ASPIRE DESIGN AND HOME Spring 2021

There’s a sensuality to Brazilian design, whether it’s in the curvature of an armrest or detailed carving of a chair leg. Can you speak to the popularity of this design detail that is so prevalent in Brazil? Brazil is a country that shows its sensuality in a very explicit way, from our weather, amazing bodies on the beach, music, rhythm, colors, seasons…everything is about sensuality. What inspired the design of your Equilibrium Stool? The Equilibrium Stool, as its name implies, is a piece that is constantly searching for balance/equilibrium. My inspiration came from a debate between art and design and a proposal of a new path for it. Which designers from the past and present do you feel were groundbreaking? From the past I like Charles and Ray Eames because of the path they opened…

ARSHAM-ISMS: DANIEL ARSHAM Edited by Larry Warsh Princeton University Press • $15 Contemporary artist Daniel Arsham blurs the lines between art, architecture, archeology and design. In his distinctive style, he takes ancient art works and objects from twentieth-century pop culture and casts sculptures of them in geological materials such as quartz or volcanic ash, colliding past, present and future in haunted yet playful visions that prompt viewers to question their everyday surroundings. ABLOH-ISMS: VIRGIL ABLOH Edited by Larry Warsh Princeton University Press • $15 A collection of quotations from the renowned fashion designer, DJ, and stylist, Virgil Abloh. Artistic director for Louis Vuitton, making Abloh the first American of African descent to hold that title at a French fashion house. Gathered from interviews and other sources, this selection of compelling and memorable quotations from the designer reveals…

When 54-year-old Ian Murray was growing up in Liverpool, the Beatles’ hometown was a graveyard of industrial decay, “especially around the docks,” recalls the graphic artist and illustrator. “I liked exploring those liminal spaces that have been abandoned or don’t belong to anyone.” There was something about silent, vacant buildings, dilapidated wharfs, rusted steel and broken windows that spoke to him of ephemerality and the passing of time, of the poignance of memory. The power of this affinity was confirmed years later in his readings of psychogeography – the study of the effects of places on people’s minds and emotions. At the time Murray became a graphic designer, this sensibility resurfaced, merging with other inspirations that included a childhood love of comic books; artist idols such as Pablo Picasso, Kurt Schwitters…

NOAH LIVING NOAH SOFA MODULAR FURNITURE SYSTEM Presto Change-o, the Noah Sofa rises to the occasion when it comes to flexibility and endurance without ever skimping on style. Its clever plug-in system means the modular Noah can be rearranged and reconfigured easily, no tools needed. Well-designed to endure for generations, not only can all parts be replaced and recycled, the removable and washable Noah fabric resists dirt. We call that a win-win. iconicawards.com LEN FURNITURE BAUHAUS SEATING SYSTEM DESIGNED BY HELEN KONTOURIS The Bauhaus Seating System gets an A+ in versatility with extra credit for its playful, multi-colored aesthetic. It was commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, and the building’s Great Hall stained-glass ceiling, as well as Alma Siedhoff-Buscher’s timber Bauhaus Building Blocks, are inspirational touchpoints. Daring lines are revealed in beveled…

This duplex dweller with three young children had a dream. Well, actually, many. On her wish list: A lofty living room ceiling, a fairy-tale retreat for her daughter, creative storage built-ins – and bespoke extras for the very social lifestyle her family enjoyed pre-COVID (and will resume as soon as it is safe). The Prospect Heights homeowners had two apartments side by side; they lived in one and rented the other. The time had come to combine them. Cue the fairy godmother of decorating, Jenny Dina Kirschner, principal of JDK interiors and fellow Brooklynite. Her mantra: “Things can’t just be beautiful. They have to be practical.” The vintage library ladder in the mudroom rolls to reach the higher pistachio-green cabinets – and the bench, with silvery bolsters, is pretty but it is…

The eyes have it. Whether gouache or oil, three-dimensional or flat, art is as much a part of a room as furniture, drapes and rugs – and its placement demands as much, or more (much more) consideration than where to position the TV. Designer Phillip Thomas hits a high note reharmonizing a client’s art collection When New York designer Phillip Thomas took on the redo of a client’s commodious Upper West Side one bedroom, he knew there was more to the job than giving the grandly proportioned space a fresh, contemporary twist. “The apartment was traditional, very colorful, with heavy textures,” recalls Thomas. “With this iteration, the clients really wanted to honor the building’s past and its wonderful details, but also make the space more up-to-date by using a lighter palette that…