Urban Chic by Christina Hilborne

Our latest showroom addition/LOVE is local designer Christina Hilborne’s AH-mazing coffee table – part of her “Urban Chic” collection. We love this table as much for its beauty as we do for its environmentally friendly composition and design. Kirei board (pronounced KEEray), the collection’s base material, is a by-product of Japan’s sorghum crops (grain crop). Prior to Kirei manufacturing, the after process straw like material was pitched into landfills or burned. With Kirei, it is compressed and sealed with a non-toxic water based adhesive, making it reusable for multiple purposes.

Kirei board detail - Urban Chic by Christina Hilborne

This piece has something for everyone. A substantial stripe of stainless steel inset in the top surface of this piece gives it an industrial flair – a cool and sexy juxtaposition against the warm and earthy Kirei grain.

Top surface detail - Urban Chic by Christina Hilborne

Afraid to hide the top of this beauty with magazines, glasses, and remote controls? Fear not – this design is made for the clutter bug. The hallow interior of the table body is not only functional – providing ample space for storage… it also serves to allow light and air to flow through this sculptural design. It is heavy and substantial in its square and sturdy composition, but also delicate with its open centre and beautifully considered angled feet.

Urban Chic Table Interior by Christina Hilborne

Urban Chic by Christina Hilborne

It appears our green Project sofa (local design and build by our own workshop) has found its perfect mate – both in aesthetics and environmental agenda. Both pieces were featured together on stage at the recent TEDx Victoria event.

Project Sofa and Urban Chic table at TEDx Victoria

To learn and see more of the incredibly talented Christina Hilborne, visit her website, here.
To inquire about the “Urban Chic” or “Project” collections, call our showroom at 250.384.2554 or toll free: 1-866-207-1111.

Earth friendly design lovers will be happy to hear this. You no longer have to suffer the guilt of adding another piece of unwanted furniture to the landfill thanks to french designer Elise Gabriel. Her “Zelfo Embrace” collection of furniture and lighting is adorable, functional, and biodegradable.

Liga Collection by Elise Gabriel - photo: designboom.com

The main ingredient, Zelfo, is made of cellulose fibres deriving from plant materials that are soaked, pressed and dried to mold the shapes they are pressed onto. Gabriel seems to have spent a great deal of energy researching and experimenting with this material and process in order to produce an aesthetically pleasing line of tables, chairs and lighting.

photo: designboom.com

photo: designboom.com

photo: designboom.com

photo: designboom.com

I love the way that the final products pay tribute to their source: vegetation and plants. The surface of the furniture is very textured and fragile looking and the way the different parts join together are reminiscent of stem and branch joints. The lamp shades are thin enough that light diffuses through them as the sun might shine through flower petals.

photo: designboom.com

photo: designboom.com

photo: designboom.com

photo: designboom.com

Elise Gabriel is an award winning designer and her work is currently being displayed at Galerie Gosserez in Paris until April 4th, 2011.
source: designboom.com

Meka ALP320 in Manhattan. Image: Daniella Zalcman/The Wall Street Journal

At $100.00 per square foot, the Meka ALP320 is a sweet deal. At least, those in Manhattan sure think so after one of these little modern/ular home nuggets was transplated at the corner of Charles and Washington Street. Toronto designer Jason Halter along with Christos Marcopoulos and developer Michael de Jong, under the brand “Meka World” are behind the popular prototype making waves in New York City’s West Village.

Meka ALP320

Fabricated out of a shipping container, the manufacturing for this home is in China which is meant to make these units affordable for the masses – a major objective for the young and successful design partnership. Meka World has this to say on their website:

“‘Meka’ (an acronym for modular, environmental, kinetic, assembly), is a combination of their design considerations with a manufacturing and ordering solution that delivers the most cost savings available on the planet. The result was to produce the most luxurious living spaces with a clean modern sensibility, at super affordable prices.”
www.mekaworld.com

Meka ALP320 Interior Living view

Sustainability plays a large role in the design and manufacturing of these homes also. Base models are available with sub zero appliances, solar hot water heating, and bamboo walls.

Meka ALP320 Kitchen view

Meka ALP320

The ALP320 is just one model of a handful of interesting and unique offerings by Meka World. Options include various sizes and shapes including one much larger 2 -level unit seemingly suitable for family living, the HELA1280:

Meka HELA1280 Exterior View

Meka HELA1280 Interior view

In case you happen to be visiting New York in the near future, you can view the ALP320 in person 10:00-6:00pm Tuesday to Sunday (closed Mondays).

Visit Meka World’s website here.

Does the world need another chair? Certainly that’s a reasonable question to ask when the planet is already populated by hundreds, if not thousands, of different chairs—chairs for working, dining, relaxing, playing, napping, waiting, or, even, admiring—some are a wonder to behold but awkward to sit in and some are so comfortable that one is reluctant to get up again.

That legacy continues today, as seen in this latest release by Knoll™, and their collaboration with Formway Design, the Wellington, New Zealand-based collaborative. It’s not a chair. It’s a movement. Introducing Generation by Knoll™. The first chair that lets you sit how you want. The Generation chair offers a new standard of comfort and unrestrained movement, supporting the range of postures and work styles typical of today’s workplace. Discover how Generation’s flexing and supportive features enable individual expression, and explore how this revolutionary work chair reflects our commitment to environmental sustainability.

It’s worth noting that the concept of seating that moves as you move was not entirely new. In fact, one could argue that the bean bag chair of the 1960s, which quickly became a ubiquitous symbol of hippie informality, could be considered a forerunner of Generation by Knoll: each time the user shifts position on the bean bag chair, the “beans” (actually polystyrene beads) rearrange themselves to support you—comfort is entirely a result of automatic responsiveness. For Knoll, it was time to take this idea of elastic design—where the product rearranges itself in response to its user—to a new level.

I was recently introduced to a really inspiring video on Emeco’s website, www.emeco.net.  I always knew that the Navy chair was designed for the US Navy, and that it has a 150 year warranty… but I never really knew what a cool all around company Emeco is until I explored their website in more detail.  These chairs are handbuilt and quality tested to the nines.  It takes 77 steps and 116 hands to make a single Navy 1006 chair.  As said in one of the video clips… “These chairs are made from blood, sweat, tears and love” and they’re built for life… err… two lives.  Green?  Any chair that lasts more than a lifetime is the earth’s friend… especially when it’s also made of 80% recycled aluminum.

I used to want one of these chairs because I loved the way it looked… now I want one because I love the way it’s made. 

Emeco 1006 Navy Chair

It’s a new finish by Cherner Chair Co. and it looks delicious:

The high contrast coloured grain reminds me of the beautiful markings on the back of my cat’s neck… and simililary, I’m also strongly compelled to pet this chair!  purrrrrrrrrrrr.  Complimented by natural beech arms and legs, this wood will be an easy link for homes with varities of wood finishes.  An added bonus… Cherner’s also gone green by reducing VOC’s by switching to water base stains and clear coats.  Yay Cherner! … all around.