CasaSugar

Love It or Hate It? Zero Gravity Wing Chair

CasaSugar — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:00:57 -0700

Made of memory foam and the biggest single piece of bentwood ever used to create a chair, the first and only chair ever to be certified by the Space Foundation, tested and recognized by NASA, the Zero Gravity Wing Chair ($14,400) is a cross between an Eames Lounge and Ottoman and a classic wing chair. Do you love it . . . or do you prefer the originals?

Flashback: The Famous Eames Lounge Chair Debuts

CasaSugar — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 05:12:01 -0700

Even if you don't think you know the Eames Lounge Chair, you probably know the Eames lounge chair. Created by husband and wife Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller, the iconic mid-century modern design debuted in 1956, and it's still wildly popular five decades later. (One person even thought it would make a good tattoo.)

For a bit of background, Dwell Blog (via Design Observer) found this pretty hilarious video of when the Eames lounger debuted on NBC. The television host, who is just tickled by the idea that wife Ray actually works, talks at length to Charles Eames about the pair's manufacturing process and materials. The video is in two parts, and the dramatic unveiling is in Part II. To watch, read more

Crave Worthy: Acrylic Lounge Chair

CasaSugar — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:00:55 -0700

Much like the Philippe Starck Louis Ghost Chair, the Aaron R. Thomas Acrylic Lounge Chair ($1,480) takes a modern twist on a design classic by re-envisioning it in acrylic. In this case, the classic is the Molded Plywood Lounge Chair, designed by Charles and Ray Eames in 1946. Maybe classic-gone-acrylic's been done before by Starck, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't go to great lengths to seat this Acrylic Lounge Chair in my living room. And it doesn't mean Thomas doesn't have original designs: he does. A browse through his shop and you'll be tapping into your savings account and hitting up your rich relatives for spending money. Get it quick before it makes its way to the window display of every Design Within Reach store in the country.

Home Away From Home: A Skate-Inspired Hotel Suite

CasaSugar — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:00:30 -0800

Skateboard label Etnies is rolling into the world of hospitality. The California-based brand has designed a skate-inspired hotel suite in Laguna Beach's Casa del Camino. But you won't find any Etnies logo monogrammed sheets here. "We didn’t want to make it look like a trade show," said VP of marketing Don Brown. "We focused more on the culture of skateboarding, taking the movement, curves and shapes and injecting that into the design."

Elements include wheel tracks on the ceiling, a mirror framed with skateboard wheels, mounted skateboards for guests to use, and "Go Sk8" artwork in the bathroom. My favorite piece is the God Father Lounge Chair, a leather chair and ottoman inspired by Eames's iconic Lounge Chair, made of pieces which remarkably resemble a skateboard deck. It's part of the Skate Study House collection, which I wrote about back in 2008. Continue reading.

Nice and New: Charles & Ray Eames Stamps

CasaSugar — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:45:32 -0700

Back in January, I wrote that the United States Postal Service would release Charles and Ray Eames stamps featuring the Eames Wire-Base Table, the Hang-It-All, the Lounge Chair and Ottoman, the House of Cards, the Molded Plywood Lounge Chair, the Aluminum Side Chair, the Molded Plastic Side Chair, the Storage Unit, the Wire Chair, and the La Chaise. Well, the time has come folks. You can pick up your own pane of 16, self-adhesive 42–cent Charles and Ray Eames stamps ($6.72) at your local post office. That's right, if Eames furniture wasn't already out of your budget, stamps now cost 42 cents. I plan on framing one sheet, and saving another for letters to my favorite design-fiend friends.

Found It! Ben Affleck's Red Lounge Chair

CasaSugar — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 09:00:30 -0700

Ben Affleck graced the April cover of Esquire looking a little worked up. But, in the pages of the men's glossy, he exuded super sex appeal lounging in business attire in a fire engine red chair. While the man does have the looks, it was that hot piece of furniture that I couldn't take my eyes off of! I'd seen the chair before - many times, actually. Find out where when you read more.

The chair is the Eames La Chaise ($9,475). It was designed in 1948 by Charles and Ray Eames for a Museum of Modern Art competition called "Organic Design in Home Furnishings." As you can see, it has quite the voluptuous organic form. In fact, it was inspired by a female sculpture called "Floating Figure" by Gaston Lachaise. It's made of fiberglass, steel supports, and an oak base, and has been manufactured for the public by Vitra since 1991. Unfortunately, Vitra does not manufacture Affleck clones.
Source

This Just In: USPS to Release Charles & Ray Eames Stamps

CasaSugar — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:00:26 -0800

Next Summer, the United States Postal Service will release a pane of 16 stamps honoring and recognizing husband and wife design partners Charles and Ray Eames for "their groundbreaking contributions to architecture, furniture design, manufacturing and photographic arts." To get all the details, read more.

The designs featured include the Wire-Base Table, the Hang-it-All, the Lounge Chair and Ottoman, the House of Cards, the Molded Plywood Lounge Chair, the Aluminum Side Chair, the Molded Plastic Side Chair, the Storage Unit, the Wire Chair, and the La Chaise. Design Notes writes that "it may also be the only time you can get an Eames La Chaise for 41 cents." It's interesting (and fun!) to see these designs in a new form (much like the coasters). It's also fitting to use the designs as stamps, since as the USPS points out, "Charles and Ray Eames used new materials and technology to create high-quality products that addressed everyday problems and made modern design available to the American public."

This Just In: Skate Study House Expo to Open in Paris

CasaSugar — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 07:15:00 -0800

Beginning January 28, Colette, a design concept store in Paris, will house the "Skate Study House" exhibit, a reinterpretation of the most famous pieces of modern design through the vision of a skateboarder, created by Pierre-André Senizergues and Gil Le Bon De Lapointe. Pierre-André Senizergues is the president and CEO of Sole Technology, parent company of skate apparel fixture Etnies, and Gil Le Bon De Lapointe is a skateboarder and designer. The exhibit pays homage to Case Study House, a famous experimentation in residential architecture, which ran between 1945 until 1966, commissioning major architects of the day, including Richard Neutra, Raphael Soriano, Craig Ellwood, Charles and Ray Eames, Pierre Koenig and Eero Saarinen, "to design and build inexpensive and efficient model homes for the United States residential housing boom." The exposition will include a skateboard-shaped Nelson Platform Bench, Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman, Le Corbusier Chaise Lounge, Noguchi Table, and Eames Hang-it-All. To see these skate reinterpretations up close (trust me, you want to), read more

Click the images below to see the modern skate furniture up close and personal.

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Dutch designer Maarten Baas's "Smoke" is a series of a charred furniture finished with an epoxy resin so that the pieces are preserved instead of destroyed. A 2004 exhibition called "Where There's Smoke" at Moss in New York showcased the collection of 25 one-off pieces, including iconic designs by Gaudi, Eames, Rietveld, Sottsass, and the Campana Brothers among others, which had each been burned with a blow torch and then salvaged with the translucent sealant. At the exhibit, the pieces were put in a timeline from antique to modern, grouping pieces like a grandfather clock and chaise lounge together, and a second stage of pieces like an Eames LCW chair and Noguchi coffee table from 1900-1950 together.

Three of the "Smoke" works were picked up by Marcel Wanders for reproduction by his international design company, MOOOI, and important designers and collectors like Lidewij Edelkoort and Philippe Starck have also personally acquired the pieces. Select pieces have been exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. What's really beautiful about the series is that the furniture retains that charred texture, it's quite haunting, and appropriate for Halloween. To see more photos and close-ups, read more.

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Source and Source

Gift Guide: The Modern Dude

CasaSugar — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 07:00:10 -0800

As much as they'd like to think they're "The Man," most dudes need a little help in the décor department. Whether that means they should lose the La-Z-Boy in favor of a classic lounger like this Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman ($3,599), or the blah jersey bed-in-a-bag set that Mom bought at the Macy's One Day Sale in favor of some hip modern stripes, that's for you to decide. But, I wanted to make sure you've got a few options at different price points when shopping for your man (or bro or cous') this year. If the dude in your life likes pizza, beer, wine, smoking, stepping in the mud, or gets lost a lot and won't ask for directions, or just needs a slick new furnishing, I've got something for you. To see my finds, read more.

Pizza Slice and Beer Stein Ornaments - $32.00	Alessi alessandro m. corkscrew - $45.00
Moleskine City Guides - Set of 3 - $80.00	Normann Copenhagen -stepptwo ashtray- 4 left! by tom stepp - $66.00
Unison Wideband in Green and Grey Sheet set - $68.00	Cast Iron Bootscraper - $99.00
Matte Stephens A Man Bird - $170.00	Lightyears Caravaggio Pendant - $195.00
Gus Modern Thompson Chair by Gus - $235.00	Everywhere Storage - $69.00
Herman Miller Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman - $3,599.00