After the jump you will see some of my favorite pieces among her work, and I strongly recommend you to visit her site and to keep an eye on this girl – I hope and believe we will see more furniture’s like this, with character and a personal expression behind it, in the future!

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