I (heart) Batti June 22, 2009

A client turned me on to this chair, and I have to admit that it is pretty darn cool.  I’ve been busy imagining the space around it, and how it will interact with other finishes/furnishings.  Its a strong and dominating piece, so should the rest of the space be as strong, or should it be quiet to let this one stand out?  It’s also quite avant-garde, so should the rest of the space be so too, or should it sit in familiar surroundings to make it more approachable?  We shall see what unfolds, but read on to learn more about her.

From the Emmo website:

Placentero by Batti for Brion Experimental

“Placentero is a lounge chair that was designed by Batti, one of the most important young designers of the Argentina design scene. It is manufactured by Brion Experimental. With offices in Argentina, the USA and Japan, Brion Experimental is dedicated to developing conceptual ideas into products.

The Placentero was chosen and published in Red Dot’s “2007 HALL OF FAME OF design for a better quality of life.” Red Dot “stands for belonging to the best in design and business.

As the origin of everything that surrounds human beings, Batti’s inspiration for the Placentero was the gestation period. By combining two words linked to this period of human development, “placenta” and “pleasure,” the name Placentero unfolded. When asked by to categorize his work, Batti replied, “It’s not defined, seems interesting to find my style, but I prefer not to tie my work to anything and to think that it is always possible to continue investigating about ourselves. I believe that in that search I try to avoid the fashions and the formality, for that reason, when I was working in Brion Studio I chose ‘gestation’ as a theme that forced me to design with organic forms and messages of introspection considering that today the tendency by aesthetics and constructive convenience is minimalism and straight forms.”

Spurred by this vision, Brion Experimental’s development of the space design lounge chair then began. An investigation into the experiences human beings have before birth led Brion Experimental to some new age techniques that recreated the experience of drifting in the womb. Suspension, floating, hypnosis, meditation, and antigravity systems are just some of the ways in which the design team revisited this natural stage of early life. Brion Experimental embarked on several such hands-on investigations and numerous recompilations of bibliographic and illustrative design prototypes in its quest to recreate the fetal experience.

Finally, after an exhaustive examination of all possibilities, the production of the Placentero naturally unfolded. The end result of this process was a new lounge chaise that enables a person to connect with him or herself by giving him or her the opportunity to freely move about and settle into the position of his or her choosing. Personal comfort is the key appeal of the Placentero. “

Happy shopping.

What are you budgeting for? June 22, 2009

 

I can see the lazy daydreams some of you have of building on a new sunroom, creating a gourmet kitchen, or finally renovating an awkward space to create a spa-like master bath with a walk-in closet.  In your mind it is wonderful, peaceful, loved and perfect.  You can see yourself curled up on the sofa spending time with your family, cooking your way through an entire Julia Child’s cookbook, or relaxing in your steam shower with its full-body shower heads and gorgeous tile.  Such wonderful dreams!  It may be time to pull the trigger and have it built.

One of the most important aspects of every project is the budget.  Cutting corners or refusing to look at your true needs can cost a lot of money in the end.  It is important to put together a strong team to guide you through the process.  You’ll need an architect to design the shell, and interior designer to define what the shell finishes and details are, and a contractor to bid it out.  Most people see interior designers as fluff, but our talent and skills make us invaluable members.  We are necessary for proper budget development, because we know what decisions you are going to have to make, what the design and building process entails and how the finishes and furnishings interact and effect the building itself.  Designer newbies are always cautious when working with a designer and question our value heavily for the first few weeks, but people who have used designers in the past wouldn’t dream of tackling a large project without one.

When budgeting your project it is important to budget for all aspects.  All.  That includes the furniture.  By doing so you are able to focus in on the finished look, style and concept, and know that the finish materials you specify are the best ones for the space.  I love these two pictures.  The first one perfectly illustrates a built room, but clearly the ivory and apple green VCT flooring is a disaster.  It detracts from the space rather than contributing to it, and impedes design.  Bad finishes can’t be ignored and masked– they can only be replaced.  Had the flooring been properly budgeted and the concept developed at the beginning, then the client would have saved 30% of what they spent. 

The second picture illustrates all the things they did right.  While the initial flooring wasn’t ideal, they specified it knowing that they were going to hire a designer to properly upfit the space.  They wanted an impactful space that would impress and inspire their clients and employees.  The budget they gave me was also well considered on their part and enabled me to give them exactly what they wanted.  They knew what was involved and researched the costs.  If you don’t have the building expertise that a large development company has, then a designer is one of your most valuable assets.  I will work with clients to define material classes (granite counters, wood floors and carpet, recessed and decorative lighting), and finess plans so the contractor can accurately bid your project.  Cuts are always made, so if the number comes out high, as it always does, we can figure out where smart cuts can be made.

It’s okay to want. June 21, 2009

Barcelona Chair from Soho Concepts

 Embarassingly enough, my crushes tend to be on objects more often than people.  I’ve never seen a leg more elegant than the one Mies designed for the Barcelona chair, and dream of owning a 1985 Avanti.  Ivory exterior with saddle leather interior, and her name will be Gertrude. 

It is easy to dismiss the idea of beauty as strictly superficial, but that would be an injustice and insult to those whose minds think in pictures and form, and thrive only when creating.  Those of us who are creative know that denying that need is a denial of one’s self, and the appreciation of a beautiful object is really about celebrating the brilliance of the mind and hands that created it. 

Those objects affect us all, whether we chose to notice them or not.  High fashion trickles down to the mall.  Elements of experimental cars get disseminated into those produced for the masses.  New philosophies in architecture and urban planning show up in our towns and on our blocks.  We are constantly adapting ourselves to the built environment.  How we move in our house and our car, or how we hold a spoon, or walk in certain shoes is directly based on what someone designed for us. And later, as time goes by, for better or worse, all of these objects later serve to define us as a culture in specific moments in time.  It’s time to stop being ashamed of style and start embracing it!