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Designed to delight

  1. Products

Designed to delight

One of the key components of the London Design Festival, 100% Design celebrates its 20th birthday this year, which makes it older then the LDF itself; and in preparation for its move next year to Olympia, it seems it will be going out with a bang. Studio Design UK is producing its dramatic tunnel entrance to the central bar area with a ‘kaleidoscope’ theme, to bring visitors to a dramatic installation created by Daniel Libeskind in collaboration with glass firm Lasvit. Look out too for Turkish Ceramics’ ‘Foam Dome’ pavilion, designed by vPPR architects, which will apparently be working up a lather in the Kitchens & Bathrooms hub. 100% Design will be at Earl’s Court from 17-20 September. Jan-Carlos Kucharek takes his pick from this year’s show.

Region:
London
More:
Design
Tetris acoustic panel. With the contemporary drive for minimalist and open plan interiors, dealing with sound bouncing off those hard surfaces becomes a priority, Soundtect’s Tetris panels bring a bold, Braille-like aesthetic to dealing with all that noise. www.soundtect.com
Sand Cast stools. Lanky proportions can make bar stools difficult to get right, but designer Sam Lloyd has done it admirably with his sand cast stools for Heal’s, not only making them look sturdy, but using a process that makes each seat unique. www.sam-lloyd.co.uk
WA Tiles. Designer Sam Frith’s new WA tessellated tile range for Kaza Concrete, which, depending on how you put them together, appear as an expression of either pure order or chaos. However you do it though, its subtle glazed curves are irresistible. www.kazaconcrete.com
Mykon table. No, its not the alien from 2000AD comic, but it could be from the future. Designer Alexander Purcell Rodrigues has produced his high tech Mykon table, whose thinness is made possible by using an aluminium honeycomb core astride chromed steel legs. www.alexanderpurcellrodrigues.com
Atemporal chair. Argentinian designer Daniel Sanchez has brought a new twist to an old classic timber and metal school chair by re-styling it fit for the 21st century. Not only in bright colours, he stretches the design to create bar stools and squashes it to realise funky low loungers. www.dsaideas.com
Marble sink. Manchester firm Frassk Ltd is beating the design conscious Italians at their own game, producing an sink formed elegantly from a single piece of white Carrara marble hanging delicately off the wall from a shallow lip. Lovely.
Parallax table. London designer Sandro Lopez’s Parallax coffee table has a base and glass table top of gentle curves and a simplicity that brings to mind Isamu Noguchi’s classic table – here reimagined for the Pringle generation. www.sandrolopez.com
Dina & Dora chairs. DAM design looked to the valleys of the Douro wine making country in Portugal when it came up with its Dina and Dora chairs. The chair is simple and elegantly crafted in ash, with the seat formed out of a solid piece of dark, formed cork. www.dam.pt
Arc side table. Portuguese designer Marco Sousa took inspiration from the iconic 19th century Luis I bridge in Porto when he designed his satinwood Arc side table for Bateye. He even went the extra distance, using local tile artisans to create its bold look. www.bateye.com
Maya side table. One doesn’t usually associate the word ‘occasional’ with concrete, but ex-benchmark craftsman Tom Parfitt has used it to create an occasional table for Heal’s with a removable lid that turns it into a very robust magazine rack. www.tomparfittdesign.com

Words:
Jan-Carlos Kucharek

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