Interesting pespective on Materials

Vegans aside, who knew that the designer Christien Meindertsma has created such an interesting take on materials. Her perspective on the "pig" in PIG 0 5049 takes us to material use both in and beyond the built environment. I was hesitant to even look at this video until I realized that her crocheted rug was a part of my recent trend report. This thoughtful, creative and charming designer speaks to us with an interesting voice and her vision is one to watch in the future.

A clean house at TED built in 4hours

Through all the technological inventions of the last 50 years, we are still building houses with the same methods. Will we ever move away from "stick" building? Every era makes attempts at factory building. An interesting approach is shown here, but the cost is virtually double what a "stick" built home with these amenities would cost. Unless the costs become more realistic, these modular units by LivingHomes are not likely to displace standard on-site construction processes any time soon. How long will it take to come up with something that is between the tin-can-like "mobile homes" of today and the fantasies of tomorrow depicted here? The material suppliers get good shout-outs in the video, but in down economic cycles, tradition usually wins out over stark contemporary looks. In today's economic climate, we are all looking for "comfort" of some sort. These stacks of stark rectangular boxes, don't offer so much as a comfortable corner. Whose fantasy is this anyway? It may be good for getting press, but does it provide "comfort" for hunkering down in a "down" economy.

Architecture! Peter Zumthor - The Thermae of Stone (1/3)

This building has been my favorite representation of the beauty of natural indigenous materials used in architecture since the first image that I saw of this quartzite encased thermal pool. The architect, Peter Zumthor has just been awarded the Pritzker prize. He certainly belongs in the company of previous winner James Sterling, who used natural indigenous limestone so beautifully in the Neue Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. It is no wonder that I have worked with materials all my life, as material is what I respond to first when I see a building - well before I notice form.

Names have Meaning

"Confusing alphabet-soup names like CLK, CLC, CLS, SLK, GLK, CL, SL and SLR have made it hard for customers to keep track of Mercedes-Benz's vehicle lineup, and to fix that the company is looking at returning to more traditional names based around the A, B, C, E and S-Class names," states an article in Motor Authority.

As I have just finished suggesting names for another batch of products, I am reminded of how important it is that the names connect to something - anything that will help the consumer of the product understand what it is he is buying. I know that it gets tougher and tougher with the number of your own products and those of competitors. Naming your product is a process that should never be given short shrift or handled in a bull session. Names must be especially vetted in a global marketplace in various languages. For example, if planning to sell in Germany, never use the word MIST - it means dung in German. Had to check myself on that one - was it...mist or dust that I just suggested? When Ford launched an advertising campaign in Belgium, the headline ‘Every car has a high quality body’ came out as ‘Every car has a high quality corpse’. Car bodies and human bodies often are different words. If this sort of thing amuses you check for more examples at this website.

Why would you ever name a dark charcoal gray product Mont Blanc if you knew that blanc means white in French? In a global environment, it is more important than ever to have at least a passing knowledge of foreign languages. Even a passing knowledge of geography would have been helpful in this case, because you would know that Mont Blanc is snow-capped year round. English may be the ipso facto lingua franca, but rather than risk embarrassment, make sure to check globally before you commit to the expense of printing literature and labels.

Disney House of the future...very "Twilight Zone"

It is interesting to contrast this 1957 version of Disney's "House of the Future" with today's. Product placement is certainly not a new idea.

Musing on ICFF 2008

I kept meaning to blog about my visit to the Kitchen and Bath Show, but there was truly nothing inspirational about the show - even though it it the industry in which I work. I will try to forget the large scale images of Kelly Ripa and her cupcakes at the Electrolux booth. However, I was impressed that finally this year a little reality hit the industry - the focus was off the massive collection of shower heads seen in the past - gee! the industry finally figured out they are a waste of water... and who has enough water heaters in their house to keep them going anyway? It seems this year we will be vibrating in the tub and doing aromatherapy and light therapy in the shower instead of gallons and gallons of water. Large corporations do take so long to catch on.


But ICFF, now that is another story - there was much that inspired. Some misguided, like the plastic blow-up chair filled with garbage...but so much more that was thoughtful and thoughtfully "green" as well. Yothaka, the Thai company that first gave us water hyacinth furniture has created an elegant and beautifully colored seating series made of pineapple fiber - like water hyacinth-normally thrown away. A chaise is pictured above.

Light focuses the blur of materials

As with most products in he marketplace today there is a glut of products and the only way to differentiate is to be either CHEAP or "remarkable." according to Seth Godin. Graniti Fiandre lets light create the focus for their new porcelain tile - Luminar - the surface design interacts with light to make the metallic finishes appear unique and truly "remarkable."