With a whirlwind, design-packed September, taking in the delights of London Design Festival, I’m sharing some of my recent furniture finds that have caught my attention over the past few weeks. There really was so much to see and take in, but I’ve whittled it down to: the best stackable chairs and stools, the smartest, minimalist lounge chairs and consciously-designed tables, plus new updated versions of design classics that you need to know about.
PAIR by Benjamin Hubert for Fritz Hansen
Previewed at London Design Festival last month before the official launch at Orgatec trade fair in Cologne, young, up-and-coming London-based designer Benjamin Hubert has designed a stacking chair for Fritz Hansen. Designed and built to stand the test of time, the chair has been developed and refined over three years using more than 30 prototypes. Embracing Fritz Hansen’s long-established aesthetic for well-crafted modernist forms, the minimalist design is made of a form-pressed plywood seat shell with an injection-moulded polycarbonate backrest, building on the techniques already used for Arne Jacobsen’s famous Series 7 and Ant chairs. Designed as a series of components for a multitude of settings, the backrest comes in four bright colours, while the seat comes in two, with the option of oak veneer too.
Ann Kristin Einarsen
Discovered at 100%Norway during LDF, Ann Kristin Einarsen is a Norwegian wood crafter turned ceramics designer, who creates stoneware, sculptures, installations and functional objects in her Oslo studio. Her two-tone ceramic plant holder series, Rolla, caught the eye, as did the Stilleben collection, a series of bowls and pots in different clays. Designed to be simple and minimalist, they can be used as a standalone object or combined to play with colour and composition.
Embrace Lounge Chair by EOOS for Carl Hansen & Son
Austrian design trio EOOS has added to their Embrace Series for Danish brand Carl Hansen & Son with a new lounge chair and matching footstool. The chair’s simple, light wooden frame is finished with a soft cushion that folds around the structure to provide support for the back and arms and an inviting, comfy seat. Says EOOS’s Gernot Bohmann, ‘The lounge chair enabled us to achieve a greater contrast between the soft upholstery and the simple wood frame. Greater volume, a softer filling and bolder proportions give the lounge chair a more enveloping feel. When you stand in front of the chair, you want to touch it, to sit in it, and to never leave it.’ What more could you want from a chair?
Totem Road
Spotted at Tent London during LDF, Totem Road is an Aussie brand new to the UK. They’re dedicated to creating sustainable furniture that focuses on quality and craft. This means trying to minimise the impact modern, throwaway culture has on our planet by using responsibly sourced materials and biodegradable packaging to create solid oak pieces that last a lifetime. Somewhat Scandi in feel, the designs are relaxed and timeless, suitable for a range of styles and settings. Plus, giving a little of what they take, Totem Road also donates 2.5% of sales to a charity that you can choose from a nominated list when you make a purchase.
Series Four by Another Country
Launched at designjunction for LDF, contemporary craft furniture brand Another Country showed their fourth studio collection, simply named Series Four. Inspired by traditional English kitchen table design and 20th Century modernism, the new designs feature their signature brass accents, and leg frames inspired by Gerrit Rietveld’s famous De Stijl red and blue chair (but without the vivid colour, of course). The collection includes an elegant dining table, bench, stackable low stool, bar stool and day bed, produced in a range of different sizes in solid and engineered oak versions, alongside a lacquered option. My favourite is the Series Four daybed, below, with its clean lines and stylish grey bolster cushion.
Panthella MINI by Verner Panton for Louis Poulsen
Louis Poulsen has launched a cuter-than-cute, mini version of its iconic Panthella lamp designed by Verner Panton. Scaled down to a diameter of 250mm, the Panthella MINI features painted metal shades in eight eye-popping, bright colours as well as white, black and opal acrylic. The colours have been drawn from Panton’s last project before his death in 1998, a technicolour installation of his furniture, light fittings and fabric that took place across eight rooms at the Trapholt Museum of Modern Art in Kolding, Denmark. Updated since the Panthella lamp was first launched in 1971, the MINI features three light intensities and the latest LED technology. When the lamp was first produced, it was also not technically possible to create the metal shade of Panton’s original design. But here it is today, just as Panton intended.
So there’s what’s been catching my eye recently, anything take your fancy?
All images from respective brands
