Design | Wellness | Cabinetry
Maniscalco, the Australian-rooted designer and wholesaler of high-quality glass, stone and metal decorative tiles, has released the comprehensive Victoria Metal Mosaic series.
This range includes “Mini Hexy,” which consists of 1 1/4- x 1 1/2-inch mosaic tiles delivered on 11 1/2- x 10-inch sheets. Mini Hexy will be available in two colors – Mt. Stirling Blend and Falls Creek Blend. The Mt. Stirling Blend will debut at Coverings 2015 in April . Continue reading “Mini Hexy is Very Sexy”
When shopping for a toilet there are many things to consider beyond looks and price. I’ve created this guide to help you master the basics.
“It takes true creativity and a strong imagination to transform an item into something else with a completely different function. And that’s exactly what artist Carolina Fontoura Alzaga does to create her “CONNECT Series” of lighting fixtures. She collects old bicycles from junkyards and dumpsters and uses the parts to create beautiful chandeliers and lamps.”
Carolina Fontoura Alzaga (Caro) is a multidisciplinary artist who operates under the name Facaro and is recognized internationally for her unique perspectives on medium and form.
In the CONNECT Series, Caro reimagines used bike parts to create luxurious, cascading chandeliers.
The lights are a careful balance of style and substance. Each piece is unique and no two quite the same. Photos of the Connect Series are of past stock and each piece is made to order and customizable in Caro’s Victorian Bike Punk style.
Some of the Connect upcycled chandeliers are massive and can take months for the artist to make in L.A. studio.
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“Making each chandelier an approximate perfection despite the imperfect nature of the material. I’ve had to surrender to the rhythm of creation and accept regressing in order to progress.”
Carolina Fontoura Alzaga was born in Mexico City, then moved to Denver, where she graduated East High School in 1999. She got her BFA from Metro State, where the chandeliers were her thesis piece, in 2007. Her very first chandelier was donated to Derailer, a bicycle collective that dissolved and gave birth to the Bike Pit, where the chandelier still hangs.
Caro’s Facaro studio focuses on art that explores of the “third function” of materials. She hopes that her creations will inspire dialogue about the importance of eco-friendly up-cycling.
Last year she was invited to show her work at Comme des Garçons Trading Museum in Japan, and she recently finished a ten-foot-long, four-foot-wide chandelier commissioned by Heineken.
For more information about Facaro and her work visit facaro.com.
I stumbled across a picture of this hanger and I thought it was a designer’s take on everyday objects modernized for hospitality use. Such as this hanger shown below from Doug Mockett that sells for $41.00. It looks cool, but it’s still just a hanger.
It turns out I was completely wrong. This hanger, designed for Biomega, by Paul Crofts Studio is a bicycle hanger for the fashion conscious.
“The products I have designed for Biomega are based on simple twists on everyday objects, from bike clips to a sponge to clean your bike. The design of the bike clip was to be produced from Laser cut sprung stainless steel. An accessory previously overlooked, my aim was to take the object from the mundane and purely functional to a level that was more in tune with jewelry and the quality of the Biomega bikes.”The Designers for Biomega focus on the product goal and general feel instead of the technologies involved. The result is that the Human-Machine interface seems simpler and is more in harmony with your feelings towards the product.
Biomega is a Copenhagen-based, Danish brand of designer bicycles. launched in 1998 by Jens Martin Skibsted. It is known for engaging international designers from outside the bicycle industry—including Marc Newson, Ross Lovegrove, Beatrice Santiccioli and Karim Rashid— in designing its products.
Biomega Bikes are the perfect Commuter Bicycles. Featuring Chainless bikes with shaft and belt-drive systems, it is possible to make your commute in fashionable clothing without the need to worry about grease getting on your clothes. Biomega makes bicycles that are as much a work of art as they are extremely efficient modes of transportation.
Biomega started collaborating with Puma under Antonio Bertone’s creative supervision. Skibsted designed the initial Puma bike, known as BOS / Boston for the Biomega portfolio. A folding mechanism allows the bike to be reduced in size by fifty percent to fit in tight spaces. Its main feature is a lock that is integrated within the structural framework. If a would-be thief breaks the lock, the bicycle breaks as well.
Recently The NYC bike, designed by KiBiSi – a design firm co-founded by Biomega’s founder, Jens Martin Skibsted, the architect Bjarke Ingels, and industrial designer Lars Holme Larsen. was launched at Eurobike and Interbike 2014.
The NYC / New York city bike is based on Biomega’s innovative CPH / Copenhagen design, but reengineered it to include functions that make commuting safer and more comfortable. The NYC incorporates chainless cycling with its carbon fiber belt drive that transfers power to the rear wheel. While classic in silhouette, the NYC utilizes a integrated front mudguard within the aluminum down tube.
Both the New York Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMa) have Biomega bicycles in their collections.