I’m well overdue another ‘On My Radar’, where I round up a selection of new furniture launches and simple homeware finds that have caught my eye in the last month or so. In this month’s edition we have wild birch stools, wooden lamps, spicy scents, hand poured tiles and a new book on Japanese aesthetics. I hope you enjoy!
The Forest Collection by Artek and Formafantasma
We have become so geared towards perfection that a lot of our furniture has become uniform and like sanitised versions of the natural product. This creates a lot of waste, where only the very best parts of a valuable raw material are used. Wood typically has lots of irregularities, such as knots, rich grains and insect trails, but Artek believes it is these natural variations that make a material beautiful and unique. The industry standard tends to see these as flaws and prefer consistency over perceived imperfection.
Artek has spent the past couple of years re-evaluating their wood selection, and together with design studio Formafantasma, has released the Forest Collection. Now you can purchase Artek’s famous stools, tables and chairs in a new ‘wild birch’ finish that embraces the natural qualities of wood, knots and all. More than 80% of Artek’s furniture is made from native birch trees that are grown and felled near its factory in Turku in central Finland. By adapting the criteria for choosing wood, Artek can use more of each tree and start to shift the thinking around how we value our natural resources.
Images: Artek
Stillness, a new book by Norm Architects for gestalten
Danish studio Norm Architects has released its latest book and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy – not only does it look absolutely stunning, it focuses on a subject that I’m particularly drawn to at the moment. Published by gestalten, Stillness offers a uniquely Scandinavian interpretation of Japanese aesthetics and design, acting as part travelogue, part manifesto. The book pairs beautiful scenes of Japanese architecture and landscapes alongside photos of the studio’s own contemporary projects to illustrate the close connection between these two complementary yet distinct design cultures. Norm Architects describes this as an ‘aesthetic kinship’, a meeting point of mutual respect and shared philosophies. I can’t wait to discover what they have learnt from Japanese culture.
Purchase here, priced at £55. Images: Norm Architects
Sculpture Garden by FRAMA
Danish brand FRAMA has launched a new self care series called Sculpture Garden, introducing two new fragrances to its collection. With notes of vetiver, black pepper and bitter orange, they describe Columnae as ‘confident and grounded’, suggesting the ‘muskiness of well-preserved pages and storied histories’. Escalier, on the other hand, is bright and spicy, with carrot seed, blood orange and cardamom. They’re both available as a hand wash, lotion and cream.
Shop here. Images: FRAMA
Henry Holland Studio Pour Collection for Bert & May
A bit late to the party on this one, because I first saw the collection at Clerkenwell Design Week in May… but let’s just say we’re fashionably late. Specialist tile maker Bert & May has collaborated with Henry Holland Studio to create two new designs that act as a natural extension to Holland’s well-known ceramics. The Pour collection is Henry Holland’s take on hand-built Nerikomi, a ceramic technique that involves stacking, folding and rolling different coloured layers of clay to create marbled patterns.
There are two designs in the series: a hand poured tile and a printed glazed tile. The hand poured tiles are made by mixing two pigments together into a mould, each one is unique and they come in four warm, organic tones, including Mineral Blue, Rust, Purple Brown and my favourite, Rosemary. With 44% recycled content, the printed tiles mimic the style of the hand poured collection but are glazed and therefore easier to maintain.
Shop the collection here. Images: Beth Davis
Pepa lamp by Francesco Faccin for Astep
I fell in love with this tactile lamp at 3 Days of Design in Copenhagen. It’s made of solid ash wood and has a solid, weighty appearance. Designer Francesco Faccin was inspired by the form and mechanics of a pepper grinder, and sought to create a design that could be held in the hand and twisted to operate. The portable battery-powered lamp can be turned on and smoothly adjusted by rotating the top, making for a wonderfully tactile experience. Pepa has also been designed so that all the parts can be easily removed, repaired or recycled.
